I tend to relegate the elliptical machine to the bottom of the heap when it comes to cardio choices. Running is at the top with swimming 2nd. I'd love to ride a road bike, but since I don't own one my only choice is indoor cycling/spinning. But I really only like the noon sessions at Pure Fitness on Tuesday and Thursday, so my options there are limited. Rowing takes spot #4.
Running, cycling, swimming, rowing: they're all "real world" activities. Using an ergometer approximates those activities that I call "functional" exercises, meaning they are exercises in which you're actually doing something, i.e. moving your body through space to get somewhere further or more quickly. The elliptical trainer, on the other hand, is just motion. You know, if they hooked up a generator or a battery charger to the thing where by you could put your motion and energy expenditure to use then maybe I'd call if "functional." But the elliptical doesn't mimic any kind of mode of useful work that I can think of.
Oh wait. I have seen these:
That's a relatively new invention that turns the elliptical like motion into a form of exercise/transportation. Sort of reverse evolution of how the real world modus operandi is usually converted into a stationary ergometer; in this case the ergometer came first (I think) and the "elliptical bike" was born out of that.
But I digress. I tend to think of the elliptical trainer as an "oh by the way" option, or maybe one of last resort. Yet whenever I get on the thing, I remember that I actually like it and should make it a more regular choice. I chose it today to work the legs in a running-like fashion but without the impact to the ankle joint that's been bothering me. I wanted the day to be a no-run day, but I wanted some good aerobic calorie-burning, and I also wanted to see about flushing some of the lactic acid from my legs.
I had fun using the iPod and then trying to keep the cadence of whatever song shuffled onto the playlist, adjusting the cross ramp and resistance to try to keep time with the metronome beat of the song, while also trying to keep the calorie burn rate to around 14-15 calories/minute.
I went for an hour, and wound up with a calculated burn of 750 kcals. It was a nice, casual workout with low impact on knees and ankles, reminding me that I shouldn't neglect that exercise option and how it's valuable for "running" on no run days.
I'm taking Bailey to ballet tonight and stopping by Laces for some electro-stimulation therapy to the ankle. Looking forward to seeing what Mike is going to schedule for me this week.
Tonight, I'm going to continue with the Shred program. Yeah, so it's a "ladies" thing. But I like it. I'm trying to cycle through each level in sequence, and after 9 days, I'm going to up the ante and to "2-fers" for another 9 days. If that works, I'll finish the month out with 9 days of all 3 levels at once, which should come to an extra hour of nightly cardio/strength/ab work a day. I ought to be pretty "shredded" by then.
No comments:
Post a Comment