--- title: "Cardio machine exercises" description: "Treadmill, stationary bike, rower, elliptical, air bike and ski erg. Video technique plus which machine to pick for what." locale: en url: "https://hi.fitness/exercises/equipment/cardio-machine" count: 26 type: equipment code: CARDIO_MACHINE --- # Cardio machine exercises Cardio machines cover the part of training where you are not counting reps, you are counting time, distance and resistance level. The atlas carries the treadmill, the stationary bike, the rower, the elliptical, the air bike and the ski erg, most of them at several paces. What separates them is how much of your body they use and how hard they load the joints. The bike and the elliptical keep your foot on a fixed path, the treadmill adds a landing on every step, and the rower and the air bike pull your arms and back into the work too. ## Which machine should you pick? The stationary bike and the elliptical keep your foot on a fixed path, so there is no landing phase in either. That usually makes them the first pick when your knees or ankles are complaining. The treadmill sits at the other end: it loads the joints harder than anything else on the list, but it is also the only piece of equipment that teaches you to run, because the movement is the same one you do outside. The rower and the air bike use the most of your body at once. On the rower the work starts in the legs and finishes in the back; on the air bike the legs and arms work in parallel the whole time. Both wear you out faster for the same amount of time, which makes them the right call when what you have is a short window, not an hour. Each of these machines shows up in the atlas at several paces: moderate, fast and sprint. It is the same movement listed separately so you can drop it into a plan at a specific intensity, not because there are three different techniques to learn. ## What is the ski erg doing here? The ski erg is the exception in this group. Most of what you will find on it is not endurance work at all, it is single strength movements done on its cords: triceps extensions, flyes, reverse flyes, face pulls. The resistance behaves much like a cable machine, with one difference - it rises with the speed you pull at. That changes how you pick the load. On a cable you set the stack and it stays set; on the erg the resistance depends on how fast you move, so two reps in the same set can differ from each other. An even, unhurried tempo gives you a more repeatable stimulus here than yanking. You will also find combined versions: a pull with a squat, with a jump or with a lunge. Those go back to the job the machine was built for, because they raise your heart rate by using the legs and the upper body at the same time. ## Common mistakes - **Rowing with your arms first** - The order is the other way around: you push with the legs first, arms straight, and the handle only comes in just before the knees lock out. When the elbows start the stroke, your arms give out before anything else gets tired. - **Saddle set too low** - On a stationary bike the knee should stay slightly bent at the bottom of the pedal stroke. A saddle that is too low closes the joint down on every revolution, and at pedaling speed there are hundreds of those. - **Stepping onto a moving belt** - You start a treadmill slow, with your feet on the side rails, and you clip the safety key to your shirt before it moves. It is the only machine on this list that will not stop on its own when you lose the rhythm. - **Passive arms on the elliptical** - The handles on an elliptical and an air bike are there to be pushed and pulled, not carried along. When the legs do all of it, the whole effort piles into one place and the session ends earlier than it should. ## Progress the movement 1. **Write down what the display tells you** - Time, distance and resistance level are three numbers no other equipment in the atlas hands you by itself. Without them there is no way to compare today's session with last week's. 2. **Longer first, harder later** - The same resistance level held for a longer session is progress you can read. Turning the dial up and stretching the session at the same time leaves you with no idea which one did the work. 3. **The same distance in less time** - The rower and the air bike count meters, so once the resistance is already high, pace is what is left. Repeating a piece and covering it faster is harder evidence than a longer easy session. ## By equipment - [Quads](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/quads) - 16 exercises - [Front delts](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/front-delts) - 2 exercises - [Lats](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/lats) - 2 exercises - [Rear delts](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/rear-delts) - 2 exercises - [Triceps](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/triceps) - 2 exercises - [Biceps](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/biceps) - 1 exercises - [Mid chest](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/chest) - 1 exercises ## All Cardio machine exercises - [Ski Ergometer Cross Country Ski Triceps Extension Pull](https://hi.fitness/exercises/ski-ergometer-cross-country-ski-triceps-extension-pull) - Triceps · Cardio machine - [Ski Ergometer Cross Country Ski Reverse Triceps Extension Pull](https://hi.fitness/exercises/ski-ergometer-cross-country-ski-reverse-triceps-extension-pull) - Triceps · Cardio machine - [Ski Ergometer Cross Country Ski Pullover Pull](https://hi.fitness/exercises/ski-ergometer-cross-country-ski-pullover-pull) - Lats · Cardio machine - [Ski Ergometer Cross Country Ski Face Biceps Curl Pull](https://hi.fitness/exercises/ski-ergometer-cross-country-ski-face-biceps-curl-pull) - Biceps · Cardio machine - [Ski Ergometer Cross Country Ski Reverse Fly Pull](https://hi.fitness/exercises/ski-ergometer-cross-country-ski-reverse-fly-pull) - Rear delts · Cardio machine - [Ski Ergometer Cross Country Ski Kneeling Reverse Fly Pull](https://hi.fitness/exercises/ski-ergometer-cross-country-ski-kneeling-reverse-fly-pull) - Rear delts · Cardio machine - [Ski Ergometer Cross Country Ski Reverse Lunge Pull](https://hi.fitness/exercises/ski-ergometer-cross-country-ski-reverse-lunge-pull) - Lats · Cardio machine - [Ski Ergometer Cross Country Ski Flyes](https://hi.fitness/exercises/ski-ergometer-cross-country-ski-flyes) - Mid chest · Cardio machine - [Ski Ergometer Cross Country Ski Basic Pull](https://hi.fitness/exercises/ski-ergometer-cross-country-ski-basic-pull) - Front delts · Cardio machine - [Ski Ergometer Cross Country Ski Alternating Arm Pull](https://hi.fitness/exercises/ski-ergometer-cross-country-ski-alternating-arm-pull) - Front delts · Cardio machine - [Treadmill Running](https://hi.fitness/exercises/treadmill-running) - Quads · Cardio machine - [Treadmill Jogging](https://hi.fitness/exercises/treadmill-jogging) - Quads · Cardio machine - [Stationary Exercise Bike](https://hi.fitness/exercises/stationary-exercise-bike) - Quads · Cardio machine - [Gym Rowing Machine Normal Speed](https://hi.fitness/exercises/gym-rowing-machine-normal-speed) - Quads · Cardio machine - [Gym Elliptical Machine Normal Speed](https://hi.fitness/exercises/gym-elliptical-machine-normal-speed) - Quads · Cardio machine - [Assault Airbike Normal Speed](https://hi.fitness/exercises/assault-airbike-normal-speed) - Quads · Cardio machine - [Gym Stair Climber Machine](https://hi.fitness/exercises/gym-stair-climber-machine) - Quads · Cardio machine - [Gym Rowing Machine Fast Speed](https://hi.fitness/exercises/gym-rowing-machine-fast-speed) - Quads · Cardio machine - [Gym Rowing Machine Sprint Speed](https://hi.fitness/exercises/gym-rowing-machine-sprint-speed) - Quads · Cardio machine - [Gym Elliptical Machine Fast Speed](https://hi.fitness/exercises/gym-elliptical-machine-fast-speed) - Quads · Cardio machine - [Gym Elliptical Machine Sprint Speed](https://hi.fitness/exercises/gym-elliptical-machine-sprint-speed) - Quads · Cardio machine - [Assault Airbike Fast Speed](https://hi.fitness/exercises/assault-airbike-fast-speed) - Quads · Cardio machine - [Assault Airbike Sprint Speed](https://hi.fitness/exercises/assault-airbike-sprint-speed) - Quads · Cardio machine - [Ski Ergometer Cross Country Ski Jump Squat Pull](https://hi.fitness/exercises/ski-ergometer-cross-country-ski-jump-squat-pull) - Quads · Cardio machine - [Ski Ergometer Cross Country Ski Squat Pull Half Circles](https://hi.fitness/exercises/ski-ergometer-cross-country-ski-squat-pull-half-circles) - Quads · Cardio machine - [Ski Ergometer Cross Country Ski Squat Wide Lat Pull](https://hi.fitness/exercises/ski-ergometer-cross-country-ski-squat-wide-lat-pull) - Quads · Cardio machine