Eliptical Question

[dixion]

I posted a while back with some questions on exercising. I've gone from drinking everyday, a fat belly, knees that gave out just walking across a parking lot, chronic back pain and daily pills for that, to fifty minutes on the eliptical, three to four times a week, weights a least three times a week, a smaller belly, no knee pain at all, almost no back pain and no more pills. I feel great and my wife is way into the new me as well, if you know what I mean. I've even gotten to the point where I wake up and do weights befor work, so that I can go to the Y after work and ride the eliptical. Normal stuff for most of the posters on this group I know, but pretty out of character for me.

Anyway, here is my question. Why do my toes and bottom of my feet feel like they are falling asleep at about 25 minutes on the eliptical? At first I thought it might be my shoes. The guy at Big 5 told me that there was no difference between the shoes they sell and the expensive ones at the running stores. Sounded like crap to me so I went to a running store and bought a $98.00 pair of Brooks on the advice of the sales rep. My toes still fell asleep.

The tingling goes away as soon as I get off the machine but it's really bumming me out. My goal is to hit an hour on hills plus at level 6 befor moving up in levels but this is starting to effect things.

Thanks for any replies and for all of the great info some of you put out there every day. I get most of my workout tips from a couple of guys at work and this site.

[XXXNoahXXX]

how does changing the incline affect things?

[notfreemoney]

http://www.ellipticalhome.com/ellipt...t-article.html

Cliff notes- bascically says that since your feet dont move when using the ellipical, your nerves in your feet never get a break. Try wiggling your toes, reversing directions every once in a while and going "heel to toe" to stimulate the natural running motion.

[Big TR]

This happens to me sometimes. I just pick up one foot and use my arms to power through the machine, moving my tingling foot around. This works for me.

Also from what I have read extended steady state cardio, ie 1 hour on an elliptical on a single resistance setting, is a pretty terrible workout. I believe that doing intervals of some type at a higher level of resistance for shorter periods will help you burn more calories overall.

[POKEROMGLOL]

i don't do the elliptical, but this happens usually when your shoes don't fit right for whatever reason or your socks are bad. I would try a few things.

1. Don't tie your shoes so tight.
2. Thick expensive socks, or even double sock.
3. Get new running shoes and try them out before you buy them for good (if they will let you)

[Wolfram]

The ellipticals I use don't facilitate a stationary footing. It's more like a cross between a stair machine and an elliptical. That means I stand on only the ball of my foot at some point during the motion.

[Wynton]

This used to happen to me when I ran, and is one of the reasons I gave running up.

My experience was that, after a few miles, my toes started to get numb and/or tingle. I experimented with different shoes and tying the laces tighter or looser. At one point, I had the laces so loose that the shoes barely stayed on.
I also tried different running methods, like focusing on landing on the balls of my feet. But nothing ever worked.

Eventually, I chalked up the whole thing to poor circulation.

Now, I use the elliptical machine, generally for a full hour (and half of that time I do an interval program, trying to mimic real sprints intermittently). I never experience the numbness or tingling sensation.

Wish I had some answers, but I don't. This is just my experience.

[dixion]

Thank-You all for the replies.