The 6 Best Machines You Should be Using at the Gym for Weight Loss
When you're trying to lose weight, it's common to try everything available that helps your journey. Some individuals head to the gym—and for great reason. Not only is exercise a crucial step to weight loss, but you will have access to the best workout machines for the job.
To find out the best course when burning calories and dropping some pounds is your priority, Eat This, Not That! reached out to the professionals. Your gym will have a ton of outstanding machines at your fingertips, like the treadmill, cable cross machine, elliptical, rowing machine, stationary bike, and stair climber, to name a few. As with any part of losing weight, the task requires hard work and dedication.
Keep reading to learn all about the best workout machines for weight loss, and next, don't forget to check out Drop 10 Pounds Fast With This 10-Minute Daily Workout.
Stair Climber
Mike Bohl, MD, MPH, ALM, a member of our Medical Expert Board and a certified personal trainer and nutrition coach who has helped develop the Body Program at Ro, tells us, "If your goal is to lose weight, one of the best ways to maximize the number of calories you burn in a given amount of time is to do cardio exercise."
Dr. Bohl strongly recommends utilizing the stair climber. Not only will this machine provide an excellent cardiovascular workout, but it will also challenge the big muscles in your legs and buttocks, such as your quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, and glutes. This strength-training exercise will help you to torch calories as you work out your muscles and continue to do so as you recover post-workout.
Victoria Brady, a personal trainer on Fyt, the largest personal training service in the nation that makes expert-guided fitness, whether in-person or virtual, convenient for everyone, agrees that the stair climber is one of the best workout machines for weight loss. "[The stair climber] is a very efficient exercise machine for weight loss and strengthening your lower body," she explains.
Brady recommends performing intervals on the stair climber by choosing the "Hills" or "Interval" preset in order to increase your fat burn. "You can also use the Fat Burn modality and do steady state to burn many calories," she adds.
Cable Crossover Machine
In addition to cardio machines, Dr. Bohl suggests spending time on the cable crossover machine. He explains, "This is an incredibly versatile device that you can do almost any exercise with. It's also very easy to increase and decrease weight, so you can change up whether you're focused on muscle strength (higher weight, lower repetitions) or muscle endurance (lower weight, higher repetitions)—and both of these options burn calories."
The cable crossover machine is typically considered less intimidating than free weights and provides a greater range of motion and works out your stabilizer muscles, which is not particularly the case when you're using selectorized machines.
Rowing Machine
The rowing machine is "one of the best cardio machines in the gym" when it comes to giving your calorie burn a boost and building cardiovascular endurance and stamina, according to Brady. She tells us, "This machine is effective for weight loss as it works the entire body and ensures a full range of motion. Not only that, but it is also low-impact and places less stress on the body due to being in a seated position."
In order to burn calories, Brady suggests reaching 900 to 1,000 meters every five minutes. "The greater the resistance (typically the highest level is 10), the harder the stroke. You can also alternate between high and low intensity to go the HIIT route which is another great way to boost weight loss efforts or try a slow, longer rowing workout to maximize fat-burning," she explains.
Treadmill
Brady also notes that treadmills are extremely helpful in bumping up the fat burn. The quickest route to fat loss? "By doing high-intensity intervals or walking with the incline set high," she recommends. Consider run/walk intervals or walking uphill on your treadmill to burn more fat.
Check out the below HIIT workout and incline walking workout Brady put together.
HIIT workout:
- Run for 30 seconds (at a speed between 5 to 8 miles per hour)
- Walk for 15 seconds (at a speed between 3 to 4 miles per hour)
- Run for 30 seconds (at a speed between 5 to 8 miles per hour)
- Walk for 15 seconds (at a speed between 3 to 4 miles per hour)
- Switch between 15 and 30 seconds, repeating for 20 minutes in total
Incline walking workout:
The "Hills" modality is the ultimate preset mode for incline walking, Brady explains. "This preset has a few variations, including interval, and mimics going up and down a hill," she adds. Brady recommends beginning at level three, then increasing the level by one level per week.
Elliptical
If you really want to bump up your fat burn, an amazing choice is the elliptical. Not only will you work your lower and upper body, but you'll also get your heart rate up at the same time.
Brady points out, "It is low impact putting less pressure on your joints. Like other machines, performing interval training or completing a longer session is the best way to maximize caloric burn."
Brady recommends the following elliptical session for weight loss: Adjust the resistance, elevation, and/or stride so you can kick up the work your muscles and heart are doing. In doing so, you will torch more calories as you exercise.
Exercise Bike or Air Bike
As with the treadmill, riding an exercise bike or cycling is a simple way to drop weight quite efficiently. The bike can be utilized for interval training, which is truly effective when it comes to losing weight.
Brady recommends the following interval training for weight loss: For an exercise bike, sprint at a high intensity for several seconds or minutes. Follow this with a lower intensity level of riding for your recovery period.
Air bikes vary from stationary bikes. The difference being an air bake is based on air circulation or resistance from the fan of the bike.
Brady explains, "The harder you work, the higher the resistance. Not only that, but it becomes a full-body workout (whereas the stationary bike focuses only on the lower body) since you are now cycling using your arms."
An air resistance bike is an outstanding way to get in some high-intensity interval training (HIIT) for your weight loss journey. Start by performing short, 10-second high-intensity intervals. The air bike will follow suit and give you the maximum amount of resistance to get the job done.
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