I splurged and bought an elliptical machine for home!

[Absinthe d'Accalia]

I always do 'sensible' things with my bonus - pay of the hubby's car, put a fence up for the dogs' yard, pay off bills, etc. Well, this year I decided I'm going to be not-quite-as-sensible and splurge for something I want, so I bought a Reebok elliptical machine. Consumer Reports had a decent review on it (not as great as the ones that cost $2,000 and up, but not bad for it's price range). It's so cool - it has 8 preprogrammed 'personal training' programs that go through variable resistance and you can hook it up to the computer and use www.ifit.com (which I haven't checked out yet) and access other programs if you get bored with the ones it has. I'm very psyched about this - I can hop on and do my thing, not worry about walking the subdivision in the dark or what the weather is like and start getting in shape now!

[Phoenix McHeit]

How utterly COOL, dear!!!!! Check me on this: those are the ones with absolutely no impact shock, right? With knee & back issues, even simply 'low-impact' is too much for me to take.

[Psyche]

Wow! Extreme coolness!
I think it qualifies as a sensible splurge, since it is most sensible to take care of our body.
That's my story and I am sticking to it!

[Mistress Kristi]

*sigh* I'm so jealous!!! I love those things.

[Absinthe d'Accalia]

Yes'm - no impact on the knees & ankles & such. But such a workout for cardio & my leg muscles are definitely feeling it!

[Rowan Culpepper]

The winter darkness is hard on my exercising too.
I have tried an elliptical machine before and loved it.

I have two questions, though. My supervisor at work
told me that the calories measured by the machine
were not very accurate. Does anyone have any
information about this? The second question, why
do people "run" backwards on the machines
sometimes?

Hugs and exercise to all :D

[Artemisia]

I have the Treadclimber http://www.treadclimber.com and it is so easy on the knees too. I believe the calorie counting problem is thus: the number of calories you burn is based on your weight and your level of fitness. Remember that muscle burns more calories than fat so the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. Not to mention that 20-somethings seem to have a higher metabolism than 30+ somethings. Here's some more info on the subject: http://www.ivillage.com/diet/experts/fitfriday/qas/0,,253454_5373,00.html

:workout: P.S. Did you ever notice that excercise equipment morph into clothing racks?

[moira]

The second question, why
do people "run" backwards on the machines
sometimes?

Hugs and exercise to all :D

cause it works out your tushie...

moira

[Absinthe d'Accalia]

It sure does work your tushie - more than I thought it would!

[Rowan Culpepper]

The second question, why
do people "run" backwards on the machines
sometimes?

Hugs and exercise to all :D

cause it works out your tushie...

moira

When I was in the gym yesterday, I was also told that you worked other muscles by
moving backwards like that.

Works out tushie=Good
:D
Thanks Moira

Rowan

[LashaLaRouge]

coolness
im sooo jealous
im trying to save up to get an eliptical for myhouse but im kind of borke right now cause i currently lost my job...

anyone know of some deacent chepaer ones, not interested in the eletrical doodads, i dont need to know how many calories im burning or anything, its something to just get some basic exersize on, i have major problems with my knee and ankles and so cant go running even walking in the cold is too much on me

[Absinthe d'Accalia]

Lasha - keep an eye out for deals at Play It Again Sports type places and/or when Sports Authority has their sales & are doing the 180-days-same-as-cash deals. You can sometimes get killer prices on equipment then!

[Adriana Rose]

Those things are cool, they work your butt off!!

But there is always one major problem with any type of excercise equpipment that one walks on. I always seem to get shot off the back... :?