What are the best machines to get on at the gym?

Question

I am almost 5'3 and about 112-115lbs but I have gut I want to get rid of Im too small for a gut. When I go I usually use the elliptical 20min and tredmill 20min (walk), what else should I do? I was told that I should do cardio to get rid of fat then start toning, I also get on an ab machine.

I dont want to lose too much weight

Answer 1

You want to tone and burn fat at the same time. Once you burn off the fat you want to see those nice muscles right? Incorporate some light weight-lifting into your routine. Use the 3-10 lbs weights and do some exercises to tone your upper body. Do some abs exercises too. This will help firm up the muscle under the fat.
Yes, cardio is the best fat-burning tool. Increase your workout times slightly, but try not to increase your heart-rate while using the machines. A lower heart rate will burn more muscle. Higher will build endurance and stamina. Increase the resistance on the elliptical and walk at a moderate pace using hills on the treadmill. You will burn the fat and tone your legs at the same time.

Answer 2

The elliptical trainer is your best bet for a machine but I would suggest 30 minutes. Then I would use a rowing machine for about 15 minutes followed by as many sit ups as you can do

Answer 3

Eliptical and treadmill are both fine. Anything cardio is fantastic.

First, you have to exercise in the right zone. Your maximum heart rate (MHR)= 220-age (in years). So, I'm 28. My MHR is 192.

There are 4 zones: Fitness (60-70% of MHR), Aerobic (70-80% of MHR), Anaerobic (80-90% of MHR), Red-line (90+%). If you want to know more about each zone, this link explains it pretty well. http://walking.about.com/cs/fitnesswalking/a/hearttraining_2.htm?terms=preferred+global+health

I recommend interval training while on a treadmill or eliptical. Alternate 3-4 minutes at 70% and 1 minute at 85%.

You'll want to consistently stay AT LEAST 60% of your MHR. If you're not at least there, the exercise is not doing you much good.

Also, add in strength training. Weights, yoga, circuit training... all will do you a world of good too. I recommend a trainer to lead you in the right technique for this area.

This is a sample of something I'll do on a treadmill (spd setting in parenthesis)

5 min (5.8)
3 min (7.0)
1 min (7.6)
1 min (7.0)
5 min (6.0)
2 min (6.8)
2 min (7.4)
1 min (7.8)
1 min (7.0)
3 min (6.6)
2 min (6.2)
2 min (5.8)
2 min (5.5)
= Total 30 minutes.

Answer 4

What you've been doing so far sounds great, but you should increase your workouts over time. So now instead of doing elliptical for 20 minutes and walking for 20 minutes, try doing elliptical for 25 minutes and jogging for 30 minutes. It sounds really hard to increase your workout, but it becomes to easy, and its the only way to really lose weight.

Answer 5

Tread Mill.