Question

We're looking to lose weight and shrinking our midsection. What is your feeling on a treadmill vs a recumbent exercise bike for weight loss and burning calories?

Answer

I get a little worried when I get a question about shrinking your waist with a treadmill or a recumbent exercise bike. Quite honestly neither of the machines will shrink your waist directly. In fact no machine will, I don't care what kind of B.S. you hear on late night T.V. or around the health club.

Does that mean that you should throw your hands to the sky and give up trying to lose weight and see your abs? No, it doesn't. What it does mean is you need to get a better understanding of how you actually lose weight (fat) so you can get that trim waistline your after.

Step #1 To Shrink Your Wasitline - Create a Calorie Defecit
In order to lose weight (fat weight, not muscle) you need to create a 3500 calorie defecit below your base metabolic rate (BMR) to lose one pound of fat. This goal can be accomplished by either restricting your calorie intake by 350 calories for 10 days (350 calories X 10 days = 3500 calories), by adding muscle to your body (muscle burns more calories than fat), or by using a machine like a treadmill or recumbent exercise bike to create a calorie defecit combined with good eating habits.

If you're clueless about how to control your diet to lose weight and manage your energy, here's a good resource I recommend from Jon Benson. His book goes into a lot more depth about calories, metabolism and weight loss strategies than I can cover here.

Step #2 To Shrink Your Waist - Doing Cardio
Your on the right track with your question about doing cardio for weight loss, because that, combined with calorie control and strength training, is the fastest way to get in shape. A treadmill or recumbent bike will do a good job at burning calories when used regularly at the proper intensity.

Personally, I think too many people get hung up on burning the "most" calories when they exercise. For example, let's say that one form of exercise burns 50 more calories each workout and than another form of exercise. By doing the math, you would lose an additional pound of weight every 70 workouts - big freakin deal!

Here's what I recommend, read my recommendations for the best treadmill and best exercise bike, and then draw your own conclusion. I don't care if you find a machine that claims you can burn an extra 200 calories each workout, if you aren't consistent with your effort, or you despise a machine so much you dread using it, you'll never lose any weight.