New Year's Day: 1 Hour Cross

So, Hal's training plan called for a 1 hour cross on New Years Day. Considering how much we (or I) partied it up on New Years Eve, I knew this was going to be tough. Ouch. Luckily I started to feel better about 3 or so in the afternoon and figured I could make to the gym by 4:30 and get an hour workout in. The fact that I didn't have to run and that I just needed to cross train made me feel more confident about my workout. I figured I would bike some and do this elliptical-type machine that somewhat mimics running without the impact. See below:

Yeah, I wish I looked like that when I worked out. This thing is called "The Arc" and it is categorized as a "cross trainer" - Perfect! The website says, "The Arc Trainer is a totally unique exercise machine.  The science behind the Arc Trainer's big calorie burn is the arc motion. It engages the right muscles – quads and glutes – that demand lots of energy from the body when they are called upon to work. That means calorie burn and, because the Arc Trainer is demanding of the muscles – not the joints, it can be used longer without putting a strain on the knees, hip or back."

45 minutes on the Arc and 15 on the spin bike and I had a good cross training workout. I really enjoyed the Arc. Time seemed to go by pretty quickly and even though I was burning some serious calories on this thing - (550!!) I wasn't "dying" like I sometimes feel when running.  Funny enough, The Arc seemed to take more energy, but I didn't really break too much of a sweat. On the the bike I was dripping!  It was weird to me because I didn't feel like I was working any harder on the bike, but I was definitely working up way more of a sweat. At the end of the workout I was so glad I had gotten my butt up and gone to the gym! It was worth it! I will definitely be using The Arc more often for cross training in the future.