Aerobic Information
Introduction -
The primary goals of aerobic exercise are to increase your body's ability to deliver oxygen to muscle cells and to use fats(yea!) as a fuel source(1). Aerobic exercise will definitely get your heart pumping so be prepared! A couple of reminders before starting to workout: do a warm-up stretch of about five minutes and wear comfortable clothing. This page is divided into two sections. The first section describes how to use certain machines. The second section suggests which machines to use for certain body parts.
Machines 
STAIRMASTER
This is the machine that stands upright about five feet seven inches that has two handrails to grasp on while you step on the two steps. (I hope that description is adequate!)
So how do you use this strange looking contraption? First of all, make sure you have everything in place before you start pushing any buttons. I mean, is your walkman in the box provided? Do you have your towel snugly wrapped around one of the handrails? How about that bottle of water? I say this because once you start stepping, it could be difficult to adjust those little things without interrupting the flow of your steps.
Okay now that that's done, press the Start button. The machine will ask you to enter in your weight most likely, so do that and press Enter. Then the machine will ask you which program you would like to do, at what level, and for how many minutes. From what I've seen, the usual programs offered are: Manual, Pike's Peak, Interval Training, and Random. I think you should just experiment and choose which program you are comfortable with. I think the Manual program though might be a little bit easier and may not be as effective as the structured programs. Interval Training is the most difficult because it swithces the level of intensity frequently so your muscles do not have time to get used to any level of intensity and your muscles have to constantly adjust so you get the most work out of this program. So anyway, select a program and press Enter. If you have not exercised in awhile, you should probably do around level 3. You can adjust your level by using the Up and Down keys. The level determines the intensity level which means how fast you will have to step. After you have selected the Level and of course press Enter, you will need to enter a time. At my gym, there is a time limit of twenty minutes. This seems to be a good time. Usually you want to exercise for twenty to thirty minutes straight through to get a good cardiovascular workout.
Now that you have finished with all the data entering, it's time to step! The whole goal of this exercise is take steps as if you are walking up stairs. What you want to do is take steps that are fast enough so that the steps (aka pedals) do not touch the top or the bottom; you want to always be in the middle range which will become clear once you are on the machine. The handrails are there for you to balance yourself but ideally you are supposed to be able to do the "stairs" without holding the handrails. Sometimes people cheat and use the handrails as support for their arms so that they do not have to work as hard. Also sometimes people lean on the console or start bending over which is not good. Your body should be upright while doing the stairs so if the program is getting too hard, just lower the level. Those people leaning on the console are using the stairs incorrectly and are doing more damage to themselves than benefit.
You can step different ways. Some people step on the toes of their feet which means they are working out their calves more than their full legs. If you step with your heel pressing down, you will be working your whole leg and that will prevent big calves; it is also harder to do. I think you are ready to hit the stairs now!
WINDRACER/LIFECYCLE
There are various names for the stationary bicycle because there are different variations of the exercise bicycle. For example, the Windracer has the unique feature in which you can race the computer or a group of people. The think the Lifecycle is generically named so because it is just a bike with different programs similar to the Stairmaster which give a good cardiovascular workout. I hope the exercise bicycle will be easy to distinguish because I don't even want to attempt to describe its appearance!
If you have ridden a bike before, then learning how to use this machine will be cinch. As with the Stairmaster, make sure everything is where you want it to be before you start. Next, adjustthe height on your seat. The tricky part to this is the little ball you have to pull to adjust the seat. The ball should be located somewhere underneath the seat. You pull the ball out and keep the ball pulled out while adjusting the seat to your desired height. After you've chosen the height, then slowly let the ball back in while keeping the seat raised up to where you want it. The seat should lock into place. And if there is this option, you will do the same thing with the handrails to adjust the height. After you've done all that, you are ready to start biking.
So sit on the bike and press the Start button. The machine will ask you for some data just as it does with the Stairmaster. This part should be pretty much self-explanatory. After you've finished data entering, start pedaling, one foot in front of the other. Sometimes the machine will ask you to pause(which means don't stop pedaling) and take a pulse rate so you can see if your heart rate is what it should be according to the American Heart Association. You can choose to do it or you can ignore it; it won't affect your program. Happy cycling!
ROWERDescribing this machine is going to be a challenge. This machine is petite looking compared to the others. This machine is at floor level and its components are basically a seat, a handlebar, and a wheel with a fan inside it. I hope you know which machine I'm talking about now!
There really isn't anywhere to put your belongings except on the floor beside you so all I can say about that is to suggest you clip your walkman to your shorts if you have a walkman.
To start the Rower is sort of tricky. First, turn the Rower on and select which display you would like to see which is usually either the calories displayed or the meters displayed. To select which display, you press the button that says something like "select units." After you have done that, sit on the seat and stick your feet in the holes in front of you. Then strap your feet in so they are snug but not too snug; you want your feet to be held down when you are rowing but you do not want your feet to hurt. After you've done that, use your arms to reach for the handlebar, which may be sort of difficult, and grab the bar with both hands. Now you can start rowing. Pull the bar with both hands keeping your back straight (so you do not cheat by using your back muscles!). Extend your legs out while pulling the bar. You want your legs to follow your arms. When you have outstretched your arms, bend your legs back in. You want to let your arms ride you in before you bend your legs in again. So repeat that motion for as many minutes or meters as you would like. I am not sure how many minutes is ideal but I think twenty minutes would be good. Just keep at it even though you may seem to be dying at first. Once your arms get used to the motion, it should get easier.
CROSSROBICS
I would have to say that this is the strangest looking machine out of all the machines I have seen. This machine is also upright standing about five feet eight inches. There is a back rest on an incline with two long pedals sticking out.
There really isn't anywhere to place your belongings on this machine either. There are handrails that are for holding onto which you can hang your towel over if you like. Also, you can clip your walkman to your shorts or hold it while you exercise.
The concept of this machine is very similiar to the Stairmaster. First you choose a program which is numbered "Crossrobics Program One-Eight." You can look through all of them and see which one appeals to you. I think they are all pretty similiar. Then you enter in the usual data. One new thing you have to do is choose a plate level. Usually you should start off with the lowest plate level which is three. The plates are there for strengthening your leg muscles because the more plates you do, the heavier the weights are that your legs are lifting. If you are more concerned about the aerobic aspect, then you should concentrate on what intensity level you will do which ranges between 1-20; this is what works your heart. After you have finished all that, you should lean back on the Crossrobics machine and put your feet on top of the pedals. Your legs will be bent and you will feel weird at first because it feels as if your body is going to fall off but it won't. Then you start steppping like on the Stairmaster. The only difference is that you will want to take long full strides and not let the pedals touch to the top. Here, you DO want the pedals to go as far down as possible. You need to step fast enough to keep your plates high above the stack of plates below. If you find your plates are starting to touch the bottom of the stack, then you either need to step faster, or reduce your intensity level. Your plate level might also be too high.
Body Parts CALVES
If your goal is to reduce the size of your calves, the exercise bike is probably your best bet because it works your entire leg without giving any room for just your calves' muscles to work. Therefore, your calves won't build up in muscle mass but will reduce in size along with the rest of your body. There is no machine that will only reduce your calves though.
If your goal is to increase the size of your calves, you should do the Stairmaster by stepping with your toes. This motion concentrates on working your calves so muslce will form and make your calves bigger.
THIGHS
There really isn't a way to increase your thigh size by exercising. You will only reduce the size of your thighs. Using the Stairmaster, Crossrobics, or an exercise bike will accomplish that goal. The reason this is so is because these machines help in reducing fat of your overall body so your thighs will automatically be reduced in fat also. There is no spot thigh reducer machine though. You must keep in mind that these machines work because you are burning fat calories. There is no specific body part that you are burning off fat calories, but you should be burning fat calories all over your body. The three machines I have listed are the closest machines to reducing thighs.
HIPS
The onlysuggestion I have for hips is to use the Stairmaster if you want to build up hips and avoid the Stairmaster if you want to reduce your hip size. Due to the motion of the Stairmaster, you are working it so that your hips get built up As I said before, any machine should help in reducing hip size along with reducing your body's size.
BUTTOCKS
I do not know of any machine that works to increase your buttocks size. To reduce or at least firm up your buttocks, the Crossrobics would be the best machine. There really isn't room for cheating on the Crossrobics like on the Stairmaster, so you are really working your thighs. The motion of your legs tends to work your buttocks a little bit more than the other machines would so your buttocks gets firmer after a period of Crossrobics use.
BACK
The best machine for working your back is the Rower. The Rower not only burns off calories but the motion of rowing tones up your back and also strengthens your back. So at the same time, you may be adding back mass because you are building up your muscle, while you are also toning your back because you are sort of working your back muscles while rowing. The back mass you gain if any will probably be imperceptible but the nice toned look will be very perceptible!
STOMACH
Every machine should work reducing your stomach size while you burn off fat calories for your entire body. There really isn't a way to increase your stomach mass if you are aerobically exercising. If you want to somewhat target your stomach, you could do sit-ups and other exercises similar to sit-ups. Actually if you do sit-ups regularly while exercising, your stomach might at first become bigger because of the extra muscle mass you are building underneath your stomach. However as you lose fat, your stomach should get smaller and the muslces in your stomach should start being noticeable.
ARMS
No machine will just reduce or increase arm size. Your arms will just get smaller from exercising. However if you want to tone them up, you should do anaerobic exercise.
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Author: Vivan Tran, UC Berkeley Student
Send comments to: vivan@uclink2.berkeley.edu
Last updated: May 1, 1996
http://info.sims.berkeley.edu/~vtran/assign5/aerobic.html