Stepper anyone?

audiobliss

Early B. wrote:

I don't know about the calorie thing, but tell your PE instructor just try one of these bikes with the tension adjusted to a high level for 3 minutes and he'll probably start hyper-ventillating.

Perhaps so, but he is amazingly fit. Probably almost 40, and could whip my butt at anything.

Oh well...we've got a stationary bike, so I'm just going to keep using that...

univera

Early, wish I'd seen this earlier. I am a personal trainer of 10 years. I like ellipticals. If your bike doesn't cut it, I'd go that route. I don't believe in counting calories, but it gives an idea of how hard you are working in a given time period. Self perceived intensity, IMO, is a much better indication of how hard you are working.

I recommend varying cycles of intensity. Go at self perceived level of 4-5 for 10 minutes to warmup, bump it up to a 7 for a few minutes, come back down for a few, bump it up to an 8, come back down, and so on. Work your heart at different intensity levels so that you not only get fat burning benefits but also true cardiovascular work by taxing your system. This type of workout can help acheive your goals in a shorter duration. Your level of intensity can be determined by increasing the speed of your pedaling and/or the resistance in the pedaling motion. A combination of both usually works for me.

30 minutes should be the minimum for constant, moderate intensity cardio exercise, 45 minutes would be ideal. If you vary like I mentioned above, you could get by with 20-25 minutes. There is a lot of talk and confusion about ideal target heart rate zone. Bottom line: if you get on there and work your **** off, it doesn't really matter. Maybe you will burn more fat at a lower intensity, but if you bust it at a higher intensity, your calories burned and the amount you deplete yourself will increase. So, IMO, its a wash. I'd work at higher intensity and not worry about target heart rate.