Cardio Choices

Do you think you know what the best equipment for cardiovascular health is? Well, the answer to that is not as simple as you would think. There are several factors to consider when choosing what equipment to hop on, to rid your body of that pesky fat. This includes your physical abilities, your goals and your size. The best answer is the equipment that can help you attain your goals and do it safely.

If you haven't already guessed, the treadmill has probably been the most used piece of equipment in the gym over the years. For a very low stress cardio workout, just set the incline to zero and set the speed to your desired walking pace and away you go. The risk is minimal with this, as are the rewards. The workout intensity will be too low to burn many calories; and the severely obese or people with physical limitation, could still find this a high impact exercise, and and it could prove to be painful. Also walking at a slow pace, with no incline, would probably not get your heart rate up to put your body into fat-burning mode.

That being said, the obvious way to get more out of your treadmill workout is to increase your speed and or incline. First start out at a slow jog and increase the pace as your body gets used to the more strenuous exercise. Then when you think you are ready to run in the Boston marathon, crank up the incline! Running or jogging on a treadmill are excellent ways to get to your target heart rate and trigger the fat burning process. But what about those people with the physical limitations we talked about earlier? Back and joint problems will severely limit your use of the treadmill; but never fear, there are more options. They may not be 100% pain-free but they are definitely easier on the body.

Stationary bikes are another common piece of cardio equipmant being used at gyms today. Stationary cycling has the same pros and cons as riding a bike outside (with the exception of crashing!). I believe cycling is more beneficial than jogging and running because you can burn a lot of calories without the high impact pounding to the knees and back that you get from jogging and running. To a lesser degree however; there is some stress to the knees and back that is generated by intense cycling also.

When I think of an extreme low impact workout; I think elliptical machine. This is the most versatile of the three pieces of equipment stated in this article. You can adjust the ramp, speed and the resistance. You can also get more body parts involved if you use one that has the moving handles. Most people can use this eqipment with little or no problem, even those with some physical limitations. I personally use all the equipment stated above; but the elliptical is my hands down favorite.