{"id":196,"date":"2013-12-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-12-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/rpenf\/5-reasons-to-ditch-the-treadmill-training\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T02:09:52","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T02:09:52","slug":"5-reasons-to-ditch-the-treadmill-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/rpenf\/5-reasons-to-ditch-the-treadmill-training\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Reasons to Ditch The Treadmill Training"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

5 Reasons that I\u00a0Think\u00a0Treadmill and Elliptical Machine Workouts are a Waste of Time<\/strong><\/p>\n

Plus 10 workout ideas that I believe are more effective and fun!<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Mike Geary, Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist
\nAuthor of best-selling program:\u00a0 The Truth about Six-Pack Abs
<\/span><\/p>\n

Now that I pissed off all of the treadmill and elliptical machine worshipers\u2026 let me say that if you truly enjoy mindlessly pumping away on a treadmill or elliptical (or exercise bike for that matter too), then by all means, keep doing what you enjoy, because enjoying your exercise is one of the most important aspects to sticking with any exercise program\u2026<\/p>\n

However, don\u2019t say that I didn\u2019t warn you that you were wasting your time with all that mindless cardio machine boredom.<\/p>\n

If I haven\u2019t mentioned it before, I don\u2019t believe in cardio machines, and to be quite honest, I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve personally used a treadmill, elliptical, or exercise bike for at least the last 7-8 years or so.<\/p>\n

As a matter of fact, I don\u2019t even use cardio machines anymore for warmups before a workout (I did before occasionally)\u2026 Nowadays, I prefer to do dumbbell or kettlebell snatches and swings mixed with bodyweight exercises as the perfect full body warmup at the beginning of my workouts.<\/p>\n

Kettlebell Video Example<\/h3>\n

So why do I have such hatred for cardio machines?<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, here are 5 reasons<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

1)<\/strong> Treadmills, ellipticals, and exercise bikes are mind-blowingly BOOOORING!\u00a0 Personally, I can think of a million things I\u2019d rather be doing than pedaling my way to nowhere!<\/p>\n

2)<\/strong> Mindless steady state cardio exercise while watching TV or reading\u00a0creates a mind \/ body disconnect resulting in poor results from your exercise routine.\u00a0 Instead of reading a gossip magazine or watching a cheesy reality TV show on the TV screen in front of the cardio machine, a REAL workout consists of actually having your mind engaged strongly in what your body is doing!<\/p>\n

3)<\/strong> I\u2019ve seen studies that indicated that treadmill running may be less effective than outdoor running for various reasons such as stride abnormalities on treadmills vs natural running, slightly less caloric burn compared to outdoor running, etc.<\/p>\n

\u2026although I never recommend just \u201cjogging\u201d anyway (or as Ron Burgundy would say, \u201cyogging\u201d) \u2026 Instead, variable intensity walks \/ runs or sprints are so much more effective, training your heart rate in a much wider range instead of just the same pace during the entire workout.\u00a0 I choose to do a lot of hiking up mountains\u00a0and also wind sprints, but never steady state jogging.<\/p>\n

4)<\/strong>\u00a0Treadmills and ellipticals are\u00a0ridiculously expensive and a waste of money for people that workout at home\u2026 there\u2019s so many better options for home workouts you could have spent your money on rather than wasting it on a treadmill, bike, or elliptical.<\/p>\n

The perfect home gym setup is MUCH cheaper\u2026 there\u2019s no reason you need anything other than a jump rope, bodyweight exercises, a few dumbbells, stability ball, maybe a few kettlebells (if you want to get fancy), and perhaps high tension bands for some more variety.\u00a0 And of course\u2026 the great outdoors has some of the best workout options of all\u2026\u00a0hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, skiing, sports, and more!<\/p>\n

5)<\/strong> Treadmills and elliptical machines\u00a0are just a very ineffective way to workout compared to other options.\u00a0 The metabolic response is much lower compared to the types of\u00a0workouts\u00a0ideas that I describe below. \u00a0Why should you do treadmill or elliptical workouts when you can get better results by doing more interesting forms of training that actually stimulate a fat-burning hormonal response and stimulate your metabolism to a greater extent\u2026<\/p>\n

So what are the alternatives to treadmills, exercise bikes,\u00a0and elliptical trainers? Here are TEN of my favorite types of alternative workouts:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. jumping rope<\/strong>– great mind-body connection \u2013 try speed jumping, crossovers, and double jumps once you get skilled at it.\u00a0 An amazing metabolic exercise with one of the cheapest pieces of equipment available.\u00a0 There\u2019s a reason that every world class boxer uses this exercise!<\/li>\n
  2. kettlebell training<\/strong> \u2013 nothing will get your heart pounding like high repetition KB swings and snatches or clean & presses (can be done with dumbbells too, but I prefer KBs). Personally, I think one of the most intense\u00a0body changing exercises ever invented are double kettlebell snatches (snatching both kettlebells at the same time overhead from the floor).<\/li>\n
  3. outdoor wind sprinting<\/strong> (the ultimate exercise\u00a0for a rock hard ripped body\u2026 just look at the chiseled powerful bodies of world class sprinters, and compare that to the weakling withered physique of a typical marathoner\u2026 nuff said!\u00a0 I generally do wind sprints 2-3 days a week during\u00a0the\u00a0warm times of the year, and I\u2019ll do something such as 50 yards, 60 yards, 70 yards, 80 yards, 90 yards, 100 yards, and then repeat (with about 40-60 second rests between sprints). By the way, for the international folks, a \u201cyard\u201d is just slightly shorter than a meter.<\/li>\n
  4. hill sprinting<\/strong> \u2013 yet another classic exercise for a rock hard lean and powerful body!\u00a0 I like to do 30 yard sprints up a steep hill and then walk down and repeat a bunch of times for maybe 20-30 minutes.\u00a0 Amazing workout.<\/li>\n
  5. The rowing machine<\/strong> \u2013 ok, I don\u2019t really lump this in as a \u201ccardio\u201d machine like treadmills and ellipticals\u2026 I think the rowing machine is actually a great full body workout that actually uses resistance\u2026 The best results come from using variable speeds and really pulling hard to challenge your body.<\/li>\n
  6. Sprint style swimming workouts<\/strong> \u2013 a more muscular workout than steady state distance swimming\u2026 I actually love the upper body pump I get from sprint style swimming \u2014 this is the same concept as sprinting vs jogging but in a pool instead.\u00a0 It\u2019s all about intensity!<\/li>\n
  7. heavy bag punching \/ kicking workout, speed bag, rebound bag<\/strong> \u2013 all are great forms of training and much more interesting than boring cardio machines.\u00a0 These exercises are also great examples of exercises that require an intense mind-body connection, which is missing in boring cardio equipment like treadmills and elliptical machines.<\/li>\n
  8. shadow boxing –<\/strong>\u00a0This is an awesome workout, but if you\u2019re shy, this is best saved for your home workouts since you\u2019ll get some crazy stares doing this at a typical gym from people who think they\u2019re \u201ctoo cool\u201d for stuff like this.<\/li>\n
  9. dumbbell circuits<\/strong> \u2014 This is a super metabolic type of workout that involves alternating between various full-body multi-joint exercises to get a crazy fat-burning workout in minimal time.\u00a0 A good example would be alternating between dumbbell lunges, overhead presses, bent over rows, step ups, and squat presses all with minimal rest between.<\/li>\n
  10. bodyweight training<\/strong> \u2013 bodyweight squats, pushups, lunges, jumps, bear crawls, mountain climbers and jumpers, planks, and the list goes on and on.\u00a0 Another example of great mind-body connection and much more metabolic type of training than treadmills and ellipticals.\u00a0 My fitness\u00a0buddy, and world class trainer,\u00a0Craig Ballantyne has 101 killer bodyweight exercises formulated into awesome fat-burning workouts here.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Well, I hope this article helps give you ideas on how you can get away from all of these mindless and ineffective treadmill and elliptical trainer machines (and exercise bike) workouts that are just wasting your time and energy that could be better spent on more effective workouts.<\/p>\n

    If you want maximum results, it\u2019s all about your intensity levels and also your mind-body connection\u2026 and that all important mind-body connection is usually missing when it comes to elliptical and treadmill workouts, that most people do while watching TV or reading.<\/p>\n

    Original article .<\/p>\n

    <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    5 Reasons that I\u00a0Think\u00a0Treadmill and Elliptical Machine Workouts are a Waste of Time Plus 10 workout ideas that I believe are more effective and fun! by Mike Geary, Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist Author of best-selling program:\u00a0 The Truth about Six-Pack Abs Now that I pissed off all of the treadmill and elliptical machine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":531,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/rpenf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/rpenf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/rpenf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/rpenf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/531"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/rpenf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/rpenf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":217,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/rpenf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196\/revisions\/217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/rpenf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/rpenf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/rpenf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}