Pretty much read the thread title. I’m absolutely sick of aquajogging and I’m wondering if the elliptical is a good substitute for running.
I would say that deep water running is far superior to the elliptical.
Are you injured right now? I hope not but if you are I hope that you recover soon enough for IMF.
When I was injured, I used both + some time on the stepper in a running position, like I was running up a really steep hill. IMO only.
It’s a good substitute provided that you do it at HR levels comparible to running. Some injuries can’t even hack the elliptical so be weary of that. I believe it’s only good on the HR end however…you can’t replicate the pounding of running!
I used both when recovering from a torn hammy. I am currently using the ellip trainer while I heal from a “bruised bone” in my foot from IMMoo. I found the ellip trainer did a very good job keeping my cardio up and working my leg muscles.
I was skeptical about the ellip trainer until I spoke with Heather Haviland, Timex Team Pro, about a month before IMMoo (when I was recovering from the hammy). Heather used the ellip trainer while recovering from a broken collarbone. She said the ellip trainer did a great job at maintaining her running level and actually helped a little on her overall cardio. Good enough for me.
You might want to check this out if you can at least walk. I am. The aquajogging gets old though I have found putting a cheap fm radio in a plastic bag on the top of my head under my swim cap with ear bud type headphones protruding has made a world of difference
Barb
http://www.goswim.tv/pMachinePro/forum/threads.php?id=2638_0_11_0_C
In general the goswim site has great swim online videos drills etc.
Eric, i’d say use a combo of both … i have had clients do there “normal” run progam using a combo of both deep water running, aqua running (shallow pool - feet on bottom) and the elliptical for a number of years now. Be sure that on the elliptical to take your hands off the handles as if you were running. Nothing takes the place of running but i do think a good elliptical (some replicate running more than others) and aqua training will be helpful.
Best of luck …
I’m injured currently. I’ve put in about 15 miles on roads since the end of July. I have been doing a lot of aquajogging and I’m sick of being in the cold water all the time. I’m wanting to do more elliptical work so that I’m not in the water so much and on the elliptical, I can get my heart rate much higher.
At my gym, I’m one of the few people that takes my hands off the handles.
Two anecdotes: JulieAnne White (the former Ms. Slowman) won the Big Sur marathon a couple years ago after doing big parts of her training in the pool. Dathan Ritzenhein won the NCAA XC in 2003 after spending most of the season running in the pool, and only doing a few weeks of training on his feet.
Eric,
IMO, the elliptical is a waste of time if you want to mantain running fitness.
Aquarunning works really well for that, but it’s definitely not for everybody. It takes a lot of mental strenght and even the more mentally strong athletes have a tough handling it.
As a side note, that is a lot of time to be injured. I’m sure that the people that are treating you now are very nice, but I would seek help elsewhere and keep doing that until your injury is healed.
I used the elliptical when I was injured this year, put a good 2 hours in (x5/week) and you have a workout and a half. I had a groin injury, so the reduced range of motion while using the elliptical helped out.
Cheers~
I’m the only person that’s keeping me from running. My PT keeps telling me that I should be OK to run, but I’m choosing not to. my coaches are telling me to run as well. It seem like I take a little longer to fully heal than the textbook answers. I have way too many experiences where I start exercising whenever the medical people say I can start exercising and I just have problems that linger around for too long.
One reason for this is IMFL is pretty much a wash for me now. I’m going to go out and have a great swim and a great bike, but the run will be what it is. When I got the OK from my PT to run again, I went out and ran and was still having minor issues, I decided it wasn’t worth it. I was going to have to ramp very quickly for Florida and doing that would greatly increase my risk for getting injured again. I wanted to do great for me at my first IM, but it’s just a race and there will be more. It’s more important to be healthy and to run consistently in the future than my run performance in one race.
At one point, I decided that my next land run was going to be IMFL, but my coach convinced me to start working in 30-45 minutes of running per week in 15 to 20 minute increments and I’ll start that the week after next. Like I said before, the only person keeping me from running is me. You may think I’m idiot for not running, but you don’t know my body like I do.
Thanks for the advice, though.
i have tried both. i am not a fan of water running just for the boredom factor. at least on the elliptical i can watch TV. I got injured 6 weeks ago ( foot) and could not run. i was signed up for REDMAN IM> so i continued to swim and bike like i normally would but did not run until the race. i would do the elliptical in place of my runs. i did one 3.5 hour workout in place of a 20 mile run. ( that was a tough one to get through even with the TV). most of the workouts were 1-2 hours for the 6 weeks. anyway, REDMAN day i swam and biked and felt normal. the first 13 miles of the run were ok, i could feel the tiredness in my legs from the lack of pounding for 6 weeks and by the start of the second leg of the marathon i was pretty much toast. i spend a lot of time walking. the worst part was post race. for 24-48 hours i could hardly move. my legs and my back were extremely sore. i made it through the race ( much slower than anticipated and my marathon time was about an hour slower than my normal IM times) but i was glad I finished. I would not want to have to go into a race without running like that again. It was pretty brutal. jana