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grateful daughter/protective sister/committed friend/surrendered believer/adventure finder/hope seeker/servant-of-love

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Switchin things up

So my workout the last few weeks has consisted of jogging (mostly on the treadmill) and weights. I love consistency and it's sometimes hard to move my workout regime around even though I know that is highly recommended. I just want to find the workouts that will show results the fastest...remember, I'm impatient.

These last several days I have been in a battle with one of the most annoying headaches and it has kept me from being physically productive. Yesterday afternoon I actually felt good enough to workout, but I didn't want to jump into running a couple miles. So I decided to try the elliptical.

Now, I have friends who much prefer the elliptical to the treadmill and vice versa. My elliptical sessions in the past haven't lasted longer than 5 minutes. I don't know what it is, but my legs can't handle the elliptical so I have always preferred running. Until now.

My friends, I did the elliptical yesterday, on the "weight loss" program, for 30 minutes!! I perspired like madness, couldn't feel my legs when I got off, and my knees were not sore at all! It was beautiful!

So I went to Ask.com to see what the major differences between the elliptical and treadmill were. Throughout my research here's basically what most had to say the differences were:
-On the elliptical you workout more of your body (legs, arms, chest, shoulders, back)
-The elliptical is easier on your joints.
-As a result of being lighter on your knees and such, you tend to do more of a workout on an elliptical, but feel as though you are not doing as much.
-Both treadmill and elliptical are good aerobic exercises.

With all that said, I've chosen to switch to using the elliptical as it won't harm my knees and I'll be getting a better workout in the long run. I'm all about faster results!!

What do you guys prefer? (I'd like to note that I feel stupid asking questions on here like I'm going to get an over-pouring number of responses from my 3 readers, but hey, just thought I'd throw it out there)

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I support your blog Mariko! Too bad you probably already know what I am going to say. I pretty much hate the treadmill and I get bored on the elliptical, but if I could no longer run outside, then I would vote for elliptical. Pretty much I need a personal trainer yelling in my face for me to stick with it.

Krista said...

ohhhh elliptical all the way! running is a killer on your joints - trust me, i work for 2 orthopedic surgeons! but using the elliptical is good for anyone! i will say that i also love the stair-master! yeah. i'm crazy. i know! but that's an awesome work out too! woohoo for working out!

lenamarie said...

I'm so glad you took ask.com' word over this controversy rather than my own, which I gave you months ago.