Will this keep me fit(ish)?

[GoryGilmore]

Looking for some advice please.

I have very little time to exercise. Variety of reasons - husbands work, my work, childrens’ needs (some SEN), daily chores. I can set aside 30 minutes a day where I can jump on my cross trainer before showering and getting ready for the day. At the moment I can cover 13/14km in that time, level 8. That makes me out of breath and a bit sweaty, HR around 185. Also, I really love doing it, it’s a moment of freedom for me to listen to music and switch off. But will 30 minutes on a cross trainer each day keep me reasonably fit? I’m on my feet most of the day too, but at a more leisurely pace. I can’t go out running as I have hip/knee problems due to a car accident a few years ago. Also struggle with weights due to the back problem I also acquired in said accident. I used to swim but until the pools reopen is what I’m doing reasonable? I don’t have anyone in RL to ask, most of my friends are either completely disinterested in exercise, or are complete fitness freaks who would scoff at my pathetic attempts to stay healthy. So, give me your thoughts please.

Can you really cover 8 miles in 30 minutes though?

30 minutes a day doing this intensity of exercise is more than enough. Ideally you'd want some weight bearing exercise and variety though and alternate it with yoga, weights etc. Or go for a power walk outside when you can.

Fortunes, well according to the monitor I’m managing it at the moment, I do really go for it though. It’s a good piece of equipment so I trust it’s fairly accurate.

Thanks Gracie, I have tried yoga before but weirdly end up feeling really sick every time, not sure if that’s normal but it does put me off doing it! I’m always nervous of doing weights as I don’t want to pull my old injuries. I can’t afford a PT every week but had thought about seeing if one would do just one or two sessions with me to show me a weight routine that would be safe.

It is great you have found something you enjoy and that works for you - that's the main thing I think.

What you are doing ticks the cardio box fine but ideally you would be doing some muscle strengthening too as per www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/.

It doesn't have to be heavy weights - can be Pilates, bodyweight etc. Or that link has a link to the NHS strength and flex programme which uses things like park benches and would get you started. You can do a lot with resistance bands and bodyweight in a park using railings or benches - if you got an occasional PT session to keep you on track, might that work?

Wow, as someone who can barely jog 4km in 30 mins, managing 14km is seriously impressive!

As PPs have said, I think this sounds perfectly adequate for cardio exercise, but I do think a mix of weight-bearing/strength/stretching is also important - weight-bearing especially for women to strengthen bones. I think seeing a PT for a few sessions to learn some form, and some adapted weights for your needs would be an excellent idea.

As for yoga, maybe pilates would suit better, fewer inversions? Or search out yoga with no inversion? Also make sure you're really well-hydrated well before exercising - I find it makes an enormous difference, I can get a bit dizzy and light-headed in yoga if not well hydrated.

It's 30 minutes more than most people do daily.
You never defined what is "fit" so can't answer the question.

Wow, as someone who can barely jog 4km in 30 mins, managing 14km is seriously impressive!

I think it's fairly safe to say that the distance can't be accurate/and or compared to running distances. The 10km world record is 26 minutes.

That's not to say it's not a good workout, just to be wary of translating the results to the real world!

Just to clarify, I’m not jogging/running those distances, I’m using the cross trainer. Much, much easier than running in my opinion and means I can go much quicker. If I ran outside, it would be MUCH slower!

What does a cross trainer emulate? Skiing or something?

I would say that you should mix your exercise up a bit if you can, not always doing the same thing. But if it’s all you can do then it’s fine, and it’s more than I do !

I'm not sure what a cross trainer emulates either. I can run 5km in 23 minutes or 10km in 48 minutes. That's on the road/across fields. 13k/14k takes me more than an hour.

30 minutes a day is good but doing the same thing at a sustained level is not great. Ideally, you need some strength work and to be pace changing at intervals. So instead of 30 mins at whatever level 8 is, go as hard as you can for 90 seconds and then ease off and slow down, and repeat. You'll see much better gains.

I regularly do just 30 mins on a week day but I do sprints or interval training or lift quad sets or repeat cardio at high intensity to failure. 30 minutes can be highly effective but you need to use them well and add variety.

Fortune, no, it’s like running without any impact. So much easier I think. Much better for my joints, but means I can go a lot faster than I would running. So the movement is similar but the impact/difficulty isn’t even comparable in my opinion. If I was able to go out running at a decent speed for 30 minutes a day I’d be much more sure that it was keeping me fit enough, with the cross trainer I’m less sure as it’s just not as hard, maybe I need to up the resistance more though.

Thanks for other posters input, I think it’s becoming obvious that varying it up a bit with some weights and Pilates would help.

I don't believe the distances that cross-trainers give you. They really vary - I've used some that give you 4-5 times the distance compared to the ones i use at the gym. If you equated the RPM to running cadence you wouldn't cover anything like that distance. Anyway, machine quirks aside......will it keep you fit....maybe. I would say that's quite a high heart to always be working at that level of intensity. If you want to improve your fitness you're better working at aerobic level and I suspect 185 is anaerobic. I would also mix it up and do range of intensities - if you've only got a cross trainer this is quite hard but you could do "sprint" intervals using speed changes and "hills" using increasing resistance.

That is insanely fast.

I thought I was quite quick but nothing like that. You must be almost taking off

Could you do a few squats and the plank exercises 2 or 3 times a week.
That is pretty good going, try varying a bit maybe interval training.
Whatever it is pretty impressive, so stick with it and just maybe add in a few things with it.

Cross trainers if anything emulate running/power walking but in a low impact way. My dad could still use them after hip replacements, whereas running would have been too much impact. It's good exercise, if a little dull.

You must be almost taking off

I am I do really go for it, it’s the only time I get to myself and I just have to burn off all my pent up energy/frustrations like a maniac. I close my eyes (I know closing my eyes when I work out is a bit weird!), put my music on and shut the world out. I don’t really care how accurate the distance is anyway, totally appreciate that machines vary and aren’t always accurate (used to have a bike that WAY overestimated the calories I was burning), I just love doing it. But I can only go by what the screen says at the end of my workout.

Just more interested in how heart/lung healthy this will help me to be. Going to take PP’s information on board though and vary my workout to maximise the benefits.

30 minutes a day, especially if it’s in addition to being on your feet a lot generally, is pretty decent. However I would also agree that finding some other forms of exercise that you can do, would be beneficial. I am pretty limited, exercise wise, but there are things I can do. Have you looked on YouTube to see if there is anything that might be suitable? HIIT type exercise (I.e. short bursts of fast, interspersed with gentler exercise) are supposed to be good for getting the metabolism going. Not all of them require any jumping or weights.

I haven’t looked at YouTube but I will, thank you for the suggestion. I think I was put off fitness videos by some of the atrocious ones I bought on DVD in my younger years, but I should be open minded and have a look. HIIT sounds like it might be my sort of thing, I crave that short spell of high intensity burn every day, even more so with lockdown and after suffering a late missed miscarriage recently. Probably makes me sound a bit bonkers but doing some crazy fast exercise stops me feeling sad and wallowing.

Try Fitness Blender. Hundreds of free workouts for all levels and you can choose what you like to do.

Wow, as someone who can barely jog 4km in 30 mins, managing 14km is seriously impressive!

As OP has clarified, it's a cross-trainer (not a treadmill).

She's not running! And I also doubt the distance to be honest. The machines aren't great at calculating distance like that.

She's striding, using the machine, and moving her arms using the poles / arms, a bit like ski poles. It's nothing at all like running.

But it is good cardio-vascular exercise & I agree w PPs, this level of intensity plus general movement will keep you fit.

However, with cardio / HIIT, the key to fitness is to change up your routine regularly.

I agree, weight-bearing / core exercise is important. For this, I don't think you can beat live instruction. I appreciate you are under time pressure, but there are many online classes, and you can swap them out for one of your seasons on the cross-trainer.

I see so many people doing core / stability work entirely wrong. I would avoid YouTube etc & find a live class.