I have noticed this the past few times I have been at the gym, several people get on a treadmill or elliptical and hold on for dear life, the ENTIRE time. Now if you have balance issues thats probably a good idea, but these are not people who appear to have that problem. A few days ago, two guys were working out and ended it on the ellipticals and while they had moving hand holds, they decided to hang on to the heart rate sensor and bar the entire time. I was baffled, mainly because it decreases your heart rate and burns less calories and it truly doesn't take all that much more to put your hands on the already moving arms. Then just yesterday I was on a cardio machine thats in the line behind the treadmills and this lady comes in and gets her tv (all treadmills have their own tv) set up, starts the treadmill and brings it up to an incline, she then holds on for dear life so just doesn't go flying off the back. She was probably at a speed of 4 or 5, so a good pace. I desperately wanted to inform her if she decreased the speed or incline ever so slightly she would actually get a better workout. You should never NEED to hold on to the arms besides at the start and stop. Pumping her arms burns far more calories than the death grip. Not to mention she also looked ridiculous trying to attempt this. I did spy a bit (for the purpose of this blog), she had put in to do 45 min and 25 min later her grip was failing so she had to quit.
So the reason I bring this up to you today is this, DO NOT use the death grip while walking or running on a treadmill or elliptical, if you can't do that speed or incline without holding on, decrease either and pump your arms, its more effective in the end and burns more calories. Not to mention you don't get blogs made about your silliness afterwards!
What are your pet peeves of things people do at the gym that are definitely not correct form or function?
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