Is the Elliptical Making you Fat?

If you've been hanging out with me for a while you may remember a newsletter that I did last year entitled, "11 Reasons you're NOT getting results."  This year, I'm breaking down those reasons to help you achieve your goals and have the happiest, healthiest year possible!
You can find the origianal article here and reason #1 here. 

So it’s not really the elliptical that is making people fat, it’s what they’re doing on the elliptical… or rather, what they’re not doing.

If I had a nickel for every time throughout the day I looked over at the elliptical machines in my gym and saw someone staring blankly ahead at the TV monitor mindlessly going through their workout, I would quickly become a very, very, affluent personal trainer.  Now, I probably need to back up a minute and clarify, this is not just an elliptical problem.  I’m also not saying there’s not a time or place for every type of movement (any movement is better than no movement!). The problem with what most people are doing on the elliptical is that they’re just “phoning it in.” Add to that what happens after this workout has occurred, and you’ve started creating what can possibly turn into a major problem.

Now if you haven’t ever heard the term “phoning it in,” let me explain.  What it means is that theses people are there, they are going through the motions, but they aren’t putting in any effort.  Effort, my friends, is the key word here.  Now, if this is your off-day, rest, or active recovery workout, than by all means, phone it in.  Put on your favorite HGTV, Real Housewives, or Golden Girls episode and just move.  However, if this is NOT your rest day… what are you doing?!?! For real, though.  You found the time to workout in your busy schedule, you put in the effort to pull on your Lulus and put your hair up in a ponytail, and you even made it to the gym. So why aren’t you putting in the effort so you can get the results you’re after? I mean, you’re here, right? Do the work.  

This leads me to the second problem with this workout… the post-workout food.  Before I was in the fitness industry, I knew a girl who went to the gym 7 days a week for an hour to two hours at a time.  I never understood why she wasn’t achieving the results she wanted. It wasn’t until I saw her at the gym one day talking on the phone while she loped along on the elliptical that I realized her idea of a workout and my idea of a workout were not the same.  Add to that the extra calories consumed to “refuel” after the workout, and she was getting nowhere fast.

So what to do?

There are several ways to get a great workout that don’t involve mindlessly moving.  Try an interval workout.  There are several ways to do intervals from just mixing up the speed to a full-out tabata. You can do these workouts on your favorite cardio machine if you want, or get onto the floor and pick up something heavy. 

Speaking of picking up something heavy… lift weights!  Lifting weights not only will help you burn body fat, but it will also help build lean muscle mass which provides the double whammy of adding metabolic potential (so you burn more calories!) and sculpting sexy muscles (because let’s be honest- strong is sexy).

If you haven’t lifted heavy before, grab a trainer.  Even 4 sessions with a good trainer can help you learn what to do, how to do it correctly, and how to get the most benefit out of your workouts.  You can ALWAYS learn more change up your workout. (This is where I point out that phoning in your strength training workout isn’t going to cut it either). As a fitness professional I make it a point to train with another trainer for a minimum of two months every year, because I need a change as well.

In addition, you don’t “earn” extra food. We aren’t dogs (Have you seen my blog about Dalmatians?). We do need to fuel ourselves appropriately for life, but if we are rewarding ourselves with food after our workout, no matter how hard the workout was, we’re not going to achieve the same results as if we fueled more appropriately (that’s coming to a blog near you soon…).

So stop phoning it in.  Grab a trainer or a workout buddy and try something new.  Put some effort in. After all, you and your time are worth it.