Science question

It doesn't matter if you're using the stairmaster in a meat locker, a calorie burned is a calorie burned

I don't understand the body temperature comment, though...Humans are warm blooded, so your internal body temp remains constant, as long as you don't have an illness...Now, the fan blowing on your skin allows your sweat to evaporate more quickly, thus leaving a cool feeling on the outside of your body...

Ah, to hell with it...get a bike and go cycling....Beats the heck out of a stairmaster any day of the week!

 

If my source is correct, then I'm pretty sure you'll burn more fat if you're hot and sweating as opposed to being cool and comfortable. I'm not exactly sure why, but I remember reading it in a workout manual.

 

I think fadaway is right. That is why swimming-with an external body cooling system in place (the water), while a good exercise for many reasons, is not a great exercise for your cardiovascular system. Could be wrong though, there may not be a 1 to 1 link between been a good calorie burnering activity and a good cardiovascular strengthing activity, any exercise physiologists out there?

 

One could argue that the colder you are the more calories you will burn to keep your internal body temperature up.

When you are hot and sweaty, you lose more water weight, hence the idea that you are burning more calories. When you are cold, your body burns fat to stay hot. Uh, I think that is correct.

 

Here's an answer at askmen.com, for whatever it is worth:

<a href="http://www.askmen.com/sports/bodybuilding/35_fitness_tip.html">Cold weather workouts burn more calories</b>

 

But I don't know if that has hold true in the above case, because the example is for rather extreme cold. My understanding is that in general the more your body has to cool itself, the greater the CV workout. It may also be the case in extreme cold you body has to do extra working maintaining the heat, also burning calories. But I don't know how it would work comparing exercising in 100 versus 85 versus 70 degrees for instance.

 

Desert Scar, are you saying your heart works harder in heat? I guess that would mean that it pumps blood to the skin to cool it off at a faster rate? That may be true, but that is not an indication that you are getting a proper CV work-out. imo, that would be an indication that you might stop working out in that heat, for fear of having an unhealthy workout.

Basically, everyone has a bottom and top heart rate. Generally, your heart rate is more efficient (a lower top rate) the better condition you are in. A stress test is a CV work-out, and that is just walking up hill, then progressing to a jog. The stress test gets you to your top rate pretty fast. How long you can sustain that in a sound rhythm is what it is measuring. You heart does not progressive beat faster and faster the harder you work...at least not in good rhythm.

My dad is a marathon runner and Cardiatic Specialist MD and studied stress tests. He made us all run cross country. He always told us that a good cardio workout is merely sustaining your top heart rate for 30 minutes each day. This can be achieved on a step master, heat or cold. He never told me anything about losing calories; he only cared about the heart workout.

A proper CV workout has little to do with temperature, imo. Swimming and running are the most efficient exercises to achieve a good CV workout. Further, the harder your body has to work to cool yourself off is more about releasing heat (not producing heat) and releasing water (the body's air-conditioner).

 

Not to contradict most of your points HP, but I have always heard xx skiing and rowing to be the top CV activities. Running is up there with the next group of top CV activities. Swimming has 2 things against it as someone's sole exercise, it is not weight bearing (though I am not sure if this ties to CV fitness, I know it related to bone strength and some other important fitness markers) and the water you swim in cools you off. The weight bearing part can be important advantage for some people, because swimming is about the only activity my mother can do that does make her joints ache and she does not have to worry about osteoporosis at this point in her life. Basically, it is healthiest to regularly do a CV exercises with an occasional weight training or other kind of weight bearing exercise. Mixing in swimming couldn’t hurt as well, and there are less risks for repetitive and joint injuries during swimming than most other exercises I can think of.

Back to the topic at hand. I did a quick MEDLINE search (after I wrote the above paragraph) and found mostly equivocal results, largely because there are lots of different ways to measure CVO status. The one non-equivocal finding is that swimming does not result in the same bone benifits as weigth bearing exercise. However, there was good evidence swimming, in addition to running and xx skiing, were a good CVO exercises. One study showed running was the best. Also, there was evidence the exercises where you stand up (in contrast to say a stationary bike) and done in the heat if you are properly hydrated, provide maximal CV benifit (e.g., running in Houston). Granted this is a quick unsystematic review, but it looks like for overall benifit a mix of exercises is your best bet, and if it doesn't give you joint problems, you couldn't go wrong with a program centered around running. I am not a exercise phyiologist though, so I don't put the kind of stock in my lit scan than I would if an expert had done so.

 

No matter whether it burns more calories or not to be in a warmer environment, you can burn the most calories when you're performing at your peak. I don't know about you guys, but if the room is too hot I can't get any decent kind of workout done. It is simply unbearable. So then I'm working at lower intensity, which is worse. (and anything outside this time of year, forget it)

If there really was a Stairmaster in a meat locker, I'd be there. When you're freezing, you have lots of incentive to work hard and keep yourself warm.

 

what are you nuts??

swimming is the BEST cardio work out. i wonder where you got the idea it is not a good workout cardio wise. do yourself a favor. hop in a pool, swim 10 laps at a brisk pace and check your pulse(cardio muscles at work) i will make a bet you are pumping close to 200BPM (190 or so)unless you were slacking off, or in tremendous shape. swiming also works more muscles than any other exercise. check out the way those swimmers look next olympics. its awsome workout for your shoulders. but of cource you should have a balanced work out regime.

also , yes your body burns calories to stay warm, so being warm, your body wouldnt use any extra calories. maybe in a pool you burn extra for the cold, but i bet its minimal if at all. and burning calorie isnt really the same as cardio. but cardio is the best way to do so. the main thing about cool/VS warm is that your muscles dont fatigue as quicly whe your body temp is lower so you can exercise longer and burn more calories.

interesting question though.

carry on

 

Reason, you don't read to well. It is pretty clear that nobody (scientists at least) have a handle on what is the best CV workout. Though in the medical lit I quickly reviewed pointed to running as the best. Swimming and XX skiing also appeared to be a good CV activities. And it is conclusive swimming doesn't help bone development like weigth bearing exercises do. Swimming is a good exercise, but not a complete exercise for all people.

 

I don't know if swimming is good cardio for most people; I've done too much of it and my body doesn't seem to react one way or the other. It is, however, the best way to get a well-toned and sculpted body (outside of paying attention to every little detail with weights etc.). It does something for every part of your body, and injuries are less likely because there's no impact.

The best cardio/ weight loss exercise is, believe it or not, aerobics. (of course, you guys probably cringe at the thought of doing it... I do too, though I try to force myself to anyway. On the other hand, if you want to meet chicks...) Racquetball is good if you're serious about it and don't take too many breaks. (same with basketball etc.) For the quickest weight loss in the shortest amount of time, running or "cross-trainer" machines.

I do hear you burn more calories when it's cold. We have walk-in refrigerator rooms at work. Maybe I'll spend as much of my day in there as possible and see what happens.

 

as a former swimmer...swimming is regarded as the second best conditioning exercise next to cross country skiing. swimming works muscles no other exercise can. but with all exercise you need variation...so lift weights to biuld your mass...blah blah blah