http://www.care2.com/greenliving/green-girl-enthused-by-the-elliptical.html
Green Girl Enthused by the Elliptical
This semester, I am a new woman. My friend and I, having both suffered relatively recent periods of stagnation and weight gain (me last year, her last semester), have determined to reform our habits. Though I must say that I have been doing a supremely good job of eating healthily, the whole exercise thing has not been my forte. Nor has it ever been. And my friend … well, she’s not so good at either and has always lucked out by having a fast metabolism (until the college lifestyle got to her…).
Anyway, for the first time in either of our lives, we are truly committed to being healthy. We’re eating healthy (working on smaller portions, particularly). Perhaps the most monumental change for both of us, however, is that we’re going to the gym. Every day. I have never in my life actually wanted to go to the gym, but something changed for me, and now I love it! We both do. In fact, not only do we go to the gym, but we get up at NINE to go. Yes. Nine. When I told my dad that, he said, “I’m sorry, I think I misheard. Did you say nine in the morning?!?!” For people who know me, the idea of me getting up early for anything at all is completely ludicrous. Correction: was completely ludicrous.
Not anymore. The gym makes me feel so good that I will sacrifice my usual ten hours of sleep to go early. What has made this huge difference for me? My discovery of a wonderful exercise machine. When I used to think of the gym, I thought “treadmill.” And when I thought “treadmill,” it was always accompanied by a mental “Ahhhhhh!” In case that’s not clear: I hate the treadmill with a passion. So, when my friend introduced me to the elliptical, I was amazed.
It’s an amazing contraption! Really. What’s so nice about it is that it’s easy on your joints. It feels like walking or running on air! There’s no (or, at least, very little) strain on your spine, knees, ankles, and feet, and yet it still provides a strong cardiovascular workout. You can change the resistance without any added pressure on your joints; higher resistances also increase bone density and can decrease the likelihood of osteoporosis.
What else do I like about the elliptical? It provides an upper body workout, too. The machine has levers that move back and forth with the circular motion of your feet, providing the arms with a workout equivalent to the resistance of your legs. I love it. Very much. In case you couldn’t tell. Anyway, I have changed my ways irrevocably, I do believe. As has my friend. For those of you who fear the gym as I did, I encourage you to try. It’s a different experience entirely, in my opinion.
Note to self: “gym” no longer means “Ahhhh.”
Lily Berthold-Bond grew up in a chemical-free zone and has struggled her whole life to understand and accept this non-commercial lifestyle. Now a sophomore at Tufts University, she has embraced her green life and hopes to share its possibilities with the rest of her generation.
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If you're having trouble keeping in the habbit of going everyday, it's said that forcing yourself to go 10 days in a row will get you into it. At that point, your body actually craves the excercise! [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=std2vfTV9fw&feature=channel_page] check out diethealth on youtube and their video "10 days to form a healthy habbit"
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the machines in my gym would tell you how many calories you burned while you worked out and the elliptical was by far the best calorie burning machine :)
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It was good to read your history, I really want to do that, but I don't know where is my will force? I think I need some kind of motivation, but I cannot find it! If someone has any advice, I will thank you?
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I love the elliptical too but the whole thing of nine being early almost made me stroke. Enjoy college life. And ten hours of sleep?!? I'm happy if I get that much over two nights. Oh to be in college again!
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Can't agree more! I also recently started using the elliptical and nothing has been better at improving my gym-visiting habits. Since I dislocated my knee in the police academy, I've had difficulty staying on the high-impact treadmill for long periods of time (like more than 5 minutes). Not only that, but my biggest obstacle to gym workouts has been that I get bored easily. Maybe I have an overactive brain, but after ten minutes of working out every second is like torture; I need something to keep my mind busy. Because there is less "bobbing" of the head on the elliptical than on the treadmill, I'm able to read while I workout! Go elliptical!
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Congratulations everyone! Yes, the elliptical is a great piece of equipment. I worked as a personal trainer for 10 years and saw it help many body types. Just a word of caution: cross-training is the key. Mainly due to repetitive use injuries, as well as the body's natural ability to get used to things very quickly. With the elliptical, many women complained of (including myself) numbness and/or pain in the ball of the foot or elsewhere on the foot. Numbness is not a good thing--nerves being pinched. Don't mean to rain on your parade. Just mix it up a bit and ALWAYS listen to your body.
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I also find the elliptical my favourite. When I returned to the gym after more than 20 years, I tried all the different machine and I find the elliptical most challenging and hated it. My trainer told me that is where I should start my routines and I listened. I have a combined core training and cardio program and I am always on the elliptical machine because there are so many different settings to challenge me.
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congrats! i spend 60 minutes a day on the ellipitical. i want to lose weight so i can stop taking diabetic medications altogether.i hope it works for you as it is me. and its only been 2 weeks. Im also training for a marathon & trying to lose weight for my wedding in October so you can say I have a lot of determination, lol. keep up t he hard work!
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