Elliptical & Treadmill

[Playsndirt]

I am beginning a cardio program. (I am in my 2nd week, and I am a beginner)

I am doing 15min on the elliptical, then switching over to the treadmill for 20min.
I am doing this for 1 1/2hrs daily.
(I plan on adding 10min. to each, until I reach 45min.)

Are there any benefits to this?

[JamesVillepigue]

Well to be honest, from a body's perspective that sounds incredibly boring! I won't demonize cardio machines, but I think you and your body would benefit far more from circuit training, which is basically cardio and weight training mixed together.

What is the point of all this machine based cardio you're doing? What's your goal?

[ultimatehlth]

If your goal is just to begin a basis of fitness there is nothing wrong with what you are doing. I would change things up every week or two by say alternating one machine one day then the other the following workout and sometimes doing both. At some point it would be great to add some resistance exercise particularly for your upper body (weights, bands, etc.) As the answer before me, circuit training would be great.

Best,

Personal Trainer Los Angeles - Studio City

[watkinsc]

I would do the eliptical after the treadmill, it will reduce the potential of injury because I doubt your running technique is spot on and as such, if you are tired from the eliptical and then go to the treadmill your form will be worse for a more high impact machine.

Yep change it up - try circuit training and lfit some weights a couple of times a week. Core exercises will help your running more than you think and will aid fat loss a lot.

[Packard]

That is a lot of daily cardio. What is your purpose for that amount of exercise? Weight loss? Fitness?

The main concern (aside from the amount of time involved) is your ability to fully recover between workouts. If you are not able to fully recover then eventually you will end up over-training.

And although most people I know think that injuries are the main reason people quit training, from my experience over-training is more often the culprit.

Do you feel any residual muscle weariness when you start the eliptical? That might be a sign that you are training too hard.

[Jentry07]

Cardio is extremely beneficial to any fitness regimen no matter what your goal may be, but what is just as equally important is strength training! Even if your goal is weight loss, not any muscle building, by incorporating strength training moves and adding muscle you are going to burn more calories even while at rest. Plus adding muscle is going to give you a leaner, more defined look. I wrote an article about this same topic not too long ago http://www.bodytransformationlab.com/weight-training-vs-cardio-for-optimal-fat-loss/ that may further the explaination of why you should be incorporating both into your fitness regimen. I'd advise adding at least 2-3 days of strength training into your program!
Hope this helps and good luck to you!