Best Cardio for Fat Loss?

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

Okay I do two pretty high volume workouts twice a week and get 2 days rest after workout A and three days after workout B. I do thi as it fits my schdule and I like my cardio so need good rest periods.

Which is better for overal calories burned - elliptical trainer or treadmil incline walking?

I ask because even though I workpout harder on the elliptical when i do my 40 min fat burn intervals at medium level - I do it at 6 out of up to level 12 I burn around 300 cals.

The other day I did only 9 mins warm up at speed 6 and incline 10 on the treadmil before working out and noticed it said I burned around 100 cals! Well forty mins of that would have me burning 100 cals more than the elliptical even though the latter gets me way more out of breath and more fatigued!

Any insight to this? A lot of lifters I noticed at the gym do this uphill normal pace walking on the treadmill - is it better than elliptical?

I get to do 3 good cardio sessions a week, usually one HIIT seeing as i get so many days of between weigths. I do it like this as I LOVE MY CARDIO - SWIM, RUN AND ELLIPTICAL.

My workout is an adapted version of

The 2 Day a Week Minimalist Power and Bulking Routine: by the authour of thge ‘Brawn’ series.

Workout A Mondays

Core lifts - compound push for lower and then upper horizontal compound

Squat 4 x 8

Flat Bench press 4 x 8

Millitary press 4 x 8

Horizontal Row 4 x 8

Weighted incline alternating Crunches 3 x 10

Barbell curls 3 x 10

Workout B Thursdays (Lower compound pull and upper compound vertical)

Deadlift 5 x 5

Wide grip pull downs 4 x 8 (am at 80% bodyweight so chins should be in the picture soon I hope)

Incline Bench - 4 x 8 - might change for Dips

Side delt lateral raises - 3 x 10

Calf raises 3 x 12

Abs - 3 x 10

tricep iso - 3 x 10

I do this so I can fit good cardio in and workout hard on weights days, hitting my compounds from both vertical and horizontal and lower body push and pull at a good hypertrophy rep and set range. It is a lot of volume but I get a balance of lots of time for eating and recovery in the week also. Basically 5 days of rest, 3 of which I might do and usually do do, cardio.

I do the twice a week as it has everything a 3 times a week does but puts it into two days and I find I recover much better than I do from a 3x full bod or an upper / lower split.

So is this UPHILL TREADMILL WALKING at just a slight brisk pace for around 40 - 45 mins better than going hammer and tongs on the elliptical BUT SEEMINGLY BURNING LESS CALS or can one just not trust the mechanical readouts as being 100% accurate?

Cheers all.

2

Didn’t you start out doing tons of cardio? Running up and down mountains and stuff? I remember you saying something like that in one of your first posts.

What worked for fat loss (for you) back then?

3

I want to keep my cardio in the gym now if I can, it’s closer to work. No mountains in Shanghai or steps near where I live. Obviously running non treadmill is best and swimming is good. Shit man my very saying the kind of training I used to do should tell you I know that. Everyone is so quick to attack around here. Are you all on roids?

I just want to know if anyone knows if stedy state uphill walking on a treadmill beats working on an elliptical as I go hammer and tongs for 45 mins all out on the elliptical and it says I burn 300 cals. I did 9 mins uphill walking on a treadmil and it said I burned alsmot a hundy, so would burn more in 40 mins doing that than on the elliptical.

But how can that be as I go so intense on the elliptical? Are these readouts accurate?

I’m just curious. I know running up steps and moutains is awesome cardio, I don’t know much about cardio machines as never really used them before. I started with the elliptical as it is light on the joints and that sounds good. But if I can burn an extra hundy cals by just walking on a treadmil - hello treamill.

Simple question really, deserving of a simple answer.

Tommorow I have enough time to go running at a nearby park, which I’ll choose over any machine any day, but on some days my schedule makes doing my cardio at the gym easier.

4

[quote]leon36 wrote:
I want to keep my cardio in the gym now if I can, it’s closer to work. No mountains in Shanghai or steps near where I live. Obviously running non treadmill is best and swimming is good. Shit man my very saying the kind of training I used to do should tell you I know that. Everyone is so quick to attack around here. Are you all on roids?

I just want to know if anyone knows if stedy state uphill walking on a treadmill beats working on an elliptical as I go hammer and tongs for 45 mins all out on the elliptical and it says I burn 300 cals. I did 9 mins uphill walking on a treadmil and it said I burned alsmot a hundy, so would burn more in 40 mins doing that than on the elliptical.

But how can that be as I go so intense on the elliptical? Are these readouts accurate?

I’m just curious. I know running up steps and moutains is awesome cardio, I don’t know much about cardio machines as never really used them before. I started with the elliptical as it is light on the joints and that sounds good. But if I can burn an extra hundy cals by just walking on a treadmil - hello treamill.

Simple question really, deserving of a simple answer.

Tommorow I have enough time to go running at a nearby park, which I’ll choose over any machine any day, but on some days my schedule makes doing my cardio at the gym easier.[/quote]

You’re right, it is a simple question… “should I do treadmill or elliptical to burn more calories?”

That’s really all you had to ask. You wrote several paragraphs instead, and made it really hard to figure out what you were really asking.

Personally, I don’t trust the readouts on the machines, and personally I prefer to run on a treadmill (if I’m going to run inside at all)… but as far as which one ACTUALLY burns more calories, I don’t know. I believe there are several sites that have charts with calories burned by activity type that can give you better insight. I would trust those before I trust the machine readouts.

5

Bugger it, I’m going to the park to run.

6

FCUK me.

45 min jog with all out sprint every 5 minutes. All done on empty stomach upon waking ()after coffee and a smoke.) I’m fcuked, done, fried, smoked, toasted.

Makes my elliptical HIIT workout seem like a pleasent stroll around The Old French Concession.

And it’s squats day tommorow…

Reason I ask about machines guys, is I’m scared of fucking up my knees. It happened once before and they seem fine now but at the back of my mind there’s this low frequency fear…

Hence I want to know the best fat burning cardio machine. Also lowest knee impact one. Just in case.

That run was killer but awesome. Fcuk. Not ashamed to admit that some of it was more then just active recovery after the sprints and was ‘sitting under a tree for a minute’ type recovery. Must have squeezed around a pint of sweat out of my vest after lol. It’s about 38 degrees here today too.

7

Lowest knee impact one is the elliptical. That said, if you can run and sprint like that then you needn’t be overly worried about your knees.
I personally find treadmills to be easier on my knee than actual running on the road; anything past 20 minutes normal outdoor running and my patella tendon will be sore as hell for the next 4 or 5 days.

8

Yeah I’m doing deads, deep squats and just did that and feel fine.

Need to forget the past injury and get on with now.

9

How are your shoes? Good running shoes can make all the difference in the world in terms of impact, especially if you have any tendency to roll your feet in or out, or your foot alignment isn’t perfectly parallel. Are there running stores in Shanghai? Usually running stores can do a good job at helping you select the right shoe for you.

But in terms of machines, elliptical is by far the best on the knees. Unless they’ve come up with something new since then.

10

Hmmmm. I DO buy cheap arse runners for the gym and cardio and buy Nikes etc for going out, the thinking being - it doesn’t matter how I look in the gym. My gym sneakers literally cost me 30usd.

I noticed since I’ve been doing the elliptical, when I ran today, my stride was not as long nor as slim but was kind of wide and ‘bounding.’ The last ten minutes the old memory kicked in and I started thinking " long narrow strides, long kicks. your feet are light, you are light’ etc.