DM, I have a question. I currently do cardio 3-4X/week using either a treadmill and a cross-trainer (them ski-like things that work the arms and the legs) and I find that the calorie counter shows that I burn more calories using the cross-trainer rather than the treadmill. I hear a lot of people who say that the treadmill is the best calorie burner. My trainer says that the cross-trainer is better as it works the upper and the lower body. In your opinion, who is right? Or could my technique be wrong?
~amirfuadh
Dear amirfuadh,
Good question. In fact, this is an issue I’ve always wanted to address. Honestly, if you ask me - DONT BELIEVE EVERYTHING THE CALORIE COUNTER TELLS YOU. It is not 100% accurate as there is no way that lifeless machine is able to predict your BMI (Body Mass Index), fitness level, body composition (percentage of fat/muscle), metabolism - all key factors that determine how many calories you burn for any given exercise/time period.
Even if the machine allows you to key in your own bodyweight, it will not be able to differentiate you from a similar weighted chimpanzee. In one of the Fitness First gyms I’ve been to, they have a row of steppers - some are brand new and some are from a previous batch, and though I know I’m getting a killer cardio workout from the newer ones… (I gasp for breath and sweat way more) they STILL always give a much lower ‘calorie consumed’ reading when compared to the older ones, which are so much more ‘comfortable’ to use and exercise with. Something’s definitely not wrong here. The machines probably need calibration, etc… but I hope you get my point.
As for which machine burns more calories.. the crosstrainer or the treadmill - well, the answer is not that straightforward. For example, if you’re running at top speed and top intensity on the treadmill.. you’re definitely going to exceed the calories the cross-trainer can ever burn (how fast can you really go on a cross-trainer?). So, exercise INTENSITY plays a role.
Ok, now lets assume that if your intensity level is exactly the same on both machines (which is also difficult to establish since they’re both different), but for the sake of this example, let’s assume the intensity is the same. Then, I too, would certainly say that the cross-trainer would ultimately burn more calories.. why? For the same reason your trainer mentioned - simply because you’re utilising both your upper body and lower body muscles.
Don’t get me wrong - The treadmill is indeed an excellent calorie burner, suitable for people from all fitness levels. You can walk, brisk-walk, run, sprint - the possibilities are endless. But for it to be the ‘best calorie burner’ - you need to bump up your intensity. In fact, I too would like to say that it is INDEED the best calorie burner - BUT, walking and brisk walking on the ‘best calorie burner’ isn’t gonna give you what you’re thinking. Provided you’re intense enough on the treadmill, only then will it be the best calorie burner. You reap what you sow, and there’s no easy way out. Hope I’ve cleared your doubts.
Run for your life.
Your friend and coach,
DM
Read also:
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks DM- you certainly cleared my doubts!
Interesting question.. And well answered.
The treadmill is definitely more VERSATILE. In the sense that you can use it several different ways to easily achieve the mentioned intensity: constant or varying speeds; adjustable on-the-fly to force yourself to push on, or to slow down; varying inclines to change around the workload.
One of the favorites is to do interval training (also called “fartleks”) - warm up 2-3 min, all out sprint at 12-15 km/h for 400m, then jog/walk for 1-2 min, then all out sprint again for 400m. Repeat 2-3 times, and work up to 5-10 times.
It’s a really effective and intense way to increase your lung and heart capacity. And also get stares from other people checking out your hardcore, crazy self. Ahahahahahahaha. But within a month, you’ll find that your cardio will have very much improved.
Some big guys.. they ain’t got no cardio. Make them play basketball for more than 20 min, they get outta breath. All bulk, no heart. :)
I usually do cardio 2-3 times a week on a crosstrainer and I always pick “Cardio” instead of “Fat Burner” because I intend to make my heart stronger.
But then I realized something. There’s a chart on the machine saying that u need to reach a LOWER heart rate to burn fat instead of a high heart rate. For my size and age, the machine recommends 159/min for cardio, and 129/min for fat burning.
I’m not sure if FAT and CALORIES are the same thing, but it seems like if u wanna burn more fat, you cannot move intensely on the crosstrainer. Instead, you need to keep a lower heart rate.
Just my 2 cents on what I observed. My thoughts might not be true anyway. I’ll need to do more research on it.
Btw great post DM, as always!
cK: I know what you’re referring to. In my opinion, and realistically speaking, though there may be diferent target heart rate ‘zones’ to achieve different results - at the end of the day - more intensity simply means more calories burned. And that’s what we want.
Lets say, if I feel like a million dollars on a particular day and want to push myself further, i’ll do it.. never allowing the suggested target heart rate on the chart to diminish my desire to bump up my intensity at any time. In other words.. don’t let that chart ‘potong your stim’. Just give it your all.
I know what you mean. I always felt like I’ve never worked out enough.
That was what I thought until I see it with my own eyes that the americans here actually use a lower intensity sometimes. There must be a reason why they suggested the lower heard rate for fat burning.
I just googled and found something interesting. The article says that we need enough oxygen to burn fat. Otherwise, intensity is totally pointless. Here
s the link:
[link]
cK: I just read the article and my target heart rate is 153bpm based on the formula found there. Personally, I rarely exceed this whenever I’m doing my cardio.. so I’ve never really had to experience what the writer suggests. I’m also not saying that I don’t agree with the article.. in fact, I think it makes perfect sense.
Do bare in mind that the writer is a professional athlete, competing for triathlons, etc, and therefore HAS TO pay great attention to such great details of his body functions to tweak and achieve the desired results. You would find that even a professional bodybuilder would religiously pay attention to such details. So would any other pro athlete.
I guess it all depends how far YOU want to take your level of physical fitness. I personally don’t see the need to go into such details to dial into 100% of my body’s capabilities.. though it would be nice if I did… but I’m just an average guy. Factoring in cardio, weight training, and a healthy diet is already enough to work wonders in our lives if you ask me.. and can bring you all the results you desire.. so I guess I’m content with that. I’m sorry if my answer doesn’t quite help you. Thanks for the article though.
Sure I’ll keep that in mind. I think the suggested heart rate on the machine is just to tell us the maximum heart rate we can go. Plus or minus. One thing I don’t understand is, why we need to maintain lower heart rate for Fat Burn. my suggested heart rate was 129/min
cK: Well.. from the article you pointed out, it says that this gives your body the chance to be able to take in enough oxygen to burn fat. Any faster, and your body won’t be able to utilise fat as fuel, but it will utilise stored carbohydrates as fuel instead.
I’ve always known that although fat is stored energy in your body, it is also the least preferred fuel source - if there are carbs on standby, your body will utilise that instead. This is the same reason why it is recommended to weight-train first before cardio (weight training will deplete your stored carbs so your cardio can tap onto stored bodyfat).
This is also the same logic behind early morning cardio on an empty stomach (i swear by this-it works!). Your body would have depleted its carbs overnight and will be forced to tap onto stored bodyfat for fuel.
I have a question. I have a friend who does cardio workout, 15min cross trainer then 15 mins treadmill and finally 15mins stepper almost everyday, sometimes skips 1 or 2 days, but never 2 days off consecutively. Does wieghts before or after this cardio workout. How is it on burning off fat and calories?
Just to share with you what I’ve seen in the gym:
1. An individual A, is having his workout on treadmill, 30mins daily. However, we can’t find a drop of sweat after that.
2. Another individual B, is only having 20mins of stepper, daily. His t-shirt is soaking in sweat after that.
B was doing much higher intensity workout comparing to A. With increase intensity, one can actually burn 400kcal from a 30min run on the treadmill or burning 500kcal on stepper from a 30min workout. Of course, with proper form.
However, for a beginner who doesn’t have the physical fitness to achieve this kind of result, start slow. Here’s how:
1st 2 months: Targeting 60 to 70% max heart beat rate (HBR) per minute
Subsequent months: Targeting 80 to 85% of max HBR per minute
You should NEVER go beyond 85% of max HBR. You will colapse and blackout. I had that kind experience before when I was 14 years old when I was having my Taekwondo training. I hear nothing, I see nothing and I went down.
Max HBR = 220 - Age
Cardio workout should last at least 20mins per session with a minimum of 3 times a week. You should maintain the targeted heart beat for the entire 20mins. Warming-up time is NOT part of the 20mins.
As time passes, you will get fitter. Your HBR will drop slowly with current workout intensity. In order to achieve the 80 to 85% of max HBR, you will need to increase your workout intensity.
aw: with higher HBR/min, I’m sure you notice that you are able to burn much more calories comparing to lower HBR/min. That is if you workout on the cardio machines in the gym that tells you the kcal burned.
h_hector: Simple. There’s no need to even get into any details - As long as your friend’s energy consumption is LESS THAN the ENERGY EXPENDITURE in a day.. your friend should be burning fat. If he/she keeps this up long enough, there will soon be visible results. If someone is eating right, even 20 mins of cardio/3 times a week (as Chong suggests) can show results. If nothing’s happening.. then it simply means that there are other areas that need to be addressed.
Remember.. intensity during cardio is crucial. You don’t need to overexert yourself, but you do need to ‘push’ your body a little. Otherwise.. you’re better off sitting at home shaking your legs.
Leave a Comment