New Years is obviously a good time for the fitness industry. After a holiday season where everyone –including yours truly–seems to have eaten to0 much, New Year marks the time when everyone wants to break from their unhealthy ways.
Of course, we’d love to see you here in Motiv. We can certainly get you into great shape again in a safe and healthy way.
But many folks want to workout at home, so it becomes shopping time for fitness equipment. At the top of most lists are the treadmill and the elipitical trainer.
Before you make the major purchase — they are expensive — let me ask you a question: what is your goal? Is it to burn fat and lose weight?
If your main goal is to lose weight, let me suggest a safer and cheaper machine: the exercise bike. Personally, I recommend this one here — which is only about $625 delivered from a number of places on the web. You could get 2 or 3 treadmills for that price.
Why? Do I just like biking? No. I like results.
If you want to lose weight doing cardio-type work, there is a gold standard workout you need to be doing: Interval Training.
Don’t take my word for it, read about it here, and here and here in the New York Times.
Now, interval training is not fun. But it only takes about 20-25 minutes per day. Repeat: not fun, but effective and quick. We help all our clients with interval training workouts on their ”off days” from the studio.
But, you say, I like my 40 minute runs on the treadmill. OK, great. Steady-pace runs just don’t burn fat. They may relieve your stress, but chances are your body has adapted to the workout so it just isn’t effective any more. Ask yourself: Was running for 40 minutes relatively easy for you? If the answer is yes, it didn’t burn fat.
And did I mention that interval training will take half the time?
So, if you’re going to buy a new piece of equipment, choose wisely. Don’t buy a really expensive clothes rack.
