favorite cardio equipment in the gym for maximum calorie burn

Okay, so taking into account the difficult of performing the cardio, the time, and the intensity...what piece of cardio equipment do you find you get the most "burn" for your "buck"? 

I find that the stairmaster is simply not worth it, it's too difficult for how little you actually burn. 

so, which machines are your favorites? how often do you use it? at what intensity? and what is your average burn?

My favorite for full body exercise and calorie results is definitely the elliptical trainer. It works out my butt, arms, and if I'm extra attentive to form even my abs. But the truth is I'm so concentrated on finishing my set time, I'm not paying much attention to reminding myself to try to squeeze my ab muscles intermittently.

Note to self: Remember to tighten up your abs girl! Also results are even better if you work on an incline for part of the workout. Oh let's not forget pay close attention to squeezing the glutes. It'll make for a nice bum.

Equal effort = equal calories burned, the machine doesn't matter.

If your gym has an Arc Trainer, use it! The calorie burn is really high and I feel like it gives my lower body a more intense workout becasue of the larger range of motion from the hip joint. The resistance and cross-ramp also go up super-high.

This is just my theory- but who says the calorie estimates are accurate?  I say, if the stairmaster leaves you sweaty and dying its probably giving you the toughest workout, even if the numbers say the eliptical is tougher.  If your not feeling the burn during a workout I wouldn't trust the numbers.  So, IMO I'd say the treadmill when running is good, arc trainer on a high setting, and the stair master (esp if you have that type that looks like an escalator).

I second the elliptical trainer.  I can adjust the tension to give a real burn or I can just move to get my breathing heavy. 

I like the little calorie counter because it gives me a goal to shoot for.  It doesn't matter if it's 100% correct or not.  It's just a goal I can monitor and figure in to my daily activities.  The metrics for weight loss and exercise are all over the place.  The machine inaccuracy is at least measurable and repeatable. 

There are some machines that are better than others. However, in the end it all depends on how much energy and time you put into your workout on the machine and which machine feels right to you.

I wanted to ask you something. Has anyone ever told you about HIIT cardio? Much more effective and much better results then spending hours and hours on cardio. I used to be one of those people who did 45-60 minute cardio sessions 5-6 times a week, and it did nothing except waste my time.

HIIT combines short, fast, bursts going as hard as you can (10-30 secs) with slower recovery periods (40-90 secs). You would do a 3 minute warm-up, followed by the first "sprint" phase, and the first recovery phase. Then you just keep switching back and forth between sprint and recovery for 20 minutes, and finish with a 5 minute cool down. HIIT is done 3 times a week, and it is the only type of cardio that specifically targets bodyfat, spares muscle, and boosts metabolism for extended periods of time. It is also much more fun because of the constant change in speeds. You never get bored being stuck on the same pace.

You can do HIIT on any piece of cardio equipment. My personal preference however is sprinting outside. Sprinting gives you the best overall cardio workout in my opinion. It also gives you a lean, muscular look. Ever since I started doing HIIT sprint routines, my bodyfat has dropped considerably and my energy has been high.

I would like to second what vyperman7 says about HIIT.  I have recently started trying it and can honestly say that it has been a real wake up call for me!

The first time I tried HIIT I did 20 minutes running/sprinting and it killed me!  But it felt great afterwards, and for two days after too.

I would say give HIIT a try - nothing ventured, nothing gained!

I have a Bodybugg so I have a pretty accurate idea of what I burn for calories with about the same amount of effort on each machine.

For me the treadmill burns the most, Elliptical next, then stairclimber.  I didn't ride the bikes much, but I didn't burn all that many calories when I did.

Whoever said the Stairclimber isn't worth the few number of calories burned is right.  I couldn't believe how few calories I burned on that thing, probably because it's about impossible to do without hanging on to the handles.

I noticed that the calorie indicators on the machines were pretty accurate for the treadmill and pretty inaccuate for the other machines.  Basically I had to take the number on the elliptical machine and divide by 2 and that was the real number of calories I burned.  Same with the stairclimber.

Also, I learned that sweating is not a very good indicator of calories burned.

I will defintely give HIIT a shot.  However a few weeks ago I busted up my ankle running back to my room.  I still have a slight limp.  That is another reason for the elliptical.  It's not intense on my ankle.

the thing with HIIT is i always want to do more...but i can't. i know it's unnecessary but being that efficient with my time leaves me feeling like i SHOULD do more if that makes any sense whatsoever.