Really

Do elliptical machines really work that well?

Question by Eddie Cacciatore, Private Eye: Do elliptical machines really work that well?
I’d switched largely to the elliptical in recent months and while I work out hard on the machine at a high level and burn over 500 calories, according to the machine, I just don’t see the same results from running or even the exercise bike. I find myself softer in certain areas. Is it me?

Best answer:

Answer by autumn
I don’t have one and haven’t tried one so I had to look online to find the answers. Here is what I found out from two websites: “The elliptical trainer provides a high energy, low impact work out. It will increase the heart rate as if the person is in an aerobic exercise, and burn calories at a fast rate while maintaining a low impact work out on your ankles, knees, and joints.
It provides a cardiovascular workout that enables your body to burn fat and calories at the same rate as an aerobic workout. This in turn, builds the bodies muscles and greaten the bodies bone density.”
Here is something from the other site:
“Ellipticals are great in terms of giving you low-impact workouts that can help you lose weight and tone up your entire body.

Another advantage to elliptical machines is that, because of the upper body arm bars, they give you a more full body workout. This results in what experts call a ‘Lower Perceived Rate of Exertion’ which means you actually worked harder than you feel like you worked – and burned more calories.

So working out on an elliptical can actually maximize your workout time and minimize your fatigue.

Elliptical machines can also help you crosstrain and avoid an exercise plateau. This is because several ellipticals now come with adjustable stride lengths and incline or ramp. This means you vary the stride or angle of the elliptical motion, work different sets of muscles and avoid overtraining.

So, for most people elliptical machines work. They help them get fit, lose weight and tone up. However there are cases where elliptical trainers do NOT work.

Again, it goes back to the question – what do you want your elliptical to do for you? If you’re looking to build muscle, an elliptical is not the best machine for you (get a weight stack home gym, free weights or even a Bowflex Crossbow Gym).”

I might have to try one of these to see how I like them.

What do you think? Answer below!

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Treadmill Consumer Reviews – Can They Really Help You Find the Best Treadmill?

Treadmill Consumer Reviews – Can They Really Help You Find the Best Treadmill?

Buying a treadmill? You’ll probably want to research before you buy – including reading treadmill consumer reviews.

Consumer reviews are very popular on the Internet at places like epinions and Amazon. And they can give you an overall idea of the strengths and weaknesses of certain treadmills.

But there are some major pitfalls to them that most people don’t realize.

This article will outline some of the major problems with treadmill consumer reviews – and some other features you can look at to find the best treadmill for you.

So what’s the problem with Treadmill Consumer Reviews?

First of all, the numbers can give you the wrong idea.

Most people read reviews of several different treadmills before buying. They may notice that one treadmill has more negative feedback than another.

Logically they assume that the treadmill with less negative feedback is better than the treadmill with more negative feedback. That’s where the mistake is made.

Here’s the thing. In the treadmill business, certain brands or manufacturers are larger than others. They make and distribute more machines than the smaller brands. This will skew the results that you see with consumer reviews.

For example, let’s say you’re trying to decide between Treadmill A and Treadmill B.

Treadmill A is made by a large company which sells 10,000 units of Treadmill A per month.

No treadmill is perfect and all treadmills will have some level of customer dissatisfaction. A high quality treadmill will have lower level of customer dissatisfaction than a poor quality treadmill.

Let’s assume that Treadmill A is a high quality treadmill with a very low rate of dissatisfaction of 1%. That means that out of 10,000 machines, only 100 customers will be unhappy and will leave negative reviews of that treadmill.

Now take Treadmill B. Treadmill B is made by a smaller company and only sells 1,000 units of Treadmill B per month.

But Treadmill B is not as high quality and has a much higher customer dissatisfaction rate of 5%. 1000 treadmills x 5% = 50. So 50 people are not going to be happy with their treadmill purchase. So you’ll see 50 negative reviews of Treadmill B.

Result?

Treadmill A – 100 Negative Consumer Reviews

Treadmill B – 50 Negative Consumer Reviews

So you, as a discerning buyer, logically assume that Treadmill B is the better treadmill since it has less negative feedback.

However in actuality, Treadmill B has a 500 times higher customer dissatisfaction rate than Treadmill A. So it’s actually the worse treadmill.

That’s an example of how the numbers of negative versus positive reviews can be skewed – and how many buyers can easily choose the worse treadmill.

There are a couple of other things to know when reading consumer treadmill reviews:

#1 – Reviews can be written by people working for that treadmill company – or even the competition. Trust me – it happens – more often than you think.

#2 – People are much more likely to complain than praise. It’s a shame but it’s human nature.

This again skews the results. So you may have a treadmill that gets 10 negative reviews. But there are 10,000 people who are perfectly happy with their machine and they never leave a review.

So while there’s nothing wrong with reading consumer treadmill reviews as part of the overall picture before you buy, you really can’t judge the quality of a treadmill solely based on consumer reviews.

So how can you find a high quality treadmill? There are several other ways to decide if a treadmill is a high quality machine. Here are 3 key factors to look at:

1) Price – The market is so competitive that treadmill manufacturers don’t have a lot of margin to play around with their prices.

Because of this high competition, the treadmill market is really very efficient. This is actually a good thing because it means prices are coming down to the lowest levels in years. Manufacturers are squeezing their margins in order to compete.

However it also means that in general, you get what you pay for. A 0 treadmill is just not going to have the same quality of construction as a 00 treadmill.

If you want a higher quality treadmill, built to withstand heavier use, be prepared to spend a bit more. It may actually be worth it in the long run, when you consider the cost of repairing the cheaper unit.

2) Warranty Coverage – The warranty coverage is a huge indicator of the quality of construction. Servicing warranties cost money. Manufacturers know this.

So when they give a long warranty, it’s because they don’t think they’ll have to repair those treadmills during that time frame. When they know that a certain treadmill is not built well – they don’t want to pay for servicing them. So they slap a short warranty on them.

If you want a well built treadmill, examining the warranty length is a great indicator of quality.

3) Details of construction – If you want a great treadmill, examine the details of construction.

For example, Treadmill A may have a 1 ply treadbelt whereas Treadmill B may have a 2 ply treadbelt. It isn’t hard to figure up which one will last longer.

Treadmill C may have a 2.5 HP motor and Treadmill D may have a 1.25 HP motor. Again – not hard to decide which is the better treadmill. By looking at certain details of construction, you can often see which treadmill is the stronger machine.

So those are 3 effective ways to find your best treadmill. Again, treadmill consumer reviews are not bad – they can actually be very informative.

Just don’t make your final decision based solely on these reviews. Remember that the numbers can be skewed – and may lead you to the wrong conclusion.

Vienna Miller writes for Treadmill Reviews – a consumer oriented website focusing on the home treadmill market. For the latest Treadmill Brand Reviews, Product Reviews and Best Buys, visit http://www.TreadmillReview.net.

More Treadmills Articles

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A List Of The Best Abdominal Exercises – 3 Ab Exercises To Really Tone Your Stomach

A List Of The Best Abdominal Exercises – 3 Ab Exercises To Really Tone Your Stomach

You will find in this article a list of the best abdominal exercises that will strengthen and tone your abs. If you have wanted a six pack, to lose belly fat, or just desire a good look, then following the exercises will give you great results provided you follow a good eating plan and healthy lifestyle.

Be aware that you don’t need any special equipment, however if you can try to purchase a set of dumbbells and a stability ball to increase the resistance, but other than that there is no need to set yourself up with any kind of fancy equipment. A desire to do well and to get in shape is the main prerequisite.

1. Lying leg thrusts

Start by lying flat on your back with your shoulders raised off the floor and your arms flat by your side. Raise your legs so they are at a 90 degree angle to the rest of your body. Slowly lower your legs until they are about 45 degrees from the floor, then slowly raise them back up again to the starting position. Once in this postion crunch your stomach by thrusting your hips off the floor.

2. Opposite raise from four point position

Assume a position on your hands and knees. From this position extend your right leg and your left arm out and hold for 3 seconds. Slowly move back and repeat the same movement on the opposite side and hold once again. This is a great workout for your abs and really strengthens the muscles. This Is not as easy as it sounds.

3. Abdominal scissors

Lie on your back both your legs and your arms extended away from your body at about a 45 degree angle. Bring your shoulders and your arm forward while simultaneously bringing your legs and hips so that they cross over. You should feel a strong contraction in your stomach area.

4. Knee tucks

This one requires some balance. Using a stability ball assume a push up position with your shins on the end of the ball with your hands flat on a mat. Tuck your knees in under your body as you move the ball closer to your hands, whilst elevating your rear. This one can be a bit tricky but well worth practicing as it is an excellent exercise to incorporate into your training sessions.

5. The ab wheel.

This is a challenging exercise but is great for isometric abdominal strength.

With your knees on a mat, hold the ab wheel out in front of you and roll the wheel forward while extending your body out. You will need to support your weight at the knees and the ab wheel. Hold the position for a moment before rolling back. You will certainly feel this one.

These are just a few of the exercises that are designed to help flatten and tone your stomach. If you are looking for a comprehensive guide on stomach training then take a look at the site below. You will find nutritional tips and effective techniques to take your training to the nect level.

http://www.squidoo.com/How-To-Make-Your-Stomach-Flat

default A List Of The Best Abdominal Exercises – 3 Ab Exercises To Really Tone Your Stomach

www.trainingforwarriors.com Here are Martin Rooney and Jiu Jitsu World Champ Flavio Almeida showing off 3 great partner abdominal variations.

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Treadmill Consumer Reviews – Can They Really Help You Find the Best Treadmill?


by smithereen11

Treadmill Consumer Reviews – Can They Really Help You Find the Best Treadmill?

Buying a treadmill? You’ll probably want to research before you buy – including reading treadmill consumer reviews.

Consumer reviews are very popular on the Internet at places like epinions and Amazon. And they can give you an overall idea of the strengths and weaknesses of certain treadmills.

But there are some major pitfalls to them that most people don’t realize.

This article will outline some of the major problems with treadmill consumer reviews – and some other features you can look at to find the best treadmill for you.

So what’s the problem with Treadmill Consumer Reviews?

First of all, the numbers can give you the wrong idea.

Most people read reviews of several different treadmills before buying. They may notice that one treadmill has more negative feedback than another.

Logically they assume that the treadmill with less negative feedback is better than the treadmill with more negative feedback. That’s where the mistake is made.

Here’s the thing. In the treadmill business, certain brands or manufacturers are larger than others. They make and distribute more machines than the smaller brands. This will skew the results that you see with consumer reviews.

For example, let’s say you’re trying to decide between Treadmill A and Treadmill B.

Treadmill A is made by a large company which sells 10,000 units of Treadmill A per month.

No treadmill is perfect and all treadmills will have some level of customer dissatisfaction. A high quality treadmill will have lower level of customer dissatisfaction than a poor quality treadmill.

Let’s assume that Treadmill A is a high quality treadmill with a very low rate of dissatisfaction of 1%. That means that out of 10,000 machines, only 100 customers will be unhappy and will leave negative reviews of that treadmill.

Now take Treadmill B. Treadmill B is made by a smaller company and only sells 1,000 units of Treadmill B per month.

But Treadmill B is not as high quality and has a much higher customer dissatisfaction rate of 5%. 1000 treadmills x 5% = 50. So 50 people are not going to be happy with their treadmill purchase. So you’ll see 50 negative reviews of Treadmill B.

Result?

Treadmill A – 100 Negative Consumer Reviews

Treadmill B – 50 Negative Consumer Reviews

So you, as a discerning buyer, logically assume that Treadmill B is the better treadmill since it has less negative feedback.

However in actuality, Treadmill B has a 500 times higher customer dissatisfaction rate than Treadmill A. So it’s actually the worse treadmill.

That’s an example of how the numbers of negative versus positive reviews can be skewed – and how many buyers can easily choose the worse treadmill.

There are a couple of other things to know when reading consumer treadmill reviews:

#1 – Reviews can be written by people working for that treadmill company – or even the competition. Trust me – it happens – more often than you think.

#2 – People are much more likely to complain than praise. It’s a shame but it’s human nature.

This again skews the results. So you may have a treadmill that gets 10 negative reviews. But there are 10,000 people who are perfectly happy with their machine and they never leave a review.

So while there’s nothing wrong with reading consumer treadmill reviews as part of the overall picture before you buy, you really can’t judge the quality of a treadmill solely based on consumer reviews.

So how can you find a high quality treadmill? There are several other ways to decide if a treadmill is a high quality machine. Here are 3 key factors to look at:

1) Price – The market is so competitive that treadmill manufacturers don’t have a lot of margin to play around with their prices.

Because of this high competition, the treadmill market is really very efficient. This is actually a good thing because it means prices are coming down to the lowest levels in years. Manufacturers are squeezing their margins in order to compete.

However it also means that in general, you get what you pay for. A 0 treadmill is just not going to have the same quality of construction as a 00 treadmill.

If you want a higher quality treadmill, built to withstand heavier use, be prepared to spend a bit more. It may actually be worth it in the long run, when you consider the cost of repairing the cheaper unit.

2) Warranty Coverage – The warranty coverage is a huge indicator of the quality of construction. Servicing warranties cost money. Manufacturers know this.

So when they give a long warranty, it’s because they don’t think they’ll have to repair those treadmills during that time frame. When they know that a certain treadmill is not built well – they don’t want to pay for servicing them. So they slap a short warranty on them.

If you want a well built treadmill, examining the warranty length is a great indicator of quality.

3) Details of construction – If you want a great treadmill, examine the details of construction.

For example, Treadmill A may have a 1 ply treadbelt whereas Treadmill B may have a 2 ply treadbelt. It isn’t hard to figure up which one will last longer.

Treadmill C may have a 2.5 HP motor and Treadmill D may have a 1.25 HP motor. Again – not hard to decide which is the better treadmill. By looking at certain details of construction, you can often see which treadmill is the stronger machine.

So those are 3 effective ways to find your best treadmill. Again, treadmill consumer reviews are not bad – they can actually be very informative.

Just don’t make your final decision based solely on these reviews. Remember that the numbers can be skewed – and may lead you to the wrong conclusion.

Vienna Miller writes for Treadmill Reviews – a consumer oriented website focusing on the home treadmill market. For the latest Treadmill Brand Reviews, Product Reviews and Best Buys, visit http://www.TreadmillReview.net.

Find More Treadmill Articles

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