While I do not mind running outside (in a park), at the moment I'm only limited to treadmill at the gym due to schedule with work and school. The problem is, there are very few things that are more boring than running on a treadmill. So, instead of running I started substituting in jump rope and eliptical. Do you guys think this is an OK substitute for running? My current workout routine is 2 days of heavy lifting (5x5), a day or two of circuit training/HIIT (mostly stuff from Ross' Infinite Intensity), and one day MMA training (technique only). I'd like to throw in some moderate intensity cardio before lifting for warmup and after lifting for cooldown, or possibly just do it on one of the days off. Suggestions, opinions, advice...all welcome. Thanks.
I recall hearing somewhere that jumping rope burns more calories then running at a moderate pace for an equal amount of time. That aside, I much prefer running. Partly because I hate jumping rope with a passion. However, as a short term (1-3 months) it's not a bad substitute for running. However, I'd personally fight tooth and nail to get back to being able to go running. Running streets/trails has advantages that simply cannot be reproduced in the gym on a treadmill, on a track, or with jumping rope.
I wouldn't bother with the elliptical. Waste of time. If you're specifically looking for cardio work, calisthenic circuits are the way forward.
What does it train you for other than using an elliptical? It has also been shown to exacerbate certain lower back injuries (src= http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Health/20100726/elliptical-injury-100726/) and has been shown to be a highly predictive factor in the development of girly men (src=Every Gym on the planet, ever)
running is great for cardio because its easily measurable, keeps your HR at a constant rate (which is what is needed for changes to occur) and works the whole body, ellipticals do basically the same thing, so although its popular to bash them and yes they lock you in a single plane of motion, (so do bikes and rowers by the way) they are fine as a substitute for running the old jumping rope burning more calories comes from bruce lee, if you are looking to do constant steady state cardio whether its running, skipping or machine work calories burned will be pretty much the same, look at the outcome you want to achieve and then see if what you have access to allows you to achive your goals
what does running train you for other than running? the fact is your goals will determine if the equipment can help or not if a piece of machinery allows you to measure output and distance, allows you to keep your HR constant and warm up the whole body then it is usefull
You're kidding right? Life may occasionally require you to run, thus training oneself to run is not a wasted effort. Elliptical trainers pretty much exist solely within a gym, so unless your goal in life is to become one of those women who can stay on ellipticals for hours at a time, you're training nothing. If ellipticals were the only way of warming up or even one of the better ways of warming up, I wouldn't be too bothered by them, but they're just another artefact of the fitness craze that brought you pink plastic dumbells and a thousand and one different ab workout infomercials. Ellipticals = Fail.
I'm quitting ellipticals from today because holyheadjch is calling me girly now Like I said, I don't mind running outside it's just that with school and work right now I don't have the time to do it in the morning and running on a treadmill at the gym (when I go during the night) is a snorefest. I'm not so much concerned with burning calories during this slow paced, steady cardio because, as I mentioned already, I have 2 days a week when I do HIIT/Circuit training. Good discussion so far. Thanks everyone.
its not about the equipment used its about the outcome sort, if the equipment allows you to work at the required rate for the required duration then its good, if it doesnt allow you to reach your desired outcome its of no use its as simple as that
I thought I was the only one who hated running with a passion, OP. I do the obligatory warm-up jog, but focus on skipping rope for building cardio. Works well enough for me, plus the higher degree of intensity makes up for the shorter amount of time spent doing the exercise as compared to jogging. But I could be wrong though.
you are right but you are also wrong some adaptions of the body require a long time under tension to create and you have to put the long sessions in regardless of the equipment used, and some dont it depends on what you are trying to acomplish,
I'll just correct that for you. I wouldn't bother with the elliptical. Waste of time for me. Everyone is different, some exercises work well for some but not for others. The elliptical trainer gets not just your legs but also your arms working. As such it certainly engages the major muscle groups - arguably better than running does. I don't see how anyone can doubt that it can be used effectively to work the heart and lungs. Just because many people use it in a 'girly' way doesn't mean you have to use it like that. You can increase your speed, you can also crank the resistance right up. You can vary the emphasis on which muscle groups are working most, you can interval train, etc etc. Its main advantage IMO is that it removes impact on the knees. I simply cannot run as an exercise. Any significant amount would play havoc with my knees, and also my dodgy ankle. Is it the best cardio exercise? Probably not. Is it convenient, effective and low impact? Absolutely. It really depends on the individual on what's the best exercise(s) for them. Making blanket judgements is not terribly helpful IMO. Mike
My major issue with running (on treadmill) is that its reaaallly boring. That's the reason why I switched to eliptical... However, I was talking to a friend this morning that works the front desk at the gym and according to him the owner is in the talks with property managers to allow us to put two large tractor tires in the parking lot behind the gym. If this goes thru, it will be awesome because finally we can do tire flips, sledgehammer swings, sled pulls, and there will be at least 200-300m of space for sprinting. I don't mind sprinting because it's short, intense, and there's not time to be bored
running on a treadmill sucks the biggun. nothing more boring. Some gyms I have been to had a tv up which relieves the boredom if you like whichever generic channel is on. much rather be outside or doing something else. I prefer jump rope if i can't do a run outside.
If it has to be treadmill you could vary the pace between a comfortable and a moderate for 2 minutes or do an incline starting on 2% adding a percent every minute or two upto 10% then back to 2% if that isn't too much like the HIIT you already do. I'm not a big fan of treadmill though found when doing shorter intervals I have to concentrate more on breathing and technique so less bored. The same when running outside if the pace is too slow I get bored. I no longer see the point in having a PB for treadmill runs as they are not equivalent to real distance runs.
You're already doing heavy lifting and intense anaerobic intervals 4x/week. What do you think you need the extra low intensity cardio for? You won't get any increased benefit to your endurance from doing aerobics if you're already doing the kind of stuff you described. What you will end up doing is wasting a lot of time slowly ruining your posture and degrading the quality of your soft tissue. If you are looking to accelerate some fat loss efforts, stop eating cheat meals instead of adding in time on the elliptical. If you are just looking for a way to warm up for your lifting sessions, time on a treadmill or elliptical is about as useless as you can get. You need to be doing tissue work and dynamic movements that are specific to the lifts you plan to do that day. This may be true if every piece of equipment effected our movement patterns and posture the same exact way. This couldn't be further from the truth however. The movement you choose to repeat thousands of times for your cardio is going to have a unique and significant impact on your body. These things are NOT as simple as you imply. Since you already hate running, it seems pretty obvious to me that you should leave it out of your program and stop trying to find a good substitute for it. Stick with the compound lifting and hard intervals, and use whatever time you have left to do something fun! Go spend time with a girl or something, don't look for ways to spend even more time in the gym. And seriously, the elliptical sucks. For everyone. That is all.
