Just curious if anyone has any advice which one is more beneficial for cardio.....the stationary bike or the treadmill.

Now I do need to state that I'm not a exercise-a-holic. I go the the gym 3 days a week. Do cardio for 30 minutes and work a few machines for legs and arms. On the treadmill I walk at a very fast pase, but dont run and at an incline of about 3. On the stationary bike i use the "fat burning" button.

I'm curious as far as my 30 minutes of cardio...............which burns more fat, etc. Maybe they are both the same! Don't know. Thanks for the advice.

Of all the cardio exercises that I do (and I do a lot!), the "elliptical trainer" and "spinning" burn the most fat. Next in line would be higher-intensity interval training on the "treadmill" (also called HIIT). But there is a difference between spinning (which is done on a stationary bike) and riding a stationary bike. I would never push myself as hard, as the group instructor pushes me, in a spin class, as I would if I just sat on a stationary bike and pedaled.

Also, I do so much cycle work each week, that I don't feel like spending any more time on a stationary bike for my additional workouts. I spend around 3 hours per week on a bike in spin class, 3 hours per week on a road bike and 3 hours per week on a mountain bike. And real life bike riding is usually going to burn more fat than stationary bike riding, and it's way more fun, too!

So, I would say, hit the spin class if you can, or buy a bike and hit the road when you can, or try the various programs on the treadmill to challenge yourself. I would probably make pedaling the stationary bike a lower priority.

J

I'll get in before anyone else on this point

If you "do cardio and then work a few macines for legs and arms" you're not maximizing your fat burning!

Always do resistance (weights) exercises before cardio for maximum fat burning

loCarbJ - i live in a small town (population 12,000) and I go to the Wellness center at our local college that is run by college students (I'm lucky I got someone to show me how to work the darn machines). You're pretty much on your own. They dont' have any type of classess or anything like that. Best part about it though is that it only costs $15.00 per month to join. Can't beat that!

I like the idea of weights first then cardio - i wouldn't have thought of that.......i'm just trying to get the most benefit from what I have available without spending hours in the gym.

kstornado,

That's a great price. I live in a great big town in the San Francisco Bay Area. I pay $24.00 per month to belong to 24 Hour Fitness, they have lot's of classes and lot of machines and trainers.

Does your center have any other machines besides treadmills and stationary bikes? Are there more challanging pre-programed workouts available on your treadmill?

About weight-lifting before or after cardio. I've actually been told the opposite by many different trainers. I've been told to do cardio first, then resistance training. All of my weight-training, is done in group workout (I wouldn't do it otherwise, anyway. To me, it would be too boring). I do 5 hours a week of weight training split between Monday PM, Wednesday PM, Friday PM and Sunday AM. In all the Trainer-led programs, the trainer begins with cardio (for at least 20 and up to 60 minutes), and then moves to weights.

I do mostly cardio (about 15 hours a week) and about half of it is walking. The other half is usually cycling (spin class or road), elliptical trainer and step aerobics, with some trendmill HIIT.

You can do cardio everyday. Weights (or resistance training) needs to have a 24 recovery period in between workouts. It's a really great form of exercise, because you build muscle when lifting, and therefore increase your metabolism, and you burn fat while you recover. There's just a limit to how much weightlifting that I can do without getting completely bored, and I want to be more active than that would limit me to. Cardio can be done everyday and there are so many interesting ways to do it!!

J

Thank you LoCarbJ for the wonderful advice. Oh I forgot to mention that I'm also "LAZY", so I'll do my best to try and step up my cardio!

I take Spinning class on Saturday mornings, and it is AWESOME! I haven't taken a group class in years, and I've been working out faithfully with 1/2 hour cardio (Elliptical) and 1/2 hour circuit/weight training, but doing the spinning is a nice change, uses different muscles, and I love the people and the loud music. I make jokes that the teacher is Satan, but it really is a great class. I love my gym (YMCA) because it's NOT a meat market, no one cares what you wear & everyone is there to just work out, my next class is going to be a Pilates, it should be fun!

I've tried using the treadmill, but feel I get a better workout with the Elliptical.

LL

I walk on my treadmill at least 4 to 5 times a week for 60 minutes at a time and I use my Bowflex three times a week. The days I use both should I use my Bowflex before I walk on my treadmill or does it matter ?

It boils down to heart rate. Which ever exercise gets your heart pumping in the least amount of time will give you the best fat burn. The best thing you can do is to change your cardio routine every 5-6 weeks. So start with one then switch to the other. If you want a really “kick ass” cardio routine try the stair master.

Depends... (not knowing what a Bowflex is!) is the Bowflex just cardio or is it resistance (weights or bands or something)? If it's resistance then do it first, if it's just a different sort of cardio then it shouldn't matter.

That's the one cardio machine at the gym I've never used..... is it worth it? If so I might try that for my cardio tomorrow.

Well, I used the stair master machine today and it was a good change

Treadmill is better for cardio.

I started (months ago) just walking on my treadmill. About 4 weeks in I notice I was not sweating no matter how fast I walked...and jogging was to scarry to try. So I spoke to trainers and they said to keep a fast walk same speed ( 3.1 to 3.6) And to walk 2 minutes ,.....then jog 2 minutes then walk again and to do this for the whole time (I started at 30 minutes)
Then about 6 weeks later same thing happened .. so I talked with them again and now i still do the 2 walk 2 jog.. but every 10 minutes I switch the incline ...5 then 10 then 5 then 10 then last 0. I only do this 2 a week now. It seems to really kick my fat burning into gear.
I also do cardio at gym mon, wed, fri. bike 10 minutes..ski machine(without the arm things) 20.... stairmaster 10.. then I do 20 minutes of circut training. I dont know if cardio is best before weights but thats what I do... I dont think I would be able to put as much effert into my cardio if I did weights first.
It seems to help if you add or switch up every few weeks.
Also my hubby in the military and they state for there pt to do cardio first and to have at least one different cardio rountine a week.
Hope this helps.