Answers from Expert: Michelle Cederberg

If you have a question for any of our experts, please visit our Just Ask page. I always struggle with personal trainers who draw such a hard line in the sand about machines. Many people experience success with elliptical trainers and weight circuits. My belief is that the best exercises are the ones you do! If machines are working for you, I see no reason why you shouldn't continue using them. You mention that you've seen good results in muscle tone and definitely in cardio but haven't lost any weight, so what is your definition of results? If you want to lose weight then you're not necessarily getting the results you want are you? This doesn't mean that you have to jump off the machines and switch to free weights and classes to get results. It may simply mean you have to focus your plan or boost your intensity on the machines. Ask yourself if you're pushing yourself as hard as you can on your cardio efforts. You should be sweaty and short of breath for most of your workout whether it's a long, slow 60-minute effort or a short, fast interval effort. Ask yourself if you're adequately fatiguing yourself at the end of each weight set. If, for instance, you choose a rep range such as 12 to 15 reps, you should select a weight that you can only lift 12 or 13 times and not more. You will work at this weight until you can lift 14 or 15 times regularly, and then you should increase the weight and keep at it. You can also boost your results by changing to new exercises every four to six weeks. Your goal should be to always work to do more than what is normal for you. When the exercises become too easy, you need to up the ante and find new challenges. One way would be to step away from the weight machines and try free weights only because they're new and different, and because you do burn more calories and train more stabilizing muscles on free weights than you will on machines. If you're happy on machines, moving toward the results you want, and know you'll stick with them, then I see no reason why you shouldn't continue, provided you take the above into consideration. Michelle Cederberg, MKin, PFLC

---

Log on to www.liveoutloud.ca and sign up to receive your weekly e-mail 'e-spiration' from Michelle