I just finished answering a few questions for an article being written by our local health & fitness columnist Claudia Zapata. I’m not sure how much of it is going to be used in the piece so I thought that I’d include my responses in their entirety here. No sense in letting my genius go to waste.

Kidding.

On the surface, these appear to be very simple questions requiring very simple, straightforward answers. However, if I’ve learned one thing in all my years of training it’s that there is no one single answer when it comes to exercise and nutrition save for “it depends”.

Should I stretch before or after getting on a cardiovascular machine? Well, it depends. Most would recommend that you stretch AFTER when your tissue is warm and less resistant to stretch. However, if you have muscular imbalances that affect your gait (e.g. tight hamstrings, hip flexors, weak glutes, etc.) making you prone to injury then it is in your best interest to stretch before AND after. Then there’s always the question of dynamic vs. static stretching.

Should I lift weights before or after getting on a cardiovascular machine? It depends. What are your goals? If you are interested in increasing strength then it is probably better to lift before doing cardio. Something as easy as a long slow jog can affect your strength while higher-intensity efforts can totally sap you.

If your goal is to increase your cardiovascular fitness (i.e. increase VO2max), however, then you’d be better off doing cardio first.

If you’re not concerned about maximizing either then it probably doesn’t matter too much.

How long should I strive to stay on a machine? Again, it depends. If you can handle the intensity of interval training then you may only have to be on a given machine for 20-30 minutes. If not, then you will have to accommodate the lower intensity with longer efforts (45 minutes to one hour, for example).

Is it OK to break up my cardio workout between 3 machines? Absolutely.

How important is intensity? “Intensity” is relative but I’m a firm believer in effortful training. Raising your maximal abilities (e.g. VO2max, maximum strength) makes all of your sub-maximal work much easier.

Interval training, for example, is a time-efficient way to elevate your fitness and lose weight. Not only is the rate of calorie expenditure dramatically increased while exercising, the biological adaptations that take place impact long-term aerobic/anaerobic conditioning and body composition. Time and time again research has shown that high-intensity efforts are more effective for fat loss and performance.

Unless I am working with an endurance athlete I rarely, if ever, prescribe steady-state training. It’s just not an efficient use of one’s training time.

How accurate is the calorie counter? I’ve actually looked into this question before. Some research has shown elliptical readouts overestimate energy expenditure by as much as 33%! In other words, if the machine tells you that you burned 500 calories you probably really burned somewhere around 335. Take those estimates with a grain of salt.

Should I wear a heart rate monitor? Knock yourself out. I personally don’t recommend heart rate monitors to my clients and I certainly don’t use heart rate to structure or guide my workouts. Individual heart rate is simply too variable and susceptible to influence – caffeine, stress, heat, etc. RPE (rating of perceived exertion) is just as valid and reliable a measure of total training stress and it’s free.

Furthermore, the linear relationship between HR and VO2 (oxygen consumption) is lost at intensities above the lactate threshold. As the vast majority of my cardiovascular programs are interval based, heart rate isn’t going to provide me with any useful information. Not only that, but when you consider the fact that it takes about two minutes for heart rate to stabilize, I may already be finished with an interval before my heart rate has reached any pre-determined value.

Ah, but here again, it depends. With sub-maximal, steady-state efforts, heart rate can be used as an estimate of “intensity” and energy expenditure so if you train in this range heart rate monitors might be of value. I know a lot of endurance coaches rely heavily on them to prescribe and evaluate training sessions. Too much so in my opinion but that’s a topic that deserves it’s own post.

Should I hold hand weights and perform upper body exercises when I walk on a treadmill? It’s a trade-off. Using hand weights will increase the amount of energy expended but the high number of repetitive efforts may lead to overuse injury. Not only that but you’ll look ridiculous. I’d advise against it.

What about a weighted vest? I love weighted vests. I use them in the warm ups of my athletes and on the long walks of my older clients. The hyper-gravity effect can prime the nervous system for explosive training (e.g. vertical jumping and sprinting) and has been shown increase bone density over time.

What machine gives you the most bang for your buck? If I had to pick one I would say the rowing machine. It utilizes about 25% more muscle mass then lower-body dominant machines like bikes and treadmills. There is a reason that most of them sit idle in the gym, though. When done with effort, workouts on the rowing machine can be quite uncomfortable.

When it comes right down to it, the effectiveness of any routine is more about application and less about mode. For example, intervals done on an elliptical will be more effective than walking on a treadmill.

In the end, it all depends.