Cheating on the Stairmaster
April 22, 2009 3:06 PM Subscribe
Why do some people 'cheat' (i.e., use their arms to take weight off their legs) while using exercise machines at the gym?
At my gym, it's very common to see people leaning on the rails on elliptical or stair climber exercise machines. Typically, they're hunched over with arms locked and it seems they've got the machine going faster than appropriate for their fitness. It seems the most fit and least fit people don't do it, but otherwise people of all ages, gender and fitness levels do it.
To me, it seems uncomfortable, potentially a source of injury, and (more than anything) self-defeating.
Why do they do it? Greater sense of accomplishment going faster? Real or perceived better workout? Something else?
At my gym, it's very common to see people leaning on the rails on elliptical or stair climber exercise machines. Typically, they're hunched over with arms locked and it seems they've got the machine going faster than appropriate for their fitness. It seems the most fit and least fit people don't do it, but otherwise people of all ages, gender and fitness levels do it.
To me, it seems uncomfortable, potentially a source of injury, and (more than anything) self-defeating.
Why do they do it? Greater sense of accomplishment going faster? Real or perceived better workout? Something else?
I have no real answer except that occasionally on the treadmill I'll use the handrails on the sides to relieve some of the body weight on my legs for maybe 30 seconds or so. Don't know anything about the going faster bit, though.
My girlfriend informs me that she's witnessed people at our gym doing the same thing, FWIW.
posted by InsanePenguin at 3:10 PM on April 22, 2009
My girlfriend informs me that she's witnessed people at our gym doing the same thing, FWIW.
posted by InsanePenguin at 3:10 PM on April 22, 2009
It's better to "cheat" than to stop altogether.
posted by wsp at 3:15 PM on April 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by wsp at 3:15 PM on April 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
In some cases, I suspect it's because they just don't know any better.
posted by box at 3:17 PM on April 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by box at 3:17 PM on April 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
Conciously or not, they buy into the idea that the end justifies the means.
That is to say, they've set themselves the goal of accomplishing X (where X = a certain number of reps, or a certain amount of time on a cardio machine, or whatever), and so by God they're going to do whatever it takes to accomplish X, because they've set a goal dammit, and goals are for reaching not for failing to reach.
posted by dersins at 3:18 PM on April 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
That is to say, they've set themselves the goal of accomplishing X (where X = a certain number of reps, or a certain amount of time on a cardio machine, or whatever), and so by God they're going to do whatever it takes to accomplish X, because they've set a goal dammit, and goals are for reaching not for failing to reach.
posted by dersins at 3:18 PM on April 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
Uhm, you do realize that holding yourself up requires strength, too, right?
The calories it takes to spend an hour running on a treadmill are more or less the same (yeah, pesky thermodynamics!), regardless of whether you use your arm muscles or not. It's not "cheating" unless you are specifically doing it in order to work out lower body muscles while excluding your upper body.
posted by halogen at 3:23 PM on April 22, 2009
The calories it takes to spend an hour running on a treadmill are more or less the same (yeah, pesky thermodynamics!), regardless of whether you use your arm muscles or not. It's not "cheating" unless you are specifically doing it in order to work out lower body muscles while excluding your upper body.
posted by halogen at 3:23 PM on April 22, 2009
To take a break on the legs without changing the speed on the machine.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 3:25 PM on April 22, 2009
posted by The Light Fantastic at 3:25 PM on April 22, 2009
I transfer some weight to my arms periodically during my usual sixty to seventy five minute workout on a recumbent exercise bike because my ass starts to hurt and I want to give it a break. Is this cheating? It doesn't feel any easier, but I confess that I've never paid much attention.
posted by Kwine at 3:33 PM on April 22, 2009
posted by Kwine at 3:33 PM on April 22, 2009
I've done this on occasion. I have flat & wide feet, which means that in addition to flat feet you can often toss 'not properly-fitting shoes' to my scenario. When I exercise on, say, an elliptical, around the 25-30 minute mark, my feet will be hurting badly. This is not related to my level of exhuasting or stamina. On a treadmill it's more like 8-12 minute marks.
If I'm off my feet for 1-2 minutes after they start hurting, I'll be fine for another 10,20,30 minutes, it depends. Sometimes I'll plan to only do 25 minutes before a break, but sometimes I want to push my stamina, or I'm talking to a friend next to me, or there's a cute girl that I've been ogling and thus don't want to move, so if I can relieve a bit of the pressure on my feet, even for a minute, I will gain quite a bit more health than you'd expect.
posted by Lemurrhea at 3:37 PM on April 22, 2009
If I'm off my feet for 1-2 minutes after they start hurting, I'll be fine for another 10,20,30 minutes, it depends. Sometimes I'll plan to only do 25 minutes before a break, but sometimes I want to push my stamina, or I'm talking to a friend next to me, or there's a cute girl that I've been ogling and thus don't want to move, so if I can relieve a bit of the pressure on my feet, even for a minute, I will gain quite a bit more health than you'd expect.
posted by Lemurrhea at 3:37 PM on April 22, 2009
I agree with dersins, and raise you that some people just can't balance very well on the things, and this is the only way they know how that's comfortable. Keep in mind that some people won't experiment, ever, in their workouts. Once they know something, that's it.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 3:37 PM on April 22, 2009
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 3:37 PM on April 22, 2009
The calories it takes to spend an hour running on a treadmill are more or less the same (yeah, pesky thermodynamics!), regardless of whether you use your arm muscles or not. It's not "cheating" unless you are specifically doing it in order to work out lower body muscles while excluding your upper body.
That's not right.
posted by Number Used Once at 3:40 PM on April 22, 2009 [7 favorites]
That's not right.
posted by Number Used Once at 3:40 PM on April 22, 2009 [7 favorites]
I do sometimes lean too much on the Stepmill. As some have indicated above, I cheat to make it past an interval or times when I'm too worn out. When your leg muscles are on fire, holding on to the rails to take some of the strain off your legs is all you need. I train with a heart rate monitor and when my heart is beating above where I want I will have to either stop or cheat. I try to challenge myself and so I'll move up to the next level just before the current level gets easy. So when I first go up a level, I look like a n00b holding on more than I should, but the next day I do it less, etc.
But I do know others aren't clued in on the rails being there for balance and not to support your bodyweight. It is OK to cheat sometimes, and on most machines like wsp above says it is better cheating than stopping. Since most people mimic what they see other people doing and if they mimic people doing it wrong, well they'll do it wrong as well.
posted by birdherder at 3:44 PM on April 22, 2009
But I do know others aren't clued in on the rails being there for balance and not to support your bodyweight. It is OK to cheat sometimes, and on most machines like wsp above says it is better cheating than stopping. Since most people mimic what they see other people doing and if they mimic people doing it wrong, well they'll do it wrong as well.
posted by birdherder at 3:44 PM on April 22, 2009
I can't speak to your specific examples of elliptical or stair machines, but I see people cheating on exercises all the time at the gym. My sense is that they do it because they want to believe (or in many cases, they want to be able to tell other people) that they did/can do X, and are not honest with themselves about not truly being able to do X. People want to feel good about themselves for going to the gym but don't really want to work too hard.
Watch the dudes who think benching is a team sport, wherein their spotter is lifting the last several reps for them. Or watch people doing squats sometime and see how many of them lower their hips until their thighs are parallel with the floor vs. the ones who pile on a bunch of weight and then squat down about 4 inches. They just want to tell their friends that they benched 225 or squatted 315 or whatever.
posted by ludwig_van at 3:44 PM on April 22, 2009
Watch the dudes who think benching is a team sport, wherein their spotter is lifting the last several reps for them. Or watch people doing squats sometime and see how many of them lower their hips until their thighs are parallel with the floor vs. the ones who pile on a bunch of weight and then squat down about 4 inches. They just want to tell their friends that they benched 225 or squatted 315 or whatever.
posted by ludwig_van at 3:44 PM on April 22, 2009
Nonce, can you explain? What I'm thinking is that when you are using your arms to prop yourself up, you are counteracting gravity and therefore converting some amount of energy into work. Of course, you'd be expending less energy to do the actual walking now that you're "lighter", but shouldn't the two sums add up to something that's pretty close to the energy needed to walk the treadmill alone?
posted by halogen at 3:54 PM on April 22, 2009
posted by halogen at 3:54 PM on April 22, 2009
The calories it takes to spend an hour running on a treadmill are more or less the same (yeah, pesky thermodynamics!), regardless of whether you use your arm muscles or not. It's not "cheating" unless you are specifically doing it in order to work out lower body muscles while excluding your upper body.
This is a very simplistic and incorrect understanding of excercise physiology. Only in a theoretical, perfectly efficient system is thermodynamic "work done" ever equal to energy expended, the two being related by a factor of efficiency. After all, isometric excercises result in no work done, yet obviously involve energy expenditure.
posted by randomstriker at 3:59 PM on April 22, 2009
This is a very simplistic and incorrect understanding of excercise physiology. Only in a theoretical, perfectly efficient system is thermodynamic "work done" ever equal to energy expended, the two being related by a factor of efficiency. After all, isometric excercises result in no work done, yet obviously involve energy expenditure.
posted by randomstriker at 3:59 PM on April 22, 2009
randomstriker, I didn't take efficiency into account at all. I always assumed that getting to a place expends the same amount of energy regardless of how you choose to do it; i.e. running at 8 mph burns somewhat over twice the calories of walking at 4 mph, which in turn takes approximately twice as many calories as walking at 2 mph (data from random website).
posted by halogen at 4:07 PM on April 22, 2009
posted by halogen at 4:07 PM on April 22, 2009
@ludwig_van - exactly. It's so they can brag. If only they realised that poor form is the road to injury
There's a guy at my gym that stacks all the weights on the leg extension machine, grips his knees and pushes with all his trembling might. It's hilarious.
No end of entertainment at the gym.
posted by the cuban at 4:08 PM on April 22, 2009
There's a guy at my gym that stacks all the weights on the leg extension machine, grips his knees and pushes with all his trembling might. It's hilarious.
No end of entertainment at the gym.
posted by the cuban at 4:08 PM on April 22, 2009
Of course, you'd be expending less energy to do the actual walking now that you're "lighter", but shouldn't the two sums add up to something that's pretty close to the energy needed to walk the treadmill alone?
Okay, let's say I decide to take it to the extreme and hold my entire body weight up by my arms. Will I burn twice as many calories when I double the speed of the treadmill, even though I'm never making contact with the belt?
posted by 0xFCAF at 4:14 PM on April 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
Okay, let's say I decide to take it to the extreme and hold my entire body weight up by my arms. Will I burn twice as many calories when I double the speed of the treadmill, even though I'm never making contact with the belt?
posted by 0xFCAF at 4:14 PM on April 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
All exercises have a specific form and function. Once you deviate from the form, the function changes.
halogen: I can balance myself between two chairs and pump my legs in an elliptical fashion at 8mph. I can also jump on an elliptical machine and turn up the speed to 8mph, and perform the exercise correctly. Those two exercises will be vastly different in many ways (calories burned, muscles used, etc.).
posted by P.o.B. at 4:19 PM on April 22, 2009
halogen: I can balance myself between two chairs and pump my legs in an elliptical fashion at 8mph. I can also jump on an elliptical machine and turn up the speed to 8mph, and perform the exercise correctly. Those two exercises will be vastly different in many ways (calories burned, muscles used, etc.).
posted by P.o.B. at 4:19 PM on April 22, 2009
If you still move your feet the speed of the belt, then it's cheating less than you would think. If you had one of those walker things on wheels and you ran around a track while supporting yourself with your arms on that, it would be the same. Same work, same distance, same time = same power output.
On a treadmill, though, to the extent you support yourself, you also don't have to provide as much forward force with your feet.
Doesn't matter though, because they aren't in a contest with anyone else, and probably aren't training for any specific event. They're just doing it for GPP, and in that case, it doesn't matter if they cheat, only that they know they are, and next time, cheat less. Or, cheat the same and go faster. Whatever.
posted by ctmf at 4:26 PM on April 22, 2009
On a treadmill, though, to the extent you support yourself, you also don't have to provide as much forward force with your feet.
Doesn't matter though, because they aren't in a contest with anyone else, and probably aren't training for any specific event. They're just doing it for GPP, and in that case, it doesn't matter if they cheat, only that they know they are, and next time, cheat less. Or, cheat the same and go faster. Whatever.
posted by ctmf at 4:26 PM on April 22, 2009
I recently was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in my right knee at the ripe age of 38. This, after losing a substantial amount of weight, joining a gym and going to a trainer twice a week. I don't want to stop going to the gym, and want to do more than just upper body work. I'm able to still do some cardio by walking on the treadmill (albeit not nearly as fast as I used to) by using the rails to take a little bit of weight off my knee once it starts bothering me. It's usually only at the end of my time on the treadmill, but still that little bit makes a difference. Looks dorky and people might be rolling their eyes? Sure and probably. But, hey, it keeps me going.
As far as seeing the people virtually dragging themselves up the stairmasters, well, I'm not sure about them. They're usually the same ones that are talking on the phone while drinking their lattes at the same time. I even saw one on the elliptical wearing Ugg slippers a few weeks ago. Seriously.
posted by dancinglamb at 4:26 PM on April 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
As far as seeing the people virtually dragging themselves up the stairmasters, well, I'm not sure about them. They're usually the same ones that are talking on the phone while drinking their lattes at the same time. I even saw one on the elliptical wearing Ugg slippers a few weeks ago. Seriously.
posted by dancinglamb at 4:26 PM on April 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
If you still move your feet the speed of the belt, then it's cheating less than you would think. If you had one of those walker things on wheels and you ran around a track while supporting yourself with your arms on that, it would be the same. Same work, same distance, same time = same power output.
What? No. By that logic you should be able to power your car with your feet like Fred Flintstone and get up to sprint speeds just as easily as you would on foot.
With the walker, each leg has to exert enough force to move your entire body, but on the treadmill you only have to move the leg by itself (probably 1/5th the amount of mass to move).
posted by 0xFCAF at 4:42 PM on April 22, 2009
What? No. By that logic you should be able to power your car with your feet like Fred Flintstone and get up to sprint speeds just as easily as you would on foot.
With the walker, each leg has to exert enough force to move your entire body, but on the treadmill you only have to move the leg by itself (probably 1/5th the amount of mass to move).
posted by 0xFCAF at 4:42 PM on April 22, 2009
I get really bored using those sorts of machines so sometimes I switch up my posture just to mix things up- it makes the time seem to pass faster than when I spend 30 mintues doing the exact same motion. Like, "okay, for the next two minutes, I will grip this rail in the front." I'll change the speed or incline, but I'll also go backwards, or grip the handlebars, or not touch the arm supports at all, or press on the grips to measure my heart rate. So maybe they aren't "cheating", they're just bored.
posted by emd3737 at 4:46 PM on April 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by emd3737 at 4:46 PM on April 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
ludwig_van: sometimes the guys "team benching" and the like are cheating for ego.
Sometimes "doing negatives" is a real, valid way to get stronger, like assisted pullups. If the bencher lets the bar down slowly to his chest using a slow, eccentric muscle contraction, then the spotter helps him pick it back up to reset, that's still doing him some good. You have to be very careful doing this, because you can easily do too many before you feel it and hurt yourself. Jumping pullups, where you jump up, then let yourself down slowly, is one of the top exercises that can induce rhabdomyolysis. So random amateurs in the neighborhood gym probably don't need to be doing negative bench presses.
Also, sometimes it's someone who really would do it the "right" non-cheating way if they knew better, but they see the muscle guys doing it that way and figure that is the right way.
What? No. By that logic you should be able to power your car with your feet like Fred Flintstone and get up to sprint speeds just as easily as you would on foot.
That would be true, if the car had negligible acceleration inertia to work against, and no tire friction.
posted by ctmf at 5:02 PM on April 22, 2009
Sometimes "doing negatives" is a real, valid way to get stronger, like assisted pullups. If the bencher lets the bar down slowly to his chest using a slow, eccentric muscle contraction, then the spotter helps him pick it back up to reset, that's still doing him some good. You have to be very careful doing this, because you can easily do too many before you feel it and hurt yourself. Jumping pullups, where you jump up, then let yourself down slowly, is one of the top exercises that can induce rhabdomyolysis. So random amateurs in the neighborhood gym probably don't need to be doing negative bench presses.
Also, sometimes it's someone who really would do it the "right" non-cheating way if they knew better, but they see the muscle guys doing it that way and figure that is the right way.
What? No. By that logic you should be able to power your car with your feet like Fred Flintstone and get up to sprint speeds just as easily as you would on foot.
That would be true, if the car had negligible acceleration inertia to work against, and no tire friction.
posted by ctmf at 5:02 PM on April 22, 2009
Because it's easier.
posted by inigo2 at 5:06 PM on April 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by inigo2 at 5:06 PM on April 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
Treadmills are a whole other thing. I think OP is mainly talking about stairmasters and ellipticals, where if you take the weight off your feet, your feet just kind of spin around the track. Kind of like using a stationary bike on zero resistance. It just can't be equal effort cardio-wise.
I know there are reasons to do it briefly, but I've seen some people who clearly don't get it. This one guy (we had a similar schedule for a while, so I know this wasn't a fluke) would go for maybe 5 minutes at a normal speed on the elliptical then he would turn up the machine to hyper speed for a couple of minutes and immediately put his entire weight on the rails (elbows down, back slumped to fully offload weight) and let his feet go nuts with clearly no weight on his feet. Then back to normal, then hyper speed, etc.
Say what you want about him having to support his own weight (couldn't he just stand still and get the same effort?), but if he thought he was really getting the good burn during those two minutes, he's an idiot. Surely he could go slower without offloading weight to get the same burn and not make the machine sound like it's going to lose a sprocket.
posted by parkerjackson at 5:06 PM on April 22, 2009
I know there are reasons to do it briefly, but I've seen some people who clearly don't get it. This one guy (we had a similar schedule for a while, so I know this wasn't a fluke) would go for maybe 5 minutes at a normal speed on the elliptical then he would turn up the machine to hyper speed for a couple of minutes and immediately put his entire weight on the rails (elbows down, back slumped to fully offload weight) and let his feet go nuts with clearly no weight on his feet. Then back to normal, then hyper speed, etc.
Say what you want about him having to support his own weight (couldn't he just stand still and get the same effort?), but if he thought he was really getting the good burn during those two minutes, he's an idiot. Surely he could go slower without offloading weight to get the same burn and not make the machine sound like it's going to lose a sprocket.
posted by parkerjackson at 5:06 PM on April 22, 2009
I will support myself at times on the treadmill for a couple reasons. One reason being that as I'm still in the process of losing considerable weight, it relieves the pressure and stress on my shins. I hate shin splints, so I'm do my best to avoid getting them. Second, sometimes after I speed down after jogging, I don't want to drop the work out my legs are getting by slowing down more than I have to. At least mentally, I feel like I'm getting more of a workout that way.
While you can certainly do things the wrong way at a gym, in terms of the treadmill, I think so long as your feet are going forward and making contact with the tread then I don't see that as "cheating." More to the point, doing something wrong doesn't equate to cheating, which seems to imply that working out at the gym is some form of competition....which is weird.
posted by Atreides at 5:13 PM on April 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
While you can certainly do things the wrong way at a gym, in terms of the treadmill, I think so long as your feet are going forward and making contact with the tread then I don't see that as "cheating." More to the point, doing something wrong doesn't equate to cheating, which seems to imply that working out at the gym is some form of competition....which is weird.
posted by Atreides at 5:13 PM on April 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
To clarify, running around a track with a walker, approximately the same as running around without it. Running on a treadmill supported by arms, not the same as running on the treadmill, because you don't have to provide any forward propulsion.
Hanging on a stairstepper - is more tricky. If you look at it from the body's frame of reference, the stairmaster (done properly) is making you extend the hip through a full range of motion, weighted by your body weight. That the step moves up and down doesn't matter, because it ends up in the same place every cycle (net zero), and since you aren't really pushing it down, it's falling down by gravity while you're standing up on it. Used this way, it doesn't matter what the resistance on the machine is - that only affects how fast you can recycle to the next step. That is, if the resistance is too high, it isn't any harder on you, you just have to wait longer for the step to drop down after you step up.
Now, if you fix your torso, and force the pedals up and down against the resistance, that's a completely different thing - it becomes a one-leg leg press (and pull on the other leg, if the pedal has a strap on it). That totally depends on the resistance on the machine, and may actually be harder then the bodyweight step-up.
posted by ctmf at 5:18 PM on April 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
Hanging on a stairstepper - is more tricky. If you look at it from the body's frame of reference, the stairmaster (done properly) is making you extend the hip through a full range of motion, weighted by your body weight. That the step moves up and down doesn't matter, because it ends up in the same place every cycle (net zero), and since you aren't really pushing it down, it's falling down by gravity while you're standing up on it. Used this way, it doesn't matter what the resistance on the machine is - that only affects how fast you can recycle to the next step. That is, if the resistance is too high, it isn't any harder on you, you just have to wait longer for the step to drop down after you step up.
Now, if you fix your torso, and force the pedals up and down against the resistance, that's a completely different thing - it becomes a one-leg leg press (and pull on the other leg, if the pedal has a strap on it). That totally depends on the resistance on the machine, and may actually be harder then the bodyweight step-up.
posted by ctmf at 5:18 PM on April 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
While you can certainly do things the wrong way at a gym, in terms of the treadmill, I think so long as your feet are going forward and making contact with the tread then I don't see that as "cheating." More to the point, doing something wrong doesn't equate to cheating, which seems to imply that working out at the gym is some form of competition....which is weird.
Sorry to burst your bubble man, but holding on when you are on the treadmill makes the exercise considerably easier. Sometimes when I am almost ready to die on the mill I will briefly grab on to the bars because I just need a break and don't really want to have to slow down for the 5 seconds I need to catch my breath, but that doesn't make it anywhere near the same as running without holding on.
posted by ch1x0r at 5:20 PM on April 22, 2009
Sorry to burst your bubble man, but holding on when you are on the treadmill makes the exercise considerably easier. Sometimes when I am almost ready to die on the mill I will briefly grab on to the bars because I just need a break and don't really want to have to slow down for the 5 seconds I need to catch my breath, but that doesn't make it anywhere near the same as running without holding on.
posted by ch1x0r at 5:20 PM on April 22, 2009
I agree with almost everyone here that holding on to the rails is easier, can give the user a break, etc. But I will also point out that at my gym, the treadmill rail has a heart rate sensor on it. To check your heart rate during your workout, you have to grip the bar for several seconds. Personally I don't bother with this, but it is possible that some people do.
posted by Jemstar at 5:50 PM on April 22, 2009
posted by Jemstar at 5:50 PM on April 22, 2009
Best answer: 1. They are conserving energy for all the sitting down they need to do when they get back to the office.
2. They are doing it for the lulz.
3. They are doing it to annoy you and others around them (known as gym-trolling).
4. They are doing it because they felt off-balance.
5. They are doing it to get over a hump.
6. They are doing it because they don't realise they are doing it.
7. They are doing it to take a break.
8. Physics experiment.
posted by turgid dahlia at 6:05 PM on April 22, 2009
2. They are doing it for the lulz.
3. They are doing it to annoy you and others around them (known as gym-trolling).
4. They are doing it because they felt off-balance.
5. They are doing it to get over a hump.
6. They are doing it because they don't realise they are doing it.
7. They are doing it to take a break.
8. Physics experiment.
posted by turgid dahlia at 6:05 PM on April 22, 2009
Mod note: A few comments removed. Please keep answers, including replies to other answers, constructive, or take them elsewhere.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:16 PM on April 22, 2009
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:16 PM on April 22, 2009
I'll do it sometimes on the treadmill to take some pressure off my shins if they are in particularly bad pain. It's terrible form, of course, but it usually lets my muscles relax enough to resume running again shortly without totally stopping and killing my rhythm.
posted by zachlipton at 1:30 AM on April 23, 2009
posted by zachlipton at 1:30 AM on April 23, 2009
Yeah, people want to burn a certain number of calories per workout and don't care about sacrificing difficulty to get there. They just want to see the "correct" number on the screen at the end.
It's particularly insidious with treadmills because by leaning on the rails you can make a tough workout quite easy. If these people ever tried the equivalent run outside, they wouldn't make it 10 minutes.
posted by venividivici at 1:30 AM on April 23, 2009
It's particularly insidious with treadmills because by leaning on the rails you can make a tough workout quite easy. If these people ever tried the equivalent run outside, they wouldn't make it 10 minutes.
posted by venividivici at 1:30 AM on April 23, 2009
I have a bad knee. On the elliptical, I use the moving arm bars and can get a good rhythm for a long period of time; on the treadmill, I use the rails to mitigate some of the impact so I am able to walk the next morning without ibuprofen. Since I discovered the elliptical, I use the treadmill only for long slow workout days; I end up going slower than I'd like, or I incline it and hold on when I have to.
Also I have this irrational lifelong belief that I am a runner and it is hard to admit that I let the dream of endurance racing injure me on a regular basis. I shouldn't be on the treadmill at all.
posted by catlet at 8:25 AM on April 23, 2009
Also I have this irrational lifelong belief that I am a runner and it is hard to admit that I let the dream of endurance racing injure me on a regular basis. I shouldn't be on the treadmill at all.
posted by catlet at 8:25 AM on April 23, 2009
Sorry to burst your bubble man, but holding on when you are on the treadmill makes the exercise considerably easier.
Of course it makes it easier. However, the pace that I can keep my legs going at with support provides a higher heart rate than that from the slower speed with no support. That's what I was trying to say in my not so clear answer.
posted by Atreides at 9:21 AM on April 23, 2009
Of course it makes it easier. However, the pace that I can keep my legs going at with support provides a higher heart rate than that from the slower speed with no support. That's what I was trying to say in my not so clear answer.
posted by Atreides at 9:21 AM on April 23, 2009
Response by poster: Great discussion. To be clear, I don't mean people who are gently grasping rails to take heart rate or for a few moments to get through a difficult interval. Or because you're just adjusting position for a moment or two.
I'm talking about the people I see go for 30 mins or longer with elbows locked and triceps straining to take weight off. I belong to a large club in Chicago (East Bank) with a vast array of machines (100s, literally, in one big room). So, you see it all the time. It is a wealthy, presumably type-A crowd so the attainment of a goal at all costs is a real possibility for a lot of us at the club.
It honestly never occurred to me that they could ~not~ know they were doing it. They take one arm off the rail to grab a drink or flip a page and they nearly go careening off the machine...
posted by cast4321 at 1:57 PM on April 23, 2009
I'm talking about the people I see go for 30 mins or longer with elbows locked and triceps straining to take weight off. I belong to a large club in Chicago (East Bank) with a vast array of machines (100s, literally, in one big room). So, you see it all the time. It is a wealthy, presumably type-A crowd so the attainment of a goal at all costs is a real possibility for a lot of us at the club.
It honestly never occurred to me that they could ~not~ know they were doing it. They take one arm off the rail to grab a drink or flip a page and they nearly go careening off the machine...
posted by cast4321 at 1:57 PM on April 23, 2009
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It's also just because sometimes it's only 30 seconds to make it over the next hump in an interval workout, and accomplishing a time goal with bad form is better than not accomplishing it.
And sometimes it's just because they don't know they are doing it.
posted by bensherman at 3:09 PM on April 22, 2009 [1 favorite]