Best Cardio Equipment for Weight Loss

If you are looking to lose a few extra pounds this year, no doubt you've considered doing more cardio. While there are many other factors at play for losing weight - diet, strength training, and sleep, to name a few - cardio plays an important role in weight loss.

When we talk about cardio workouts, we are talking about exercising that is primarily aerobic-based. Some common examples of best cardio machines used would be treadmills, stationary bikes, and ellipticals.

When thinking about the best cardio machines for weight loss, we first need to look at how weight loss occurs. Before we start, it is important to note that weight loss can involve numerous factors, and this is an attempt to simplify it as best as possible.

At the most basic level, weight loss occurs when you burn more calories than you consume. So, what two factors are most obvious? The answer - how many calories you burn (exercise) and how many calories you consume (diet). So when we talk about the best cardio equipment for losing weight, we want to consider the machine that will help you burn the most calories.

A second thing to consider is what type of workout is best for weight loss. When people mention they want to lose weight, of course, they aren't talking about muscle. Everyone wants big, bulging biceps, not bellies.

So really, we are talking about losing fat and not weight - which is an important distinction.

Oftentimes, people will lose weight quickly in the first week or two and assume it's fat; however, more than likely it's simply water weight.

One of the best ways to burn fat is through zone 2 cardio training. Zone 2 refers to the level of your heart rate during movement. Zone 1 is the lowest, think light walk, and zone 5 is maximal effort. Zone 2 could be biking, running, walking, or really any type of cardio where you are moving, breathing slightly hard, but also able to hold a conversation with only brief pauses for breath. Zone 2 training (>45 minutes) allows your body to use fat as its energy source, which is great news for fat loss.

A second type of training is high-intensity interval training (HIIT). This type of training burns a lot of calories by allowing you to push really hard for a short period of time, move slower for a little bit longer period of time, and then repeat. It essentially spikes your heart rate and then allows some recovery before doing it again. This type of training is great for your overall health and can certainly help in weight loss as you burn calories.

The reason I mentioned these two types of training is to give you an idea of what you are hoping to do with your cardio machine.

Weight loss happens through exercise, and your machine is simply a way to exercise. While we will get into why some machines may be better than others, the important thing to remember is that with almost all cardio machines you dictate how hard you go and what type of training you will be doing.

Essentially, weight loss and, ultimately, fat loss is up to you and your exercise routine more so than the machine you choose.

For this reason, the best cardio machine for weight loss is the one you will use consistently. So be sure to choose one that you enjoy using - or at least can tolerate, I mean it is cardio still.

However, with that being said, let's look at some cardio machines and