Hello, I have been visiting Johnstonefitness for quite a while now. I have started working out and eating better. I have been trying to lose weight but I can't seem to get anywhere. I believe it is a mix of a bad diet and bad cardio. What is considered he best for cardio. Is it Jogging 4-5 days aweek? Elliptical 4x a week, Everyday? If this a confusing question, it is because I am confused myself. :doh:

If your knees are good, I'd say jogging is best. If you're older (like me), elliptical gives you a good workout with essentially zero impact.

If your knees are good, I'd say jogging is best.

Then, after wrecking your knees, elliptical.

No seriously folks. When someone is asking about cardio for losing weight? Then jogging is probably only better than running.

The best cardio is the one which you can get the highest intensity for the least amount of orthopedic stress. And for low orthopedic stress you can't beat big compound exercises.

How long ago did you start doing this, to say "I'm not getting anywhere"?

You're probably going to have to post your diet so that we can know what kind of advice to give you. Also, Elliptical! I don't understand why people at my gym run on those horrid treadmills. I guess it's cool if you're doing it for leisure - but it's really bad for your knees (as someone already mentioned..)

Make sure you are eating enough when you do lots of cardio - you won't lose any fat if you eat too little. To determine how much you need to eat, you need to know your daily caloric requirements for maintaining the weight you already are (so you can make adjustments for fat loss)

You will find out a lot in the beginners sticky threads. :D

...I believe it is a mix of a bad diet and bad cardio.

What is your definition of "bad cardio"? Does this you mean you think you're doing it in the wrong form, or is it that you're just not doing enough of it, or with the right level of intensity and duration?

If you're trying to lose weight on a "bad diet", forget about it. Fix this first by at least implementing some improved nutritional habits.
It's going to be trivial to out-eat what you're burning in the gym unless you're really making a conscious effort to outpace your diet with a high level training volume.

Thinking you simply need to switch equal time from the elliptical to the treadmill (or vice versa) is not likely to be the answer.

I asked a similar question when I first started here; I'll give you the same answer that was given to me: the BEST cardio you can do is the kind you are going to stick with. Let me expand on that a little...

If you enjoy being outside, feeling the wind blow on your face, seeing neighbors or fellow fitness enthusiasts, then you may want to consider jogging or fitness walking. If you like to be inside (either because of personal or climatic reasons), you might do better on a treadmill, stair-stepper, elliptical, etc.. The point is, you need to find a form of cardio that works for you, one that you will not dread but be excited about. If you don't like jogging but you try to force yourself to go out five times per week, you won't stick with it, plain and simple. If, however, you prefer the motion of an elliptical or you like being next to good-looking men/women while working out, you are far more likely to actually do your cardio. Of course, the more often you do your cardio, the better it will be for you.

With all of that said, you really should consider your joints. So many people begin running or jogging with the intention of losing weight, only to need orthopedic work further down the road because of bad joints. Ellipticals are fairly new to the fitness scene and as such, don't have as much of a reputation as running/jogging. Still, though, you can get just as much of a workout from using the elliptical as you can from a treadmill - it all depends on how hard you want to train. And with the low-impact an elliptical provides, there are some serious advantages to using such a machine.

In the end, it all comes down to what you want and how often you'll be willing to do it. Once again, the BEST cardio you can do is the kind you are going to stick with.

Maybe Zen can answer this...

How does the Elliptical help you with improving your V02max?

Maybe Zen can answer this...

How does the Elliptical help you with improving your V02max?

Same way any exercise does. If you increase your heart rate high enough, typically by interval workouts, then your VO2max normally improves.

Your cardiovascular system really doesn't care what sort of exercise you do, it only cares how much energy it needs to provide and how fast it needs to provide it.

Same way any exercise does. If you increase your heart rate high enough, typically by interval workouts, then your VO2max normally improves.

Your cardiovascular system really doesn't care what sort of exercise you do, it only cares how much energy it needs to provide and how fast it needs to provide it.

Ah, I should have known that.

I'm looking into purchasing an elliptical trainer right now...local fitness depot has a 50% off sale right now, so I figured I might as well pay half price now, even if I don't use it consistently right now.

The amount of calories you burn in a 30min session looks promising.

Same way any exercise does. If you increase your heart rate high enough, typically by interval workouts, then your VO2max normally improves.

Your cardiovascular system really doesn't care what sort of exercise you do, it only cares how much energy it needs to provide and how fast it needs to provide it.


What's more important/productive for fat loss in regards to doing HIIT: tiring out the muscles or getting the heart rate up?

If you're going to do cardio right after lifting ....and...the session just finished was Squats or Deads, I'd go with the eliptical.

You just hammered your knee joints....now with jogging you're going to further pound the hell out 'em.

Using the eliptical is much easier on the knee joints.

You can get great cardio with an eliptical. At least you can on the one I have, which is just a Weslo Momentum 710. Hasn't let me down yet.

On setting "10" with a 5lb. weight in either hand I can get to where I'm sucking in air like a vacuum cleaner and my heart rate is off the charts.:).

Hello, I have been visiting Johnstonefitness for quite a while now. I have started working out and eating better. I have been trying to lose weight but I can't seem to get anywhere. I believe it is a mix of a bad diet and bad cardio. What is considered he best for cardio. Is it Jogging 4-5 days aweek? Elliptical 4x a week, Everyday? If this a confusing question, it is because I am confused myself. :doh:

What's your lifting look like? Diet is most important, but lifting is definitely an excellent way to set yourself up to burn fat. IME, even better than cardio.