I know all you elliptical and treadmill worshipers are probably getting mad at me now after the headline of this article, but the fact is that ellipticals and treadmills are one of the least effective exercise methods out there. With this article, I will show you how to get a much more effective fat burning workout without wasting your time mindlessly exercising on a boring elliptical machine or treadmill.

Now first let me say that if you really enjoy elliptical machine workouts and treadmill workouts, then I bless you to keep doing what you love. The reason is that even though ellipticals and treadmills are relatively ineffective compared to other types of exercise, anything you really enjoy doing will benefit you more in the long run because you’re more likely to do it more consistently. .

However, don’t say I didn’t warn you that you could be wasting your time with all these boring mindless cardio machine workouts.

I’ve discussed this before with my ezine subscribers… In fact, I don’t believe in cardio machines as a good form of exercise at all. This may surprise you coming from a fitness fanatic like me, but I don’t think he’s personally used a stationary bike, treadmill, elliptical, or any other cardio machine for at least 8 years or more.

In fact, I don’t even use cardio machines to warm up before my workouts anymore. In fact, I find it to be a much more effective warm-up for doing dumbbell and/or kettlebell swings, snatches, cleans and presses, etc., combined with bodyweight exercises as a great full-body warm-up before working out.

Why do I think cardio machines are so horrible? Well, here are 5 reasons:

1) Treadmills and ellipticals are just a very inefficient way to exercise compared to other options. Why should you do treadmill or elliptical workouts when you can get better results by doing more interesting forms of training that actually stimulate a hormonal response to burn fat and boost your metabolism to a greater extent?

2) Elliptical machines and treadmills are incredibly expensive and a waste of money for people who exercise at home…there are so many better things to exercise at home that you could have spent your money on instead of wasting it on an elliptical machine, a treadmill. , or exercise bike.

You’ll see plenty of ideas below for better home workouts if you don’t like going to a gym to work out.

3) I have seen several studies indicating results that running on a treadmill may be less effective than running outdoors for various reasons, such as stride abnormalities on treadmills vs. natural running, slightly lower calorie burn compared with the outdoor race, etc.

(although I never recommend just “jogging” anyway… walking/running or variable intensity jogging are much more effective, training your heart rate over a much wider range rather than the same heart rate range all the time).

4) Steady-state exercise (which doesn’t require concentration on what you’re doing) while watching TV or reading a newspaper or magazine creates a disconnect between mind and body that results in extremely poor results compared to exercise that requires focused attention.

5) Elliptical and treadmill workouts are overwhelmingly boring!

So what are some good alternatives to elliptical and treadmill workouts? Some of my favorites are:

• Outdoor Wind Sprint Workouts – This is the ultimate workout for a rock hard lean body… just look at the powerful but super lean ripped bodies of world class sprinters, and compare them to the weak physiques and withering caps of typical marathon runners… How would you prefer to look?
• Jump rope – amazing mind/body connection and really fun (you can try speed jumps, cross jumps and double jumps once you get good at it)
• Kettlebell Workouts – Nothing will get your heart pounding and sweating more than high-rep kettlebell swings and/or snatches (or cleans and presses)! These can also be done with dumbbells, but I prefer kettlebells as they have a better “feel” and the unbalanced nature of the KB makes you work harder)
• Bodyweight exercises: mountain climbers, bodyweight squats, pushups, jumping jacks, lunges, crawls, plank grabs, etc.
• The good old fashioned rowing machine – I don’t really classify this as a “cardio” machine per se like ellipticals and treadmills… Rather, I think the rowing machine is actually a great exercise for the whole body that actually uses real resistance. )
• Hill Sprints: Run uphill as hard as possible, then walk back down and repeat as many times as you can for a full workout (another classic exercise for a lean, rock-hard body)
• Shadow boxing… an awesome workout, but if you’re shy, it’s best to do it at home, as you’ll get some crazy looks doing this in a typical gym!
• Swimming races: a muscle toning exercise compared to swimming distance at a steady pace… I actually love the upper body pump I get from swimming races (instead of swimming slow and constant, with race swimming, you swim as fast as you can with your best effort). as hard as you can for 1 lap. Then rest for 15-20 seconds before doing another swim sprint).
• Heavy bag punch/kick workouts, speed bag, rebound bag… all are tremendous workouts and much more fun than boring cardio machines (requires a very intense mind/body connection which increases results).

I hope this article gives you a lot of ideas you can use to jump right out and bring more variety to your workouts instead of relying on the same old boring elliptical and treadmill workout routines. Have fun!