What is point of this?! (gym, treadmill, legs, curls)
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I see this picture many times in the gym. A young woman (yes, most of the time it is the women who do this) gets on a treadmill, turns the speed up to 2.8, and casually walks for like an hour. How is this accomplishing anything? It's not like they're even speed walking, in fact sometimes they walk slower than they would in real life. The average walking speed in NYC was calculated to be 4.4 mph, so it seems as if you could get a better exercise just by strolling down Fifth Avenue.
I was friends with two of these "walkers" and tried to convince them to something more productive. One claimed that it was her "bad knees" which is fair. The other one's excuse though "I don't want to be like Arnold Schwarznegger". Because everyone knows that one session of 5lb bicep curls is going to make you as big as Arnold.
I see this picture many times in the gym. A young woman (yes, most of the time it is the women who do this) gets on a treadmill, turns the speed up to 2.8, and casually walks for like an hour. How is this accomplishing anything? It's not like they're even speed walking, in fact sometimes they walk slower than they would in real life. The average walking speed in NYC was calculated to be 4.4 mph, so it seems as if you could get a better exercise just by strolling down Fifth Avenue.
I was friends with two of these "walkers" and tried to convince them to something more productive. One claimed that it was her "bad knees" which is fair. The other one's excuse though "I don't want to be like Arnold Schwarznegger". Because everyone knows that one session of 5lb bicep curls is going to make you as big as Arnold.
It might be that she doesn't want to perspire and have her make-up smear.
This must be a common occurrence because I normally see the same thing whenever I go to the gym. I wonder what they are thinking but I would never bother asking. It just might be their recovery day and I don't see their heavy workout days.
I see this everyday too. Now my favorite one is this girl who probably weighs 75 lbs walking at a pace of 2 MPH and the other day she almost fell twice. So she had to turn the speed down. She walks faster to the bathroom when she is done.
The other one is a overweight girl, does something around 1.5 MPH for 10 minutes, then just turns the machine off and hangs on to the handles watching the TV and laughing out loud for the next 30 minutes. I guess cable TV and the electric bill are too pricey, so watching TV at the gym is the way to go.
I'm one of those people who only go 2.8mph. I'm overweight, but not obese (I'm only overweight by around 20 pounds). I don't have knee problems, but I do have hip and spine problems. They're not visible to anyone; I very rarely limp. The reason I use a treadmill at all, is because I have HORRIBLE stamina. I always have, I have never been athletic. My heart and lungs are in good shape according to my last checkup, but if I go at a steady faster pace for any length of time, my heart rate soars. I tried doing a slow jog on the treadmill - after 60 seconds, my heart rate was over 180 and the trainer said I should absolutely positively NOT do that, until I've worked it up to the point where I can do 60 seconds at 160 heart rate.
I can't do exercises where my head is lower than my hips, for the same reason. My heart rate goes schizo and I start feeling intense pressure in my head, like I'm about to get a nosebleed.
I can't do jumping jacks longer than 30 seconds, I can't run more than a quick sprint for a NYC block.
But I need to move. I absolutely must, because my ability to continue walking upright depends on it, from a medical standpoint. Usually I use the stationary bike; I can do that for over an hour and usually do. On nice days, I'll ride a regular bike; I can do that uphill and down, in town and over to the next town - two hours has been the max so far. In other words, seated cardio exercises are fine for me. Standing cardio exercises are a huge struggle.
So on the rare occasion when I do pick the treadmill, I take it slow. I consider it more a matter of "oiling my hip so it will keep allowing me to move my legs" than burning calories. It also does help increase my stamina, even if it's only a tiny bit. I used to only be able to handle it at 2.5, for 15 minutes. Now, I can do 3.2 for 30 minutes. That's after two -years- of regular exercise. It's not much, but it's better than when I started back on a return to fitness. I only do 2.8 though, because I'm not trying to burn calories, or see how fast I can go. I just need to swing my legs in a controlled environment so that I don't end up in a wheelchair next year.
yeah, i dont get it either. i see alot of guys doing it too. some of them like to give me looks like i am a jerk too because i am usually hauling ***** next to them at 8.5-9.5MPH for a full 30 minutes straight. and they were the ones that got on the treadmill next to me.
if they wanna roll at a snail's pace then let them. some people will disagree, but how is going that slow on a treadmill going to do anything beneficial? save some money and walk outside. time is short and i like to get my moneys worth, but thats just me. alot of them will blame it on stamina, but then i see 78 year olds with walkers going faster than them.
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