The stair stepper is a tool of Satan

[I Are Baboon]

The thing damn near killed me last night. Five minutes into the workout, I wanted to quit. Somehow I pushed through 30 minutes. I had it on level 6, which looks s-l-o-w when you watch yourself in the mirror. My heart rate must have been pegged.

The only other time I sweat that much in the gym is in spinning classes.

Anyone else here use that machine? That was the first time I had ever used it. Damn, what a workout.

 

[Copia]

I actually like them because they are so bad LOL! it literally makes me fear cardio.

 

[P-funk]

yea, that thing is brutal!

 

[maxpro2]

was it the one with the actual revolving stairs? that is my favorite

 

[I Are Baboon]

was it the one with the actual revolving stairs? that is my favorite

Yeah. I've used the "other" stairmasters that just have the two pedals. It doesn't even compare to this thing.

 

[Quinc]

My first fire season i used to do the stairmaster for 60 minutes after my workout, to help get me into shape. by the end of it it would say i burned 1200+ calories, and climbed hundreds of flights of stairs. anyway i ended up being the strongest hiker on my crew that year.. It is by far the best/most brutal pice of cardio equipment!

 

[prcX]

I love using the stairmaster and yeah...it's a bitch...

My favorite setting is the Fat-Burner Plus at level 16. I do it for 10-12 minutes and I skip every other step.

Are there any studies that prove/disprove what cardio machines are best?? Stairmaster has gotta' be way up there!!

 

[CowPimp]

I used to use that when I worked at Gold's. We don't have one where I work now. They are pretty badass though. I really like them as far as cardio goes.

There was this one guy that frequented our gym who used to do intervals on that thing. He would do 20-30 second bouts of sprinting up that thing. I mean, the stairs were winding around so fast that you could hear the machine whirring from half way across the gym. That dude was nuts.

 

[MCx2]

Those things kick ass.

A guy at my old gym would do it backwards.

 

[ava]

I dont have much to add since my gym doesnt have one and I've never tried it but I did laugh pretty hard at the title of this thread!

 

[wrecked_porsche]

I love that thing. I sweat soo much I get embarrassed! I panic and start wiping my sweat every few minutes or it will be dripping all over the place??? I worry what the other gym goers would think since they don???t sweat like I do. I guess they are not pusing as hard as me? LOL
More than 100 calories in 8 minutes??? Do that for 30 minutes and you fell like you???re gonna die??? My heart rate is about 156bpm on that thing??? But I just love it.

 

[obz]

Yeah, we have a pair of those at my gym. They absolutley WRECK me. The sweat is rediculous after 20 minutes.

 

[crazy_enough]

Oh shit, that thing is EVIL!!!

I split my daily hour of cardio between that and max incline treadmill and the latter feels like a cool down after a half hour on the stairmaster. Its fuckin brutal...But it works if a fine ass is what ure after!

 

[maxpro2]

What I love most about that machine is it is do or die. If you don't bust your ass, you are going to fall off and bust your face!

 

[katt]

We have a couple at our gym - they are pretty popular .. I love them cause they kick your ass!!

 

[Hammerlynn]

LOVE LOVE LOVE it! It's my favorite butt kicker. I've heard it referred to as the Stairway to Hell! LOL

 

[I Are Baboon]

I think I'll use this bastard machine again today. I'm not looking forward to it.

 

[MACCA]

when we first had these at our gym it was only the ladies that used them and i think that most guys thought that it was a girls machine.Once a few of the guys started too use them, me included we all realized how good they really are, i love too use this on my cardio day, hour on the treadmill,20 mins on the x trainer and then 30 mins on the stairs,loads of sweat and tears....

 

[MeatZatk]

These things are the closest thing to hell on earth. I wear size 15 shoes, so the back half of my feet don't even hit the stair. Killer calf workout also.

 

[S.DOT.]

LMFAO @TOOL OF SATAN

 

[BringinToddBack]

a-men to that brutha.

 

[vortrit]

I damn near died last time I used it. I got on and said I was going to stay on it for a 40 minute cardio session. I was done in about 20 minutes.

 

[bigsahm21]

Haha this thread is getting me excited to try it...I've never used it at our gym before, I stick to running and lately the elliptocal because my knee's been a little sore from running.

Typically my heart rate is around 150 on the elliptocal, and according to the little meter thing I burn around 14.1-14.3 cals/min during my actual cardio phase (not counting warmup/cool down) so its about 520 over the course of my entire cardio workout. It gets me going pretty good...but I'm bored of it, looking for a new challenge...this machine sounds good!

 

[I Are Baboon]

Haha this thread is getting me excited to try it...I've never used it at our gym before, I stick to running and lately the elliptocal because my knee's been a little sore from running.

Typically my heart rate is around 150 on the elliptocal, and according to the little meter thing I burn around 14.1-14.3 cals/min during my actual cardio phase (not counting warmup/cool down) so its about 520 over the course of my entire cardio workout. It gets me going pretty good...but I'm bored of it, looking for a new challenge...this machine sounds good!

Start off slow and don't let the slow pace fool you. You'll be hurting quicker than you'd expect.

I hurt my knee skiing last weekend (jammed it a bit) and hopped on the stepper Tuesday. I didn't feel any knee discomfort. I don't think it's anywhere near as hard on the knees as a treadmill.

 

[Damon]

We have five or six at my gym and there's one that's different from the others so I try to use that one. I put it on the manual setting for 30 minutes, punch in my weight (225), and then crank it to the highest setting (20) for two minutes and then back it down to 12 for one minute and repeat. The machine tells me I burn 850 calories in the 30 minutes. Not sure about that but I'm sweating like crazy.

If I can't get that particular one, I'll use one of the others. Those are a bit tougher and I set it for Fat Burner Plus. With that I can only do 30 seconds at the top level (20) and then back it down to 12 for 90 seconds. After 30 minutes of that it says I've only burned around 725 calories but I'm just dripping sweat all over the place.

If I'm really motivated I'll follow that up with more HIIT on a treadmill.