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Stairmaster vs Elliptical

What is the best aerobic exercise?

Nasar Karim
3 min readDec 30, 2023
Photo by Ikrom Chinaski on Unsplash

A couple of months ago I joined a new gym. It’s much closer than my last gym and I now train far more frequently. With a new gym less than five minutes away, I’m able to do aerobics at least three times a week.

I like squatting with heavy weights, so I’m very careful about the aerobic exercises I do. Anything that involves a lot of impact on the joints of the ankles, hips, or knees, like the treadmill, is a no-go.

That leaves four commonly available aerobic exercises. The elliptical, the stairmaster, the stationery bike, and the rowing machine.

The bike is too easy and I thought it would give me a sore perineum. The rowing machine is tough, lacks a display screen to make thirty minutes of activity less onerous, and also risks giving me a sore arse. That leaves the elliptical and the stairmaster. Which one is the best? A quick Google search suggests the elliptical wins.

For my first aerobic exercise session I had intended to do ten minutes on the stairmaster before moving to the rowing machine, and then finishing on the elliptical. That was because I didn’t think I’d be able…

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Nasar Karim
Nasar Karim

Written by Nasar Karim

BSc Psychology. Author of Myshi Moo and the Frightening Face.

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