Best Machine for Weight Loss

kead1987

Just wondering, is there a general concensus amongst people losing weight as to which machine is best in a gym, i.e treadmill, rower, bike, air-stepper? I know a general, all round workout is best but which machine has that little bit more?

BossArky

threadmill

LundiMardi

I would say it would be a cross between the x trainer and rower to be honest

catherine22

i would say either the treadmill or the x-trainer. i was on the treadmill for 30 mins last nite going at a pace between power walking and a slow jog- 6.8k-7.3 k and i burnt something like 170 calories and then i did 40 mins on the x-trainer going at level 6 out of 25 levels and i burnt 400 calories.

i dont know very much about fitness, i always get my advice from here but i would say whatever burns the most calories for weight loss and then obviously mix that with weight training. but as well as that you need to find something that you like because then you will continue to use it.

hope this helps

x

justsomebloke

which ever one you enjoy the most and will keep you going to the gym time and time again is the best one for continued weight loss

hunnymonster

catherine22 wrote:

i would say either the treadmill or the x-trainer. i was on the treadmill for 30 mins last nite going at a pace between power walking and a slow jog- 6.8k-7.3 k and i burnt something like 170 calories and then i did 40 mins on the x-trainer going at level 6 out of 25 levels and i burnt 400 calories.

Catherine, Don't rely on the values the machines give you to calculate the calories used. They are hopelessly inaccurate.

OP, as the others have said, whatever keeps you going is the best.

There are many factors to consider. For example if you are currently very unfit you are best to stick to low heart rate exercise as you will not be able to sustain an effort at higher HR's. As your fitness improves you can up the intensity and so burn more calories.

Personally, I like the threadmill and I switch to a cross trainer occassionally to give my joints a brake. I don't use the bike much as I find it very difficult to get my HR up on it and the rower drives me nuts with boredom.

quozl

jsb wrote:

which ever one you enjoy the most and will keep you going to the gym time and time again is the best one for continued weight loss

I think this is the best answer to the question, but for general interest the highest VO2Max levels (pretty much a measure of work done) are seen in nordic skiers then runners.

"Some selected examples for Olympic-caliber males are: cross country skiers, 85 ml/kgmin; middle distance runners, 80 ml/kgmin and cyclists 75 ml/kgmin." from http://www.teamoregon.com/publications/vo2max.html

Sangre

Almost certainly the threadmill. Why? Because you have to carry your full bodyweight the entire time. Most other machines give you some kind of support e.g. sit on bikes. The rower is pretty bad in comparison.

Of course, this is just in pure calorie burning terms.

g'em

Um.. this really bugs me... it's TREADmill not threadmill..

jsb is right though - OP get on a machine you enjoy and move on it. The differences in calories burned between machines are negligible at best. You say you want it for weight loss so get up and be active, simple. Why confine it to a gym? Play football, go for a walk, take the stairs - they may seem small but they make a big difference. But... and it'd be a shame not to say it.. all your gym efforts will be in vain if your diet isn't up to scratch.

Sangre

How is the difference between a treadmill and a rower neglibile if effort/time is the same? I can't comprehend it from a pure numbers point of view.

Also, to slightly rephrase the OP's question. If you enjoyed all machines equally which is the best one to lose weight on?

Dragan

Sweet mother of jesus, it's like arguing if boiling your rice for 5 minutes or 7 minutes will make a difference.

HIIT vs LIT, Body part splits Vs TBT, Crossfit Vs Everyone else, High Carb Vs High Protein, Paleo Vs the Zone.

You can argue X Vs Y all day, but chances are the tiny variable to that you are talking about will actually make **** all difference unless everything else is tied up properly in the grand scheme of things.

OP, what type of cardio do you do, what are you goals, do you have any current injuries, what do you eat before and after the gym, how much do you sleep or drink in any given day, do you take any supplements or thermogenics, how long do you do cardio, is gym related cardio work the extent of you excercise i.e do you do team sports , individual sports or resistance training, have you noticed any benefit from your program to date?

The majority of people, to make an educated and informed decision for you would need to know the answers to all those questions.

Until then, as already stated by several people here, find one you like and do it....if you get sick of it find a new one and do that.

Sangre

Sorry your grace for troubling you.

Ok, so on a treadmill you're always supporting your full body weight, often to the point of pushing yourself against gravity.

On a rowing machine you're sitting on a slider with little friction. Or on a bike you're sitting on a saddle.

Now if someone asks you which will be easier to burn 300 calories will the treadmill not be quicker for a person of average/low fitness? Would it not work you have to cover a further distance on the rower?

Work = Force x Distance covered. And I'm assuming a rower takes less force to cover a certain distance, even if it seems much harder for a person not used to the motions.

Again, I'm talking only about calories and not for the purpose of CV training.

Dragan

Sangre wrote:

Again, I'm talking only about calories and not for the purpose of CV training.

And once again the answer is just not that simple I fear. For calories burned you would need to look at the starting metabolic rate ( i.e if you do your resistance training first and then your cardio you MR will be higher, so you'll be burning more calories already and machines have no way to know that ) lean muscle mass and even break it down to muscle activation and load.

Sure, on the threadmill your are supporting your whole body on your legs, but on the Rower you are actually utilising lots of muscles including the legs, back, arms and shoulders, so effectively the rower calls into action far more muscles to perform the given action.

It's just not that easy to sit there and say you will burn "X" amount of calories in "Y" amount of time on whichever machine.

The below article might be worth reading http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=24205 but I would simply state get into the gym be honest with yourself and work hard, keep the diet in check and the results will speak for themselves.

quozl

Sangre wrote:

Again, I'm talking only about calories and not for the purpose of CV training.

I covered this with my reply, VO2Max is the amount of oxygen absorbed per kg body weight per minute. So it's a measure of rate of work.

The highest VO2Max values measured are in nordic skiers followed by runners. Presumably the nordic skiiers win out because they use their upper body to a larger extent and so can burn a little more oxygen in their upper half.

You won't burn as many calories in the same amount of time rowing or cycling. However don't forget that running is a high impact activity.

If all I cared about was being as fit as humanly possible I'd go with nordic skiing (after moving to scandanavia) followed by cycling/rowing. Cycling and rowing also being non-impact means you can do a lot more of them a week than you could running without breaking down.

I'm still going with JSB's answer of do the one you enjoy though

amazingemmet

Personally the barbell limitless in its application

But as the others said the one you enjoy the most

justsomebloke

given the day that is in it, don't forget about a bit of rumpy pumpy may go down a treat, and seen as though some people are so caught up in having to carry your own body weight, given the right position you may have to both carry your own and your partners weight making it even that bit more calorie intensive.

the draw back of this is that you might not be able to guarantee the length of time that you are going to be able to do this as it might be all over before you have even gotten into it depending on your partner

rubadub

Sangre wrote:

Work = Force x Distance covered. And I'm assuming a rower takes less force to cover a certain distance, even if it seems much harder for a person not used to the motions.

Not sure which would be more. Many will say jogging or even walking will use more than cycling per hour, but I cycle like a demon when out, heart rate is way up. It really depends on the effort you put in. A person can do 20miles on a bike in a gym, this is certainly not equivalent to 20miles on a road! there is no break in momentum at all. Their average speed in the gym will be much higher than a bike computer average. A lot of energy is used up breaking the inertia. I have heard walking very slowly uses more calories per mile since you have to break momentum, but 1 hour of slow walking will get you less miles so if you have only 1 hour to exercise you are better sprinting than walking.

In the cycling forums here many people recommend racers and hybrids over mountain bikes since they are more energy efficient (less rolling resistance due to tyres and wheel size, lighter bike etc). But if you want a bike to exercise, i.e. burn calories then who cares about efficiency, I would prefer the comfort and durability of a mountain bike. The slower speed you can get to is also safer.

If I was only asked what activity was the best for fat loss in a gym, 3 times a week for an hour each time, I would have thought it would be free weights, with no question, due to the metabolic effect it has during the entire week.

justsomebloke

I would agree with rubadub on this one as it all comes down to the effort that you put in, however it also depends on what you are doing aswell. For example a 20 minute HIIT session will probably burn more calories in overall then just doing an hour long jog, even though they are both just variations of running. Also spin class is better then just cycling and spinning will probably give you better results then just running. So the is no clear answer as there is really no clear question. The real problem as with everything else is that people just want results and they want them as quickly and easily as possible, however cause it isn't actually easy most give up especially those that end up doing things that they aren't actually enjoying but just do them cause it is the scientifically best way of doing it.

As D said it the whole bid picture of things it isn't going to make that much of a difference as there are so many other things to take into consideration so just go out and enjoy it and as G said if you don't find what you like in the gym there are plenty of other things you can do to keep active.