An elliptical trainer is one of the top cardio equipment at gym clubs, and probably, you are among the gym rats lining up to use for workout. It’s also the first choice for a home exercise machine.
What makes this low impact equipment so viral? Can an elliptical trainer help you lose weight? Continue reading this article to learn its benefits and make a decision if elliptical is for you.
Is Elliptical Trainer Effective at Losing Weight?
You can use a formula to compute the number of calories you can burn on the elliptical trainer for half an hour of exercise. To calculate, check your weight first. Get your weight and multiply it by 2.6. The product is the estimated number of calories that can burn while working out. It’s best to go for these estimates. Every person has its level of exercise strength, and it’s impossible to know the right number of calories to burn during this kind of workout routine.
But if you think the standard every day caloric consumption for an active 26-year-old lady is 2,600 calories (to keep their regular weight), then getting rid of about 650 calories while doing a 1-hour workout isn’t that bad. You can then add the steps done and any other actions, using elliptical trainers for losing weight is a great option.
3 Simple Workout Routines for Elliptical Weight Loss
Elliptical machines offer various types of exercises that can help you lose weight and improve your overall health.
1. High-intensity interval workout
HIIT includes minimal growths of healthy exercise with an extended period of lower endurance and slower speed. You might want to height your incline and speed for 20–30 seconds and decelerate for 60–90 seconds and repeat.
Make sure to make time for yourself to rest, or you will tire yourself out immediately. This type of exercise proved to eliminate more calories quickly.
With the first few workouts, you want to get familiar with the machine by exploring its essential steps. Always work with a certified personal coach (if available) to complete your first few elliptical sessions. This will make sure that you’re using the right methods and prevent yourself from injuries.
2. Forwards and Backwards
With this exercise, you are changing between forward-moving actions and backward-moving. These movements are for the same amount of time or one lengthier than the other during the exercise session. You can collect your total time amount or include other changes to your training for a significant challenge.
3. Slope Challenge
This workout includes increasing the slope on the elliptical trainer to add more endurance to the motions. Start slowly and progressively increase your time amount at a particular hill before going for a higher level. This can be mixed with forwards and backward movements.
Why Use an Elliptical Trainer?
1. Burn more calories
Use an elliptical if you want to get rid of the excess calories in the body in a short amount of time. No matter how heavy you are, this cardio equipment can eliminate about 270 – 400 caloric content in just half an hour. The lower portion of the scope portrays a person who is 125 pounds, and the higher section is for a person who is 185 pounds.
Eliminating more calorie content than you eat effectively helps your weight loss journey. Therefore, to improve burning calories, try heightening the strength of your training.
2. Burn excess fat
Because of its high performance as a calorie burner, elliptical helps you reduce your body fat and build muscles in a shorter period, mainly if you prioritize on the interval work. To take advantage of its fat burning capability, you need to focus on the strength of your training.
Consider adding interval workout to your elliptical training with a 2 to 1 proportion: 30 seconds of high-intensity work, followed by 15 seconds of recuperation, or 60 seconds of high-intensity work, and supported by 30 seconds of recovery. Don’t stop moving your feet while you are in the recuperation periods. Keep on pushing the pedals, but at a slower speed.
3. Improve your strength and cardiovascular capacity
Aerobic workout, which is also called cardio, is a significant part of a balanced training routine. In this workout, your heart and lungs must work harder to give your muscles more blood and oxygen.
The elliptical trainer provides you excellent aerobic workouts that improve your heart, muscles, and lungs. In turn, it helps boost your stamina and strength.
With the trainer, you can do both HIIT workout and steady-state cardiovascular training.
4. Upper and the lower body training
An elliptical with arm handles are among the few cardiovascular pieces of equipment that offer you both higher and lower body training. The essential to using the upper-body rewards is to dispense your mass and the endurance evenly. Push your arms with the speed as you move your limbs.
When executed rightly, the elliptical machine targets your chest, core muscles, biceps, leg muscles, triceps, back, biceps, glutes, and quads.
5. Less pressure on your muscles and joints
Elliptical came to the health and fitness world in 1990, and runners with aching muscles and strain injuries loved training their cardio system while alleviating some joint stress.
Your hips, knees, ankles, and other muscles get beat up when running or performing other strenuous cardiovascular workouts. Because your feet never leave the pedals with the machine, it provides a low-impact cardio workout.
A 2014 study showed that elliptical workout could effectively help lose weight compared to jogging, running, and other similar exercises. Elliptical machines allow you to continue training without the abrasion that associates with a high-impact workout.
6. Improve balance
This type of exercise helps you build your bones, but in case you didn’t know yet, it improves your balance. If you stand straight and release the elliptical handles, you can aim for your core muscles and improve your balance.
Make sure the endurance and slope are at a manageable level so you can use the machine with more safety with no handles.
7. Target certain hamstring
You have the power to change the strength and slope of the pedals of the machine. Do this by aiming for the various muscles in the lower part of the body, such as hamstrings, quads, glutes, and shin.
By heightening the slope, you can feel the backside of lower extremities throbbing. If you modify the pedals down, you feel your quadriceps exerting more effort. Also, since the foot pedals are working in reverse, you can change your stride control and concentrate more on the leg muscles and glutes.
8. Enjoy different choices
Elliptical trainers offer a wide range of pre-programmed workout routines that imitate internal training, hill climbing, and other personalized options that help do the exercise you want.
9.Learn fast
Learning quickly on how to use elliptical is among the main perks of the machine. While the understanding process with the equipment is easy, you still need to consult with your coach for assistance if it’s your first time. They provide tips and guidelines on operating it rightly and the workout types you think useful and beneficial for your health.
It is vital to do the pedals when starting with the elliptical. Once you are familiar with the motions of the equipment, then you can have arm handles.
10. Keep physical health after an injury
If you’re recovering from pain and can’t join in the regular activities, exercising on the machine can be an ideal way to improve or keep your physical fitness. It’s low-impact training that puts more stress on your muscles and joints than the high-impact exercises, such as jogging, running, or jumping.
Exercising on the machine after your fracture help reestablishes the whole range of movement. Also, it can build your joints and muscles, as well as remove the pressure of the damaged part of the body.
Disadvantages
Nothing is perfect in this world, and that includes the health industry. With all the advantages of using elliptical trainers, there are still some disadvantages that you must remember.
According to John M. Martinez, MD, a major care sports medicine doctor at the Pain Free Running, “The movement on the trainer is a little complex than sprinting or walking; hence the core muscles and legs are spurred differently.” “The variation in muscle revitalization causes pain if the build does not adjust to the different muscle firing system and motion patterns.”
He mentions that because it’s lower impact trainer, you will have lesser leg strength improvements as less pressure is on the limbs. Also, he claims that you will see less bone density development, unlike when you’re running or lifting weights. This is because increased pressures or shock are likely to strengthen the bone mass of the lower limbs.
Conclusion
Incorporating an elliptical trainer in your exercise routine helps boost your spirit, muscles, and lungs, strengthening stamina, encouraging stability, and eliminating more calories. It is also ideal for people dealing with joint problems or wants to improve or keep their fitness even after an injury.
Although elliptical is a low-impact machine and an excellent choice for nearly all fitness levels, it’s still essential to add other workouts in your system, especially if you’re seeking to improve your limbs and set bone thickness. Moreover, this is very important to both runners and aggressive athletes.
