Cross Training with Elipticals & Stairmasters

With a snow storm on the way and continued snow showers for the remainder of the week. It looks as if I'll be doing some cross training on the elliptical and StairMaster machines. They are great modalities that resembles the out of saddle pedaling S.Ser's spend so much time doing. In addition you can tailor the work-out to be a strength/resistance work-out; by focusing on high resistance with low rpm/cadence.

*Note on StairMaster; increasing the load actually forces the pedals to move quicker. This negates the slower cadence and resistance. You can keep the cadence slow and elongate your step-up stride, by keeping the level on the lower end, experiment and see what works for you.

Typical Work-out

• Warm-up for a solid 10-12 min. @ 50-60% ending at 70% HR.max
• Perform 4 to 5 - Two minute intervals at a hard effort ~ 85% HR.max (Focus on Work Load/Resistance), rest for One -Two minutes depending on your recovery. The idea is to perform the successive intervals with consistent power and strength.
• Cool Down for a solid 10 minutes

I would suggest performing this work-out once a week, anything more will take away from what your current program has to offer.

I find this type of work-out to be good for developing and maintaining strength, it is relatively short yet productive. Indoor work-outs can be boring so I like to keep them short, intense, and break them up by utilizing different machines. Rowing is another super modality. The movement involves all the muscles used for S.S., but I would encourage taking a quick lesson. I was fortunate to get some pointers from a collegiate coach and there is truly some advantages to the work-out when the movement is performed correctly.