Bc_fitness
Tue, Apr-03-07, 17:19
For those who might be considering buying a cardio machine, or
trying to decide which ones to use at the gym, I thought I'd
report my findings of some recent cardio machine testing I've
been doing - not brands, specifically, although I'll mention
them, but types.
Types I've been playing with: Precor elliptical with handles
Precor elliptical w/o handles but with cross-ramp Versaclimber
Precor Stairmaster Percor Treadmill Concept II Rower
I'm doing very subjective comparison testing right now, just
seeing what I think of each. BTW, I own the versaclimber and
the cross-ramp elliptical.
First of all, it's pretty clear that you can work very hard on
all of these, and fairly easily on most. Since people work out
for different reasons, it's probably important to first decide
on your goals and then see which machines might be most
effective for you. I've been spending a few months playing
with all of these, and it's clear that, while your cardio
conditioning improves with all of them, going from one to
another can require some pretty specific conditioning before
any given machine feels "comfortable." No suprise there.
So, on to the machines. I'm going to try to rate each on
several characteristics:
1. Level of perceived exertion (this usually translates to
'how soon do I wish I was off this thing' while working at
a moderately high effort level.
2. Physical comfort. Not exertion, but joint pain and other
ergonimics kinds of issues.
3. Degree of boredom. Not comparing to the great outdoors,
but to indoor machines. 'Nuff said.
4. Training effect for other activities. A pretty specific
feeling about how the conditioning of the particular
machine seems to help me doing other things.
How I rate them: Precor elliptical with handles
5. perceived exertion - med/low You can crank it up to 200
steps/min for a sprint and it's plenty hard of course. The
handles are nice, but don't add much conditioning I
believe. I try to clasp/unclasp my hands and use diff
combos of fingers, but it's not much.
6. physical comfort - good. No problems at all.
7. degree of boredom - not bad. Enough variety in workouts,
hand positions, and resistance to keep me going -
especially with high- energy music in the headphones.
8. training for other activities - Med. Basic cardio
fitness builds well. not so great for hill climbs or
stuff like that. Pretty good for running carryover, but
not same as running.
Precor elliptical w/o handles but with cross-ramp
9. Perceived exertion - med/high If you crank the ramp to
it's steepest and raise the resistance, it's pretty tough.
10. physical comfort - good. no problems at all
11. degree of boredom - not bad. same variety in
difficulty levels as precor above, and ramp adds a
nice 'terrain' dimension
12. training for other activities - Pretty good. The cross
ramp can hit the legs/butt pretty hard, (try wearing a
pack) and the cardio conditioning is great, assuming you
work hard like anything else. Need to look elsewhere for
arms and shoulders unless you use dumbells.
Versaclimber
13. Perceived exertion - Way High! This thing kicks my butt
every time I try to stay on for longer than 20 minutes at
a med/high resistance level. For some real pain, hang
underneath it and go for awhile.
14. physical comfort - No problems ergonomically.
15. degree of boredom - Too tired to be bored - Well, actually
it's more boring than those machines that can provide
profiles and vary angles, etc, so I guess it's pretty bad.
16. training for other activities - Pretty damn good if you're
training for fairly high levels of exertion like mountain
climbing, hiking up hills with a pack, wrestling, etc.
Carryover to running - not great. General conditioning
seems very good. Racket sports are helped somewhat.
Precor Stairmaster
17. Perceived exertion - med/high. If you crank the level up,
it's hard not to lean on the rails and just survive. Takes
some discipline.
18. physical comfort - med. This one gets my hips and feet
sometimes. It's cumulative.
19. degree of boredom - pretty bad. you can only change the
level and that's not much stimulation.
20. training for other activities - good cardio. Uphill
hiking/running is helped. Not much running-specific
carryover.
Percor Treadmill
21. Perceived exersion - High if you crank the angle or the
speed, otherwise, med.
22. physical comfort - Easier on the legs than pavement, but
still some of the usual running complaints, just to a
lesser degree.
23. degree of boredom - not great. Not as fun as ellipticals.
tend to zone out, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
24. training for other activities - best carryover to running
(duh). good aerobic conditioning. Not much for other, full
body activities.
Concept II Rower
25. perceived exertion - med/high, but better with some
practice
26. physical comfort - fine.
27. degree of boredom - pretty bad. You can only change your
grip so many ways.
28. training for other activities - Good basic aerobic
conditioning, but not too effective for high-effort,
uphill activities hikes or anything like that.
Conclusions: Machine with the highest perceived effort level:
Versaclimber. If you can stay on this thing consistantly, it
will hone you into the lean, mean athlete you always wanted to
be. Not an easy one to face early morning or when you're
tired. For me, it has to be an addition to other stuff.
Machine I'm most likely to keep going back to: Precor w.
cross-ramp. Good variety, comfort, and plenty of effort when
you dial it up. This is my machine of choice if I had to pick
one. I will add that I've tried other brands, but I like the
Precor the best.
Machine I really want to get off of: Stairmaster. Just don't
like these things.
trying to decide which ones to use at the gym, I thought I'd
report my findings of some recent cardio machine testing I've
been doing - not brands, specifically, although I'll mention
them, but types.
Types I've been playing with: Precor elliptical with handles
Precor elliptical w/o handles but with cross-ramp Versaclimber
Precor Stairmaster Percor Treadmill Concept II Rower
I'm doing very subjective comparison testing right now, just
seeing what I think of each. BTW, I own the versaclimber and
the cross-ramp elliptical.
First of all, it's pretty clear that you can work very hard on
all of these, and fairly easily on most. Since people work out
for different reasons, it's probably important to first decide
on your goals and then see which machines might be most
effective for you. I've been spending a few months playing
with all of these, and it's clear that, while your cardio
conditioning improves with all of them, going from one to
another can require some pretty specific conditioning before
any given machine feels "comfortable." No suprise there.
So, on to the machines. I'm going to try to rate each on
several characteristics:
1. Level of perceived exertion (this usually translates to
'how soon do I wish I was off this thing' while working at
a moderately high effort level.
2. Physical comfort. Not exertion, but joint pain and other
ergonimics kinds of issues.
3. Degree of boredom. Not comparing to the great outdoors,
but to indoor machines. 'Nuff said.
4. Training effect for other activities. A pretty specific
feeling about how the conditioning of the particular
machine seems to help me doing other things.
How I rate them: Precor elliptical with handles
5. perceived exertion - med/low You can crank it up to 200
steps/min for a sprint and it's plenty hard of course. The
handles are nice, but don't add much conditioning I
believe. I try to clasp/unclasp my hands and use diff
combos of fingers, but it's not much.
6. physical comfort - good. No problems at all.
7. degree of boredom - not bad. Enough variety in workouts,
hand positions, and resistance to keep me going -
especially with high- energy music in the headphones.
8. training for other activities - Med. Basic cardio
fitness builds well. not so great for hill climbs or
stuff like that. Pretty good for running carryover, but
not same as running.
Precor elliptical w/o handles but with cross-ramp
9. Perceived exertion - med/high If you crank the ramp to
it's steepest and raise the resistance, it's pretty tough.
10. physical comfort - good. no problems at all
11. degree of boredom - not bad. same variety in
difficulty levels as precor above, and ramp adds a
nice 'terrain' dimension
12. training for other activities - Pretty good. The cross
ramp can hit the legs/butt pretty hard, (try wearing a
pack) and the cardio conditioning is great, assuming you
work hard like anything else. Need to look elsewhere for
arms and shoulders unless you use dumbells.
Versaclimber
13. Perceived exertion - Way High! This thing kicks my butt
every time I try to stay on for longer than 20 minutes at
a med/high resistance level. For some real pain, hang
underneath it and go for awhile.
14. physical comfort - No problems ergonomically.
15. degree of boredom - Too tired to be bored - Well, actually
it's more boring than those machines that can provide
profiles and vary angles, etc, so I guess it's pretty bad.
16. training for other activities - Pretty damn good if you're
training for fairly high levels of exertion like mountain
climbing, hiking up hills with a pack, wrestling, etc.
Carryover to running - not great. General conditioning
seems very good. Racket sports are helped somewhat.
Precor Stairmaster
17. Perceived exertion - med/high. If you crank the level up,
it's hard not to lean on the rails and just survive. Takes
some discipline.
18. physical comfort - med. This one gets my hips and feet
sometimes. It's cumulative.
19. degree of boredom - pretty bad. you can only change the
level and that's not much stimulation.
20. training for other activities - good cardio. Uphill
hiking/running is helped. Not much running-specific
carryover.
Percor Treadmill
21. Perceived exersion - High if you crank the angle or the
speed, otherwise, med.
22. physical comfort - Easier on the legs than pavement, but
still some of the usual running complaints, just to a
lesser degree.
23. degree of boredom - not great. Not as fun as ellipticals.
tend to zone out, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
24. training for other activities - best carryover to running
(duh). good aerobic conditioning. Not much for other, full
body activities.
Concept II Rower
25. perceived exertion - med/high, but better with some
practice
26. physical comfort - fine.
27. degree of boredom - pretty bad. You can only change your
grip so many ways.
28. training for other activities - Good basic aerobic
conditioning, but not too effective for high-effort,
uphill activities hikes or anything like that.
Conclusions: Machine with the highest perceived effort level:
Versaclimber. If you can stay on this thing consistantly, it
will hone you into the lean, mean athlete you always wanted to
be. Not an easy one to face early morning or when you're
tired. For me, it has to be an addition to other stuff.
Machine I'm most likely to keep going back to: Precor w.
cross-ramp. Good variety, comfort, and plenty of effort when
you dial it up. This is my machine of choice if I had to pick
one. I will add that I've tried other brands, but I like the
Precor the best.
Machine I really want to get off of: Stairmaster. Just don't
like these things.