New gym members and beginning exercisers often have problems figuring out how to use cardio machines. "Select program? How do I select a program? Which program do I want?" they may ask. Even seasoned exercisers may ask you, "What exactly does Fat Burn do?" While different manufacturers feature different programming on their cardio machines, the basic principles of each activity remain the same. Read on for information you can share with your members about the functions behind each cardio program.
Program examples: What two manufacturers offer
Life Fitness, Franklin Park, Ill., offers users six standard workout programs on its commercial treadmills, Total-Body Elliptical Crosstrainers, Lifecycle upright and recumbent exercise bikes, and Life Fitness stairclimbers, according to Julie King, senior manager of communications/education at Life Fitness. Programs include the following:
• Manual. Manual offers users a steady pace workout where the user is in control of the speed and incline levels at all times. It is a recommended choice for people who are new to exercise.
• Hill. Hill is an interval training workout consisting of alternating hills and valleys at various levels of intensities.
• Random. Random is a more intense version of the Hill program in which the user is taken through fewer plateaus and more maximum peaks. The computer randomly selects various combinations of hills and valleys, resulting in more than one million combinations.
• Fat Burn. Fat Burn is a lower-intensity interactive heart rate program designed for beginners. The program adjusts the intensity throughout the workout to maintain the user's heart rate at 65 percent of theoretical maximum.
• Cardio. Cardio is a higher-intensity interactive heart rate program designed to improve and maintain the fitness levels of more fit users. The program adjusts the intensity throughout the workout to maintain the user's heart rate at 80 percent of theoretical maximum.
• Fit Test. Fit Test is a single-station, submaximal cardiovascular fitness evaluation. The test takes five minutes and can be used to periodically monitor an individual's improvement in aerobic capacity.
• Cross-Train Aerobics (available only on Life Fitness Crosstrainers). A message center prompts the user to emphasize different body parts and movements throughout the workout (such as "push with arms" or "go forward with legs"). This program adds variety to a workout.
• Cross-Train Reverse (available only on Life Fitness Crosstrainers). This prompts users to change direction from forward to backward throughout the workout.
On Life Fitness machines, exercisers select Manual the most, followed by Random and Hill, and Fat Burn and Cardio are also popular, says King. "The decision to choose one workout program over another is based primarily on the exerciser's preferences, fitness level and fitness goals," she explains.
Precor, Bothell, Wash., offers different programming for its treadmills and Elliptical Fitness Crosstrainers. According to company literature, programmed courses are derived from "tradition within the fitness industry … market research, product testing and expert calculations." Jim Birrell, director of design for Precor, says, "We provide programs that people like to use. … [T]he variety is there to meet the needs of as many people as possible. Our goal to provide products that keep people coming back. Adherence is the key to success in any fitness program." Options, besides Manual and Quick Start, include the following:
Precor treadmill courses
• Random. Random offers computer-generated hill profiles with inclines from -3 percent to 15 percent, and provides uphill and downhill training benefits.
• Interval. This course consists of 10 intervals of lighter exercise (rest) alternating with 10 intervals of heavier exercise (work) in a one-to-one ratio.
• Custom. Custom lets facility directors create two specialized programs to suit members and add variety to treadmill training routines.
• Track. This course displays a 440-yard (quarter-mile) track on the console. The user appears as a blinking light progressing around the oval track.
• Preprogrammed. This program features 10 courses with hills and valleys providing 100 different variations. Users control the speed.
• Heart Rate Course. This begins with a three-minute warm-up and then uses incline changes to keep the user's heart rate within two beats per minute of the target rate.
• Weight Loss Course. Weight Loss starts with a three-minute warm-up followed by seven, four-minute intervals alternating rest and work based on heart rate. Precor Elliptical Fitness Crosstrainer courses
• Interval. Interval alternates work and rest phases to optimize cardiovascular training. Users control the intensity using resistance and CrossRamp incline.
• Crosstraining. Crosstraining incorporates the full range of CrossRamp settings, and features forward and reverse action prompts.
• Gluteal. Gluteal uses mid- to high-CrossRamp settings to target gluteal muscles.
• Hill Climb. Hill Climb features preprogrammed resistance changes in graduated intensity levels.
• Heart Rate. Heart Rate maintains the user's heart rate within the optimal cardiovascular training zone.
• Weight Loss. Weight Loss consists of four-minute rest intervals alternating with four-minute work intervals.
On treadmills, Birrell has noticed people are walking more, and using inclines to create steep uphill walks. On the crosstrainers, the gluteal program is very popular, especially among women. "People gravitate toward what feels best," he says.
Benefits of pre-set programs
Pre-set cardio courses provide the user with three main benefits: convenience, variety and sports training.
Convenience. With preprogrammed courses, exercisers can step onto a machine and have a ready-made program waiting for them. Precor company literature says, "With the simple push of a few buttons, users can concentrate on their workout and let the equipment do the rest. Users do not need to watch the clock or try to calculate when and how high to adjust the incline for their next four-minute interval. Also, by utilizing programmed courses, users are committed to the workout they selected when they climbed on the equipment, and are less likely to quit in the middle of a course."
Many manufacturers offer cardio machine courses that are designed to keep exercisers within their target heart zone. This program can be used by athletes in training, and can benefit individuals trying to lose weight: through a variety of indicators, the equipment signals to users when their heart rate is above, below or within their cardiovascular training or weight-loss zones. "The key to success is monitoring heart rate," says Birrell. The trouble with relying on caloric expenditure alone, he says, is that "everybody's metabolism is different. Everybody burns fat at different rates.… Using heart rate to monitor your workout allows [you to] focus on exercise levels that will specifically help you optimize your workout." This can help your members to better meet their exercise goals.
Variety. Club owners and equipment manufacturers know that keeping users coming back for more is not easy. To avoid experiencing burnout, getting bored and giving up, exercisers need to incorporate variety into their routines. With multiple programmed courses, exercisers can make every workout different, and they can match a course with their individual motivation or training needs. The Crosstraining program on Precor's EFX machine, for example, is popular because "as the ramp moves up and down, the emphasis [on the muscle] changes, and breaks up the monotony of the exercise…," says Birrell. In addition to variety within a program, exercisers can choose a different program if they get bored with one.
Sports training. Sports training applies primarily toward treadmills and cycles. On Precor treadmills, some programs are designed to simulate the actual distance of a running track. "We try to emulate things that happen outside," says Birrell. The machines provide electronic readouts with the courses, allowing runners to take their training indoors and track their time, distance left or pace speed. Cycles also allow athletes to train indoors for weather reasons, or for a change of pace.
Which program should a member use? When members ask you for advice, Birrell recommends that you help them to identify their goals. Ask them the following questions:
• What are you trying to accomplish?
• How are you trying to accomplish your goals?
• How long have you been trying?
• What is your general fitness level?
"Variety in the programming, heart rate detection, resistance and incline give health club professionals the tools that they need to optimize machine training benefits for their clients. They can effectively and efficiently assist their clients in meeting their fitness goals. With cardio programming, they can suggest a duration and an intensity and then [have them] work out on their own," says Birrell.
Are the programs effective?
Preset programs can be more effective than a "manual" workout, since they keep exercisers at certain speeds and intensities. Users can usually slightly alter resistance levels, incline levels or speed; however, the machine will speed-up/slow-down or increase/decrease resistance on its own. Users must follow these actions and, therefore, will perform a more challenging workout than they might select on their own.
Program intensity levels
Most pre-set programs allow users to choose the level at which they want to work out, but some keep exercisers within certain boundaries of speed, incline, resistance and heart rate to help them achieve specific goals. The two extremes are low-intensity programs, and high-intensity ones.
Low intensity. Low-intensity exercises for longer durations mostly burn fat as fuel, and a small amount of carbohydrates. The total amount of calories burned, including both fat and carbohydrate calories, will increase as the time of the exercise session lengthens. Low-intensity exercise can usually be maintained for longer periods of time compared to high-intensity exercises, making them just as capable of reducing body fat as high-intensity exercises.
On Life Fitness machines, the Fat Burn program maintains exercisers' heart rates at 65 percent of their theoretical maximum heart rates by adjusting resistance level on the stairclimber, crosstrainers and exercise bikes, and by adjusting incline on the treadmill. Says King, "This is a lower-intensity program that allows you to work out for a longer period of time, which is ideal for beginning exercisers or those returning to exercise after a time off."
High intensity. During a program of high intensity, the body burns both fat and carbohydrates, but the proportions differ from those in the Fat Burn program. In the high-intensity Cardio program, smaller amounts of fat and larger amounts of carbohydrates are burned. The Cardio program, however, "requires the body to work harder and, therefore, [will] burn more calories overall," says King. "Therefore, in the Cardio program, an exerciser will burn more calories overall than in an equal amount of time using a Fat Burn workout."
The Life Fitness Cardio program resembles the Fat Burn program, but maintains the users' heart rates at 80 percent of their theoretical maximums. This high-intensity program "optimizes cardiovascular conditioning and caloric expenditure, making it ideal for consistent exercisers who want to improve cardiovascular capacity," says King.
Which program is the best for losing weight?
King says, "Any cardiovascular activity using any Life Fitness cardiovascular program will cause the body to burn fat and calories.… To lose weight, one must expend more calories that he/she ingests, which can be accomplished either through a low-intensity, long-duration workout, or a higher-intensity, moderate-duration cardiovascular workout. Ultimately, high-intensity exercise for long durations will result in the greatest caloric expenditure, although this level can be extremely difficult for most people to sustain, except elite athletes. Therefore, workouts of low to higher intensity with varying durations are beneficial when pursuing weight loss. Interval or hill programs are ideal, as they automatically vary the resistance throughout the workout and thereby help to maximize caloric expenditure. An optimal weight-loss program includes a regular cardiovascular and strength-training exercise program and a moderate diet."
While recognizing that "weight loss is a function of appropriate diet and exercise," Birrell of Precor also recommends interval programs for weight loss. "Studies show that specific four-minute intervals of four minutes of elevated exercise (70 percent of maximum aerobic heart rate), and four minutes of rest (55 percent of maximum aerobic heart rate) can optimize weight loss," he says. "Interval programs also tend to cause workouts to go faster, because the monotony is broken as you modulate through a program.… Monotonous exercise can be a deterrent to exercise adherence. With intervals, the rate of perceived exertion (RPE) is lower. … With change, and difference, each workout passes faster," he continues. Intervals can be found in Precor's Interval and Weight Loss programs.
Using program to stay challenged
Course programs on cardio machines help exercisers stay challenged and motivated. Adding variety to routines, they help to prevent boredom and burnout, and keep workouts fresh and exciting. As a fitness professional, you can use cardio programming to motivate your members, and to provide ready-made workouts they can perform on their own. When your members ask if specific programs really work, explain that cardio courses can help exercisers maintain heart rates, perform intervals and adjust intensities to accomplish fitness goals.
