I used to go to a gym in Somers. Every afternoon I would see a woman on the elliptical. She would be on that machine the entire time I was at the gym (at least an hour and a half).
Finally, I asked her what she was up to.
She replied: "I do a lot of cardio, so I can eat whatever I want." She never learned that you do not need to do long cardio workouts to get fat burn. She is going to end up with a lot of sore joints for overworking her body.
What a waste of time and effort. Treadmills and ellipticals are symbolic to me. You spend a lot of time on them and end up in the same place! What a boring way to exercise.
Don't get me wrong, cardio is important. If you want to run, go outside and do so. Don't forget about jumping rope or rowing too. However, remember that weight training is a better fat burner than cardio, so break out those dumbells and barbells.
I think that you are misinterpreting my comments. Cardio is an important aspect of a fitness plan. I include running, jumping rope and rowing as part of my cardio regimen. I also include weight training and gymnastics to round out my workouts. The point of my comment is that if you run, great, go do it for real and not on a machine. Include weight training in your work outs too. And if you do walking lunges with a barbell or dumbells you don't end up in the same place.
My main point is not to abandon cardio, it is a required part of creating a program based on functional movement that also should include resistance training and gymnastic modalities. I am stongly opposed to all the machines that have been developed that yield poor results and have done nothing to stem the tide of our increasing obesity rate.