Paige Waehner is a certified personal trainer through the American Council on Exercise and a freelance writer with more than 13 years of exercise experience. She trains clients in-home in the Chicago suburbs. She is originally from Nashville, TN and misses the nice, warm weather there.
Q: Please Paige, let Us know a bit more about Yourself. How did You started Your brilliant Fitness career? What do You suggest to people who want to follow Yours steps?
A: I’ve always been into fitness and exercise but, in my previous life, I was actually a paralegal working for various law firms. I didn’t enjoy what I was doing and started personal training part-time for a gym after work. After doing that and gaining more clients, I started doing it full-time and I haven’t looked back. I got my job about About.com 9 years ago and I love both writing about fitness and exercise and teaching my clients about it. For anyone who wants to become a trainer or get into the fitness business, I would suggest you go for it. Don’t wait for years and years (like I did), but make the commitment to get certified if it’s something you’re really passionate about.
Q: As You can see, this blog is about Elliptical Machines. Before asking You more on this topic, please can You share with Us why We should train Our bodies? It’s all about beauty and weight loss?
A: Beauty and weight loss are important, but exercise has a number of other benefits beyond that. Exercise makes your body strong (your lungs, heart, bones and muscles), it helps protect you from injury, gives you energy, helps you sleep better, builds self-confidence and it can even prevent some types of cancer, heart disease and diabetes. It’s one of the few things you can do that have such far-reaching benefits, and it only takes a little time each day to get those benefits.
Q: Paige, what do You consider better based on Calories/Hours ratio: Exercise Bikes, Treadmills or Elliptical Trainers?
A: Typically, treadmills offer the most calorie-burn simply because walking or running involves impact. Anytime you’re involved in an activity that requires impact (e.g., your foot striking the ground), you’ll find your heart rate will get higher faster than with low or no impact activities like the bike or elliptical. That said, it’s really all about how hard you work. With the bike and elliptical, you can increase the resistance and/or ramps to up the intensity and get your heart rate up. It’s more important to enjoy what you’re doing than it is to choose an activity that burns the most calories – the more you like something, the more you’ll do it and the harder you’ll work at it.
Q: What should We look for when choosing an Elliptical Trainer to buy?
A: Price is one of the most important things to look for, of course, since most of us have a budget we’re following when buying expensive equipment. As with anything, you get what you pay for, so you want to spend as much as you can for the highest quality elliptical (which will range from $300 to more than $1500 – somewhere in the middle, between $800 and $1000 will usually offer quality with value, depending on the brand). You also want to look for:
-Stability and a fluid motion
-Quiet operation and a comfortable stride that is appropriate for your height
-A variety of programs and the ability to change the resistance
-The size of the machine – don’t forget to check the height, especially if you’re putting it in a room with a low ceiling
It’s great if you can use the machine for at least 10-15 minutes before you buy, to see how it feels, sounds and how all the buttons work.
Q: How Many Days a Week Should I Workout on an Elliptical Machine ?
A: How often you workout, whether you’re on an elliptical or doing any other activity, really depends on your goals. For weight loss, you’ll want to do cardio about 5-6 days a week and strength training 2-3 days a week. It’s also important to mix up your workouts. The elliptical trainer is a great machine and, if it’s what you enjoy, make that the foundation of your workouts. Doing other, different activities can be good for your body as well so incorporating other things like walking, running, swimming, etc. can give you a well-rounded workout routine.
Q: Thank You Paige for Your time and for the great answers. Please share with Us what are Your favorite resources You suggest reading for people new to home fitness.
A: I have some resources at my site for beginners – Beginner’s Corner. Fitwatch is also a great resource for tracking workouts and great exercise information. Calorie Count offers great information about dieting and nutrition and, for people interested in home exercise videos, Collage Video and Video Fitness are also great resources.
