Those control panels on the machines give you all sorts of information.  They’ll tell you your speed, distance, elapsed time, incline, and more.    They’ll also tell you the number of calories you’ve burned.   They’ve also got pre-designed programs with names like Cardio Blast, Interval, and a perennial fan favorite, Fat Burning.  Hmmm.

Ever wonder how the machine can determine how many calories you burn?   The rate at which each person burns calories is more complex that entering in your height, weight, and age and having the machine come back with a burn rate.  You have to factor in how hard you’re working, your metabolism, your heart rate, body temperature, and more.  Many machines don’t even ask you your height, weight, and age.  How could they possibly be accurate?   

So, what should you do?

1. Stop worrying about being “in the zone”.  If fat loss is your goal, burn more calories than you take in and make sure you’re taking in the right kind of calories.  The more calories you burn, the better.  More activity = more calories used. 

2. A good rule of thumb to gauge your intensity for your steady state cardio work is the Talk Test.  Imagine yourself doing your preferred exercise. Can you still hold a conversation with someone or are you huffing and puffing too hard.  Bring yourself to just below that point where it starts to get difficult to hold a conversation and stay there for the duration of the exercise.  As your fitness develops, you can experiment with other more intense cardio options.

Got questions?  Leave me a comment below.

Before the family arrives on Thanksgiving Day, I’ll be at the LifeStyles Fitness Center from 7am to Noon for the annual FREE Turkey Burner workouts.  If you’re in the area, you can enjoy free group exercise classes, free workouts in the fitness center, and if you join or renew your membership, you’ll get a special bonus, but you’ve got to be there Thursday or Friday because this special bonus is available only on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday!  

OK, so before you celebrate, I’ve got a great workout for you to try.  It’s a fun workout I call the Turkey Twelve.   It’s twelve repetitions of twelve different exercises with no rest between exercises.  It’s only a few minutes of work, but it’ll get your heart rate going.  Run through the circuit, take a 2 minute break, and repeat until you’re cooked.

Leave a comment below to let me know what you think of the workout!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Mountain Climber Exercise Video

My latest video highlights a great exercise that you probably remember from your high school days.  At the time, you probably thought it was torture.  But it was really a great cardio and functional strength building exercise. 

Click here to see a video of the Mountain Climber!

Results can happen.  They just need to know how to do it and I can help.

Get the report now below.  The answer might surprise you.

The body is a pretty amazing system. When you’re beginning your workout program, you might be able to only do 20 minutes at a moderately elevated heart rate. As health and function improves, you’ll be able to more work with the same effort. Many people hit a plateau with their cardio workout (and their resistance workout) where they’re comfortable and stay there though. I see people doing the same workout at the same pace and same intensity. At one time it might have taken their body 300 calories to perform that effort. Now that they’ve improved it might only require 250 calories.

Looking to bust through that plateau and make a difference? Try changing your intensity with interval workouts.

First, make sure you’ve built up a sufficient cardio base. After your warm up, bring your heart rate up to 65%-75% of your max for 5 minutes. Next, crank up the intensity to 85% of max for one minute. Repeat this cycle 3-5 times and then cool down. Try this once a week. If you have any heart or other medical conditions, make sure you’ve been cleared first.

Need help developing a results-driven program to meet your goals?

I can help. Ask me.

Here’s why you need to get your hands off that machine:

Holding on reduces the effect of supporting your weight. Using the handrails to support you lifts some of your weight off the machine, effectively making it easier for your legs. This means that you’re not simulating actual walking, but instead you’re just faking it.

Holding on can promote poor posture and unnatural movement. Grabbing the front of the machine increase your risk for slumped shoulders and a rounded back. It also causes an unnatural running or walking style, often preventing your legs from fully extending, further screwing up your body’s alignment and altering movement patterns. Add one more thing, you can also increase your risk for repetitive strain injuries.

You’re burning fewer calories. Cranking up the speed or incline higher than you can handle and compensating by grabbing on to the machine cancels some of the effects of your exercise. Many people look at the calories burned number and incorrectly believe that just because that number is going up, that you’re actually burning those calories.

There are a couple of flaws here.

1. Grabbing the machine and lifting your weight off means you’re doing less work. Scientific studies have proven this. The machine doesn’t know you’re cheating and will still tell you the same result as if you were doing all the work. You might as well just turn the machine on, step off and let it run. Read a book and come back in a half hour. The machine still thinks you were working.

2. The second flaw here deals more with the fallacy of the “calories burned” reading that you’ll see on the machine’s display. The machine usually doesn’t know enough about you to actually understand the rate at which you burn calories. Put a hyper-fit individual on the treamill next to an unconditioned person, set the speed and incline on the same settings, and the calories burned number might show up the same. However, each of those individuals bodies will burn calories at different rates. Don’t worry about how many calories the machine thinks you’re using. Just do it right and burn calories at your own rate.

You negate the effect of the incline. I saw someone today walking with the incline at 12%. She was clamped on to the machine and leaning back to the point where she was perpendicular to the tread. That means she was effectively walking with zero incline. When you walk uphill outdoors you don’t lean backward. Why would you do that indoor? Same goes for the stepper. When you’re walking up stairs you don’t lean on the handrails or press your palm on the rail to remove some of your weight.

You’re doing nothing for your balance. Life is full of challenges. It’s full of uneven surfaces too. Your brain relies on your ability to compensate for changes in terrain. Holding on to the rails eliminates that balance challenge, increasing your risk again for injuries.

You might need to check your heart rate every once in awhile. That’s OK, but check it and let go. Don’t obsess about that number. Learn how you feel when your heart is working where you expect it to be and go there.

If you feel unsteady on the machine, slow it down and/or reduce the incline. Over time, you can speed it up as you gain confidence.

If you’re holding on because that’s the only way you can ready or watch TV, stop focusing on how you’ll entertain yourself and consider your health instead of what Brad and Angelina are doing this week. Can’t handle the boredom? Try an audiobook or go outside once in awhile and change your scenery.

Got another reason? Tell me about it and I’ll help you get rid of that idea and get you on the machine the right way.

F stands for frequency, referring to the number of times each week you’re performing the exercise. Your goal should be to aim for at least 30 minutes of cardio exercise five days a week. 45 minutes is better. 60 is even better.

I is for intensity. Are you exercising at the right intensity to get the results you’re looking for? 65% to 75% of your max heart rate is going to give you a good aerobic benefit as you begin your exercise program. This level may seem too easy for some and you may be tempted to go harder in every workout. If that’s you, resist the urge to crank up every workout, but test that 80-85% range once or twice a week. As your stamina increases, we can start investigating interval training to get that heart pumping harder and develop greater performance benefits.

The first T is for time. Are you exercising long enough to get a benefit? 30 minutes is a good start. 60 minutes is even better.

The second T is for type. What type of exercise are you performing? What type of equipment are you using? The Lifestyles Fitness Center has lots of different cardio equipment for you to choose from. Experiment with different machines and find your favorites.

E is for enjoyment. Are you enjoying your workout? Here are a few ideas to make it even more enjoyable:

• Work out with a friend.
• Change to a different machine every few days to do something different. The same old slog on the road to nowhere on the treadmill can be brain numbing.
• Try the elliptical.
• Try out the climbing wall at the Annerino Center.
• Check out the Stair Master.
• When the weather gets warmer, go for a walk or an outdoor run. Ride your bike.

What other ideas can you add to this list? Let’s hear it!