There is a woman at my gym who does the same workout every single day…or at least every time that I have been there.
She gets on one type of stair stepper for a long time (maybe 30 min) and then she gets on another type of stair stepper for a long time too (maybe 30 min again). She literally climbs the entire time that I am at the gym!
Let’s think of 3 reasons why this workout is never going to transform her body or get her the results she is seeking (unless of course she is looking to get really good at holding herself up with her arms, climbing rotating stairs with bad form).
- Absolutely no variety. Her body is completely used to this workout. Surprise your body. Push it…push it real good. 🙂
- Steady State Cardio. Steady state cardio burns calories, but does not keep your metabolism raised for an extended period of time after your workout like strength training does. Strength training can boost your metabolism for up for up to 48 hours after your workout. Awesome, huh?
- Her form is really really bad. I have to fight the urge to help her since I don’t know her and don’t want to offend her, but she puts all of her weight on the arm rests and her back is hunched over the entire time. It looks so uncomfortable!
I think I have mentioned before that I used to run every day for about an hour. Sometimes I would go to the gym and hop on the ellyptical for 30-60 minutes. I always wondered why I wasn’t seeing any results from my long sweat sessions at the gym.
I did a rare straight up conditioning day using machines at the gym this morning. I still like to do these 2-3 times a month to get a good sweat in and give my body a break. Even spending 10 minutes on each machine was a lot compared to what I would normally do, but check out how I spent my 10 minutes on the treadmill….there is nothing ‘steady state’ about this workout.
First 5 min – walked, but changed incline every minute.
- Min 1: Walk at 4.8mph (0 incline)
- Min 2: Walk at 4.8mph (8.5 incline)
- Min 3: Walk at 4.8mph (0 incline)
- Min 4: Walk at 4.8mph (8.5 incline)
- Min 5: Walk at 4.8mph (0 incline)
Last 5 min – ran at 2 different speeds (kept incline at 0).
- Min 6: Run at 7.5mph
- Min 7: Run at 10mph
- Min 8: Run at 7.5mph
- Min 9: Run at 10mph
- Min 10: Run at 7.5mph
If you’re trying to lose weight or get in shape, it’s a misconception that you must burn off all that fat before you should start lifting weights. Most people think “Okay…I’m gonna do some cardio and burn off this extra fat. Then I’ll lift weights and ‘tone’ what’s left.” Wrong.
I’m not saying that you shouldn’t do any cardio, but I am saying (as I have before) that reading US Weekly and slowly treading along on the elliptical or stairs every workout is not going to help you much on your journey towards becoming fit.
More on this from Alwyn Cosgrove: Training Techniques to Maximize Fat Loss.
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