65 mpw on elliptical machine

Just go for bike rides, instead of that.

My elliptical is a stationary device. How are you going to move your Eliptical? Are you going to tow it on a trailor? Push it whilst it rests upon a wagon? I don't really know what benefit is derived from moving the device 60+ miles but good luck and god bless.

just bike. 65 MPW runis about equal to 200 MPW bike

Injured again wrote:

Should I do some resistance training for my legs?

What? You aren't currently doing any weight lifting? That's your problem, start lifting weights. And, what is your current BMI and fat percent?

just another guy wrote:

My elliptical is a stationary device. How are you going to move your Eliptical? Are you going to tow it on a trailor? Push it whilst it rests upon a wagon? I don't really know what benefit is derived from moving the device 60+ miles but good luck and god bless.

Of course it's stationary. So is a treadmil, correct? Do you move the treadmill?

You won't maintain 100% of your fitness, but the elliptical does a fantastic job of helping you keep most of your fitness. I have had a few injuries over the past few years and always use the elliptical to either maintain my fitness or to augment my total aerobic volume when I am starting back after an injury-induced lay-off.

With respect to workouts,I find that I can get in a much higher volume (as calculated in minutes at a given heart rate) on the elliptical than I can running. Give that a test, but it would not shock me that if you did a simulation of mile repeats at tempo effort, you might be able to get in 50% more volume by time on the elliptical than you can running. This offsets some of the loss of specificity of training from doing the elliptical instead of running.

Speaking of specificity of training, I would nor recommend going with the bike over the elliptical. I do get on a stationary bike from time to time, but that is only when I cannot run at all and need to break up the monotony of extended periods on the elliptical.

Thanks Smoove!

That's exactly what I think. You can train a lot more (time) on a elliptical than running.

Do you think it's smarter to do shorter intervals such as 20x70"/20" because these workouts get your heart rate up?

What kind of intervals do you do?

I find it hard to do shorter faster stuff because the machine I like to use (because it has the best range of motion and I can come a little closer to my running form) feels like it would come apart if I got going any faster on it, and while I could probably raise the resistance a bit more, it would start to feel more like a weight training exercise at that point and would maybe not be great for whatevwr is injured.

So I tend to stick to stuff at closer to tempo effort, sometimes pushing it to 5k paced effort. Things like 4 x 10 minutes at low 160s heart rate to simulate 2 mile cruise intervals or 6 x 4:00 at near max heart rate to simulate vo2max intervals. I notice that while I tend to take 2:00 for the cruise intervals of 3:00 for the vo2max intervals on the roads or track, I can usually cut a minute off of that on the elliptical.

What about recovery time for those workouts?

Amazing how you can do 4 min at VO2max effort. My thighs burn while doing 2-4 min. It's much harder to get rid of lactic acid on the elliptical than while running since the feet are stuck on the machine.

Probably a 2:1 work to rest ratio for the vo2max stuff compared to the 3:2 or nearly 1:1 I'll do running. Still stay with 5:1 on the threshold pace intervals.

just another guy wrote:

My elliptical is a stationary device. How are you going to move your Eliptical? Are you going to tow it on a trailor? Push it whilst it rests upon a wagon? I don't really know what benefit is derived from moving the device 60+ miles but good luck and god bless.

Eliptago! It has been a pretty good investment for me. I normally just have it set on a trainer inside, but every so often I take it outside for a ride and get a bunch of weird stares. I'm sure they are just jealous!

How much lower is the heart rate on a elliptical vs running during let's say 5 min intervals?

I agree that elliptical is much closer to running in terms of specificity. However, this is potentially also a problem. I suffer from achilles tendonitis and find that elliptical does not let me cure this type of injury while I am OK while biking or rowing. The best way to find out is to try and see. If elliptical does not bother you, it is preferable. If it does, go with biking.

Ruminator wrote:

I agree that elliptical is much closer to running in terms of specificity. However, this is potentially also a problem. I suffer from achilles tendonitis and find that elliptical does not let me cure this type of injury while I am OK while biking or rowing. The best way to find out is to try and see. If elliptical does not bother you, it is preferable. If it does, go with biking.

+1

I've dealed with PT and survived the period riding a stationary bike. Mostly high rpm and some intervals cranking up the resistance. The bike kept me decently fit and mentally strong. It really works your quads and probably is less specific but as a side effect you will become pretty good at uphills. Do daily exercises for strenghtening your legs/tendons (especially eccentric calf raises).

Don't rush your comeback. When you're strong enough to single leg hop without issues, try very shorts runs 1-2 times a week. The tendon will probablystill bother yo but will progressively feel better. Hope it helps.

I came back from hamstring tendonitis with stationary devices. One thing about the bike vs. the elliptical: if you have peroneal tendonitis, your ankle stability is more of an issue and the bike provides more support than the elliptical.

+2 on strengthening exercises. Gradually incorporate weights because body weight, especially as a runner, will only get you so far.