When I train at the club with the elliptical machine, I feel like I’m working hard and get my HR into the low-mid 140’s. My breathing is in the moderate range, like my old days of running.

When I paddle train, to keep my HR in the same range, but I feel like Im not working that hard. Additionally, my breathing is not that deep.

While in the mid-140 HR range, why do my breathing and workout ‘feel’ so much lower than at the club on the machine when compared to paddling on the water.

Ahh – interesting and accurate observation and the implications of your question go far beyond the elliptical trainer.  To get to the bottom of this, lets look at a few comparison examples and back into your answer.

Example 1: you are lifting a 3 pound weight with just your right arm. 3 pounds for most people is pretty light. Think about what kind of effort it would take to get your heart rate up to 140 using just that biceps muscle and your one arm. You would probably have to crank away as fast as you can like a maniac to get your heart rate up – wouldn’t you?

Example 2: lets say you load up a backpack with 50lbs of sand and you start walking up a hill. Go easy. Seriously, walk as slow as you can but just keep walking. Chances are that your heart rate will go above 140 and you will put out next to no effort.

Hopefully now you are catching what we are throwing and that is rate of perceived effort is sometimes disconnected from the amount of work you are actually doing. Stated another way, sometimes your heart rate is much higher or much lower than you think it should be. This, by the way, is one of the main reasons that we recommend training with a heart rate monitor. The heart rate monitor does not lie – sometimes your brain does.

Getting back to your example, truth be told, we are not huge fans of the elliptical trainer for this reason. You feel like you are doing a whole lot of work but you really are not doing anything but spinning your wheels.

When you are paddling you are using many more muscles than you are using when you are on the elliptical machine. Additionally, it is possible that your technique is not spot on so you are creating extra work for yourself. Maybe you are paddling against a current or wind. All of these factors will increase your cardiac load and you might not even feel like you are doing much.

This is actually where some people (including very experienced athletes) get into trouble with their training. They might be paddling along not feeling like they are doing much but they are training in the (dreaded) grey zone. Without a heart rate monitor it is EXTREMELY easy to train just a  little too hard where you don’t get any real training benefits but you greatly increase your risk of overtraining. Conversely, it is just as easy to think you are going hard but you are going too easy. The heart rate monitor keeps you honest.

The bottom line on all of this is to stick with your heart rate monitor. Consider using the elliptical as a recovery device rather than a primary method of training. Consider going for a run, the rowing machine, swim, etc if you are looking for a hard cross training workout.