# Exercise Bike or Cross Trainer?



## DannyTalent

ok here we go, my goals are to lower my body fat percentage im 6ft1 and i have a fat percentage of 30 which is high.

at the moment i am exercising 5 days a week, the cardio i am doing is 45 mins on a exercise bike every session, to loose fat would i see better results with the cross trainer or should i stick with the bike?


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## neildo

Mix it up, get on the treadmill as well if you can or try a bit of rowing. None are particularly best just do what you prefer and enjoy most but like i said it's good to mix it up. Try interval training, eg 1 min fast as u can manage, 3 mins very slow and repeat for your session, great for sheddin the fat..


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## DannyTalent

ya i have done all that, just wanted to know if there was a big difference between the cross trainer and bike. treadmill is a no for me, shin splints ha. so stick to exercise bike i guess if i prefer it then?


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## Jason Griffiths

I prefer crosstrainer as I tend to get less fatigue from it...although my HR is just as high.


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## DannyTalent

Jason Griffiths said:


> I prefer crosstrainer as I tend to get less fatigue from it...although my HR is just as high.


okay, i might give it a go, would you say there is a difference in the whole workout between the cross trainer and bike, one of my mates said that the cross trainer works your core? which would = better then the bike.


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## tom jones

Interval running on tread mill, you'd get the same maybe more out of 20mins of that as opposed to 45 on bike or cross trainer.


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## DannyTalent

tom jones said:


> Interval running on tread mill, you'd get the same maybe more out of 20mins of that as opposed to 45 on bike or cross trainer.


done it for 2 weeks, got my shin splints back so thats a no no.


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## tom jones

DannyTalent said:


> done it for 2 weeks, got my shin splints back so thats a no no.


I suffered with those for year, so you have my sympathy mate. Increasing my fish oils seemed to help with it though. Interval on bike then I reckon...


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## DannyTalent

tom jones said:


> I suffered with those for year, so you have my sympathy mate. Increasing my fish oils seemed to help with it though. Interval on bike then I reckon...


thanks mate, it is a bladdy pain because i was doing rather well on the treadmill with the HIIT but then they came back. Ill have to try that idea, do you take the caps? and what 1 min of fastest possible then say 2 mins of good pace? for how long? 30 mins?


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## McBain

Try HIIT on the cross trainer. Some of the programs on cross trainers are already geared towards doing this. if not just invent your own.


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## neildo

I got shin splints when i started cardio again....spent 75 quid on a pair of running shoes fitted to my feet shape and started to stretch lots and do more thorough warm ups....the shin problems are a thing of the past now...


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## DannyTalent

neildo said:


> I got shin splints when i started cardio again....spent 75 quid on a pair of running shoes fitted to my feet shape and started to stretch lots and do more thorough warm ups....the shin problems are a thing of the past now...


i have really tried everything, doing all that, got nice pair of nike shoes and i also stretch all the time. Im one of the poor fellas who suffers with it, wish i didnt love HIIT on treadmill.


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## M_at

Treadmill - high incline and a decent walking pace.

I know you said that you get shin splints but at a slow pace you'll gradually build up a technique and grow out of them - as you lose weight you may find that they disappear altogether.

I used to get a terrible pain across the front of my shins just walking when I was your sort of bf %age - now I can run, ok not marathon standard, without pain!


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## DannyTalent

okay sounds good, i been trying HIIT on the exercise bike and im liking it, will there be a bigger fat lose with doing the high incline at a good walking pace?


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## martin brown

Go with X-trainer. Spending long amounts of time sat on a bike will mess you up in time. You end up with bad posture and a fat ass.

Try doing the incline walks on a fast walking speed on full incline on treadmill. Aim for 20-30 seconds of walking then jump off on the sides for 30 seconds. Do 20 mins to begin with and build it up. This is very effective.

M


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## DannyTalent

okay thanks ill have a go at that, first thing iv heard bad about the exercise bike but ill take your opinion in to account, thanks


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## M_at

martin brown said:


> Go with X-trainer. Spending long amounts of time sat on a bike will mess you up in time. You end up with bad posture and a fat ass.


So that's where my fat ass comes from!

A second vote from me for the cross trainer - it's a more rounded exercise. Bikes are fun as part of a routine if you want to go out and cycle decent distances but since I'm no longer on the bike outside the gym I'm trying to do more functional cardio.


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## tom jones

DannyTalent said:


> thanks mate, it is a bladdy pain because i was doing rather well on the treadmill with the HIIT but then they came back. Ill have to try that idea, do you take the caps? and what 1 min of fastest possible then say 2 mins of good pace? for how long? 30 mins?


I get my fish oil in a bottle from my-protein- Its good quality and good value...As fir the interval, I prefer 1min flat out, 1min dead slow. But adjust it to suit your self. You may want to start with a 2min gap in between flat out, but as you get fitter you should aim to reduce then time going slow.


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## tom jones

martin brown said:


> Go with X-trainer. Spending long amounts of time sat on a bike will mess you up in time.* You end up with bad posture and a fat ass.*
> 
> What you on about??? lol...do you see any of the guys doing tour de Frane with big fat ****s, and they spend every for hours in saddle...lol


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## martin brown

tom jones said:


> What you on about??? lol...do you see any of the guys doing tour de Frane with big fat ****s, and they spend every for hours in saddle...lol


Gym bikes are badly designed full stop. Sitting down for long periods in a cycling position de-activates the gluteal muscles, shortens the hip flexors and rounds the shoudlers.

The result is gluteal atrophy, weak hip muscles, weak abs and weak shoulder/upper back muscles, flat back, poor perforamce and functional movement patterns with increased likeliness of injury placing excessive stress on the joints (especially lumbar spine).

Name a Tour-de-France cyclist with good posture.

Lol.


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## DannyTalent

i tried the X-trainer today and i felt much better doing that then 45 mins on a exercise bike, also i burnt about 100 more cals. who else like climbing on the treadmill, it didnt seem to be to much hard work for the amount of cals i burnt?


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## martin brown

DannyTalent said:


> i tried the X-trainer today and i felt much better doing that then 45 mins on a exercise bike, also i burnt about 100 more cals. who else like climbing on the treadmill, it didnt seem to be to much hard work for the amount of cals i burnt?


You need the treadmill on full incline (15% normally) and walk at your a briak pace, around 4-5mph (6-7 kmph). It wont be easy!


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## DannyTalent

martin brown said:


> You need the treadmill on full incline (15% normally) and walk at your a briak pace, around 4-5mph (6-7 kmph). It wont be easy!


i did 15 at speed of 7 for 30 mins? 1 min then 30 sec break for the full 30 mins?? and i found it obviously hard but not as hard as i would of thought?


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## martin brown

Go faster then  You can do 20 sec sprints if you want with 20 secs rest.

Just workout what level your at and adjust to suit. I was just giving a starting point for most people...


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## DannyTalent

okay, well i am doing what you suggested because off my shin splints, it didn't affect them so, thanks for the advice.


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## tom jones

martin brown said:


> Gym bikes are badly designed full stop. Sitting down for long periods in a cycling position de-activates the gluteal muscles, shortens the hip flexors and rounds the shoudlers.
> 
> The result is gluteal atrophy, weak hip muscles, weak abs and weak shoulder/upper back muscles, flat back, poor perforamce and functional movement patterns with increased likeliness of injury placing excessive stress on the joints (especially lumbar spine).
> 
> Name a Tour-de-France cyclist with good posture.
> 
> Lol.


Sounds all to scientific for me mate...but I'll believe you lol


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## Da Goon

Work out your max heart rate and work at 70%-80% of your max HR. I would suggest treadmill at an incline fast paced walk will not put any strain on your joints.


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## DannyTalent

Da Goon said:


> Work out your max heart rate and work at 70%-80% of your max HR. I would suggest treadmill at an incline fast paced walk will not put any strain on your joints.


ya i tried it today and i think im going to stick at it untill i see results


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## Da Goon

Aim for 1-2lbs per week loss. Any more and you could be sacrificing muscle. Add in a deficit of 300-500 cals in your diet. 3500 cals in 1lb of fat so you will a deficit of at least 3,500 to lose 1lb in a week.


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## DannyTalent

Da Goon said:


> Aim for 1-2lbs per week loss. Any more and you could be sacrificing muscle. Add in a deficit of 300-500 cals in your diet. 3500 cals in 1lb of fat so you will a deficit of at least 3,500 to lose 1lb in a week.


what you mean by the deficit?? add in what?


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