Workout Wednesday!

I decided today with a little idea I got from a different blog I cam across on and that is having a workout Wednesday post. It's funny because I was going to blog soon about one of my favorite things to work out on at the gym and then this idea came up and it worked perfectly! A lot of people have also emailed me or asked me what I do at the gym as far as working out goes so this way I can talk about it weekly :o).

 

 Above we have one of my FAVORITE machines at the Y, what I like to call "Stu the Stairstepper" haha. This is almost identical to the one that we have here at our YMCA that I have spent many hours on not because it's fun because it is an amazing workout. I know a lot of people at our Y avoid this and a lot of my friends think I am nuts for even getting near it but it is SO worth you time and a great workout. A lot of the reason's I like it other than the fact it burns mega calories in a short time, but also because it is more intense than the elliptical but not as hard on your knees as running. I know sometimes when you start out int he beginning as a bigger person needing to workout the LAST thing you want to do is go and full out run, and in some cases it might be bad for you body and knees as well. Although I don't have a lot of issues from being so over weight, I do battle with having knee pain and leg pain when I run a lot. It's deff. frustrating because I don't feel that big anymore but still suffer from the affects. None the less the stair stepper doesn't kill your legs but tones and makes you sweat a ton! I did it this past Sunday night for an hour, and in just an hour I burned 800 calories, and while it was tough it wasn't excruciatingly painful where while at times it would have been nice to get off I could push through it and get to an hour.I deff. would say this wins one of my favorite things to do at the gym and if there is one at your gym just give it a try even for like ten minutes!

Along with my strong opinion of the stair master or stepper, I did a little online research on why the stair master is helpful in working out and weight loss! According to  the www.livestrong.com website there are some great reasons as to why you should use the stairmaster. 

1. Strength benefits, builds up your balance and core,  strengthens your  calves, hamstrings, quads, gluteal muscles, and builds up lean muscle that then burns fat in your legs, and I mean who DOESN'T like to burn fat from there legs and thighs!

 2. Cardiovasular Benefits,  the stair stepper is great for cardiovascular exercise due to its ability to raise your heart rate almost immediately. The level you set dictates workout intensity, but even at the lowest levels the heart is definitely getting a workout. Oneshot Fitness, a commercial fitness equipment provider, calls Stairmasters "one of the toughest cardiovascular machines on the globe."

3. Physiological Benefits, it makes it's user work hard hard but not hard on the user physically.

Well that's it for my Workout Wed! At least it's hump day and the week is half over and close to the weekend! Now it's time to find a stair stepper and give it a try ;o)! Off to teach spin though again for me tonight! Have a good night!

~Kassandra