THE workouts that cardio machines get are usually pretty monotonous. Treadmills are walked upon. Elliptical trainer foot beds move forward and back, forward and back. Stair climbers and stationary bikes are pedaled the same way, day after day.
Not a terribly exciting life, even for an appliance.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday September 28, 2006 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 42 words Type of Material: Correction
Shreadmill: A Sept. 18 Health section article on enlivening cardio workouts failed to make clear that a program called Shreadmill was started and trademarked by Equinox and Sports Club/LA instructor Felix Montano. Also, his name was misspelled as Montana in the article.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Monday October 02, 2006 Home Edition Health Part F Page 6 Features Desk 1 inches; 43 words Type of Material: Correction
Shreadmill -- A Sept. 18 Health section article on enlivening cardio workouts failed to make clear that a program called Shreadmill was started and trademarked by Equinox and Sports Club/LA instructor Felix Montano. Also, his name was misspelled as Montana in the article.
Now some trainers and group fitness instructors are pushing these popular cardio machines beyond the usual routines, including the ones already programmed into equipment. They've devised unconventional workouts and added apparatus to up exercisers' cardiovascular levels and train new muscle groups.
They're looking for new ways to get clients and students fitter faster -- all, of course, while keeping an eye on safety. Anyone who's seen somebody on a treadmill get so caught up watching "Access Hollywood" that they trip and get shot out the back can attest to the potential dangers of these machines when used incorrectly.
Often, the programs are born out of a trainer or instructor's own personal ennui:
* That's how it was for Los Angeles-based personal trainer Erik Flowers, co-owner of LA's Body Builders Gym and creator of a new interval workout on the current "it" machine, the elliptical trainer.
"I was working out at home and I thought, 'I'm not even paying attention to what I'm doing, I'm not sweating anymore.... There's got to be more to this machine,' " Flowers recalls.
He began experimenting, eventually coming up with ElliptiSize, which uses a combination of speeds, resistance levels and positions, such as squatting and lifting up on the toes. Beginners can progress in stamina, strength and balance.
Sequences include pedaling the machine in a squat position at high resistance (taxing the glutes and quadriceps) and pedaling backward while up on the toes, training the core and working major muscle groups, including the calves.
A few things, he found, didn't work -- such as keeping one's eyes closed. Though this does help improve a person's balance, most people found it too difficult and awkward. Adding dumbbells -- even light ones -- threw off coordination and made the ride too unstable. He officially launched the trainer-led program last January.
* Amy Dixon, group fitness manager for Equinox in Santa Monica, is another who's retooled workouts for classic gym machines. She teaches Shreadmill, a treadmill-based group exercise class inspired by her high school track team days: walking lunges, walking with knees up, walking on toes, or backward or sideways, with various combinations of speed and incline -- and sometimes with eyes closed.
