What is the best Cardio Workout in a gym?

**OT8268** · 03-07-2002, 02:56 PM

I would have to say stair master but I want your thoughts

**9natural9** · 03-07-2002, 03:02 PM

cardio....hot sex with a female physical trainer in the sauna!!!

**KeyMastur** · 03-07-2002, 09:26 PM

Tread-mill of course. It's the same thing as a track, 'cept your ass is indoors in A/C infront of a TV.

and the "low impact treadmill" is called an EFX / elliptical

**Nico** · 03-07-2002, 10:51 PM

9natural, bro you are soooo on the money!!!

**bex** · 03-08-2002, 03:06 AM

The rowing mc is the best form of cardio...

**Canes4Ever** · 03-08-2002, 04:49 AM

Originally posted by 9natural9
cardio....hot sex with a female physical trainer in the sauna!!!

I prefer the eliptical...man that gets me sweating and my heart pumping like nothing else !

**TheStromba** · 03-08-2002, 08:15 AM

Treadmill with varied incline does it for me !

**TNT** · 03-08-2002, 01:05 PM

At one time, like OT8268, I would have said a stairclimber, but epiptical crosstrainers do the same job more efficiently without the impact on the feet and knees.

But it's not enough to specify a type of system without specifying a brand name, since each brand carries its own "personality." Lifesteps, for example, have a hard bottom (the stairs "hit bottom," resulting in more joint impact, especially on older machines), while Stairmaster and Tetrix climbers have a softer, non-impact action.

On elipticals, Life Fitness and Startracs (both of which are non-electric) have only one setting as far as angle or incline. Life Fitness has the moving hand grips, providing an upper body workout, but I'm not sure this is significant in the long run. The Startracs, in my opinion, is a very clumsy machine - there's something about the angle of stepping that bugs the hell out of me.

With the Precor EFX, on the other hand, you can adjust both the tension and the incline, providing a more varied workout that works more muscle groups. Ditto the Reebok, as I recall, although the Precor is better for taller people (I found the step action too limited on the Reebok). The Precor does not have moving handgrips, but the step action is so smooth that you can use the machine hands-free, avoiding the tendency to put too much weight on your hands - thus letting your hands do the work instead of your feet, something that a lot of people do in error when using stairclimbers. (In fact, with the Precor, you only have to let your fingers touch the handrails for balance occasionally.)

Both the latest Precors (elipticals) and LifeSteps (stair climbers) also have built-in heart monitors. They may not be all that accurate (your heart rate takes a while to register), but at least they give you an indication of whether you're working out in weight-loss range or cardio endurance range. That's an important distinction, since many people do cardio for weight loss. They think that the faster/harder they go, the more weight they'll lose, but the truth is that a slower heart rate will take off weight more effectively than pushing it to the max.

Anyway, my vote, and my preference for cardio these days: The Precor EFX 546.

**Mr. Trenton** · 03-08-2002, 02:17 PM

In my opinion I like to use this older model of a treadmill at my gym. It has a odometer on it that tell you how much you are doing through yards. Its not electric, and all it is a treadmill thats always on an incline it has rollers covered by a belt that you walk on. And theres railings on it and a belt to hold you on it without rolling backwards off it. Its much harder than an electric tread and a mile on this one is like 2 miles on the electric treadmill.

**chuck** · 03-08-2002, 04:44 PM

I like the bike butt the seat kills my crotch ouch. the stair masters good too

**gymnut4u** · 03-08-2002, 05:07 PM

I have to say alpine climber ,it keep your knees from takeing a beating !

**OT8268** · 03-12-2002, 08:11 PM

bump

**hewy** · 03-13-2002, 11:31 AM

i like eliptical trainers and bikes, anything to keep impact off the knee

**A_Nice** · 03-28-2002, 08:01 PM

I highly suggest raquetball if you have someone to play with, and you have access to a court.

**HARDCORE** · 03-30-2002, 12:55 AM

Originally posted by 9natural9
cardio....hot sex with a female physical trainer in the sauna!!!

Holy shit there are some women pt's at my gym that I would give my left nut for just a few minutes of alone time with-

**Iwan2bsolid2** · 03-30-2002, 01:18 AM

10 min on bike, 10 min of stairmaster, 10 incline walk on treadmill, keeps me from boredom.

**Feli Fly** · 06-15-2003, 06:34 PM

I really only do cardio that I enjoy, ie playing sports or mountain biking, but will sometimes need to do a lil bit of cardio in the winter when the biking is out and my only sport is indoor soccer. When I do cardio in a gym, I go with:

Mixed Interval Stairmaster (heels flat some days, on toes other days) or Skipping rope in the aerobics studio for just 10min after workout... both keep it short and sweet yet really get the HR up there very well. I still think just going to the rec center and playing 2 hours of basketball once or twice per week in the winter is a lot more fun...

Why do running or biking on a machine? Those are things you can do without machines and enjoy a lot more that way... I see no read point to doing cardio you do not enjoy... JMO, but unless rehabbing a cardiac condition or something, why not just eat less? Unless you for some reason enjoy running for a half hour on a high impact surface and staring at the wall or a tiny little TV

**caturpilar** · 06-22-2003, 10:10 PM

A bunch of us tried cardio kickboxing once to break away from the usual run 3 times a week but i was dead exhausted after 45min of card. kikbox. Plus there are alot of fine women to look at.