ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 8, 1996 TAG: 9605080052
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHICAGO
SOURCE: Associated Press
If you're not huffing and puffing off enough calories in your daily workouts at the health club, try the treadmill.
Researchers say it burned more calories than five other exercise machines studied during a test involving 13 young, fit volunteers.
The biggest difference was between the treadmill and the stationary bicycle, with the treadmill burning more than 40 percent more calories.
Exercising on the treadmill, at a level of effort categorized as somewhat hard, burned about 700 calories an hour, compared with 627 on the stair machine; 606 on the rower; 595 on the cross-country ski machine; 509 on the Airdyne, a stationary bicycle that works by pedaling with the legs and pulling on bars with the arms; and 498 on a regular stationary bike.
The study was conducted by researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and the Milwaukee VA Medical Center. It was reported in today's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Dr. Pietro Tonino, chief of sports medicine for Loyola University Medical Center, said the study shows that people don't need to spend lots of money to exercise:
``It shows the benefit of going out and simply walking,'' he said.
Manufacturers of exercise machines donated equipment for the study but no money, said the lead researcher, Dr. Anne I. Zeni, senior resident in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
The findings might not apply to the elderly or people who are out of shape, Zeni said. In addition, the study's small size - eight men and five women with an average age of 32 - precluded comparisons between sexes.
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