exercise equipment

[shanti]

ok...i want to buy a piece of exercise equipment, but am unsure about what to buy.

my choices:

treadmill

recumbent bike

eliptical trainer

help me out and tell me why, please!

[Kathy in Cambridge]

1. Elliptical

easy on the joints, great cardio workout!

[GOPisEvil]

2. Exactly!

You took the words straight outta my mouth!

[Kathy in Cambridge]

7. If you set the tension high enough, you get the same cardio

benefits as running. And my knees don't hurt! :D

[shanti]

3. anything special to look for?

?

[Kathy in Cambridge]

13. I like the ellipticals where you move your arms

versus the ones that are more like stairmasters.

They also have smaller ones that fold for home gyms, but I've never tried one.

[JimmyJazz]

4. Elliptical: You get so much more work out of the muscles with

less VO requirements - therefore, you see results the fastest.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. balance ball

I use this because sitting all day at work does a number on my back. It doesn't cost much and would be a good addition to your other equipment.

[shanti]

6. is that like a pilates ball?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

9. not quite

I don't do pilates, but I think the balance ball is bigger. All I know is that the exercises you do on it are mainly for the back. It was recommended to my husband by our chiropractor because we both had back problems. The ball is helping us both.

[Cobalt Violet]

10. That's true too.

I'm going to get a ball for my house. I love to do pilates and can't always make the classes my gym offers.

[Cobalt Violet]

8. elliptical trainer

I work out on one at my gym and burn about 120 calories in 10 minutes. My workouts are between 30 and 50 minutes depending how I feel. I started as a beginner and had no joint, foot or any other pain.

So it is a very intense work out and it burns calories very efficiently.

[sam sarrha]

11. get the book.. 'The Men's Health Home Workout Bible', by Lou Schuler

you dont need the real fancy weight training machines.. they show you how to do it with weights form walmart and the big ball..

you are referring to aerobic conditioning.. there is more to consider..too late when you are to old to do it because of neglect.

[sam sarrha]

12. the recumbent bike is probably the best for not hurting yourself,

[oldtime dfl_er]

15. Walmart?

Please buy it from Costco or something.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

14. My preference is for the treadmill. n/t

[vpigrad]

16. Free weights!

I did the running thing for years and didn't lose a pound. I lost just over 50 pounds after lifting weights for just three years. Every pound of muscle you gain burns 50 kcalories per day. When you run, you only burn extra calories while running. When you get stronger, you burn more calories all of the time. Also, gaining muscle is a good thing to do because you tend to lose muscle each year as you get older.

[Squatch]

17. Ergometer

Can't go wrong with a Concept 2

http://www.concept2.com/Default.asp?bhcp=1