Are you looking out for a simple yet effective workout to get into shape? Then you must’ve heard about elliptical trainers. In a very short period of time, elliptical trainers have made their way into the gyms and home based workout setups. It’s easy on joints but strict on fats and extra calories which makes it a favorite workout machine for the majority. In this article, we will tell you how to use the elliptical trainer and what kind of workouts you can perform on it. Let’s go.
What is an elliptical trainer?
An elliptical trainer is a cardio machine found in almost every gym. It is an effective machine that works out its way to workout the whole body muscles. It works like a bicycle, as it has two pedals which move in a cycling motion. The two handles on each side provide support and also act as sensors for monitoring heart rate.
Benefits of working out on Elliptical
As mentioned previously, it’s a cardio machine so it majorly focuses on improving a person’s cardiovascular health. But there are some other excellent benefits as well that are listed below:
- Its ability to boost the stamina and cardio capacity tops the list
- The way it is performed, it burns a lot of calories and fat
- Though it gives the benefits of high-intensity workouts, it does not put much stress on your joints
- Works muscles of upper body as well as lower body’s
- With variation in the elliptical trainer, specific leg muscles can be targeted
- Improves the balance and stability
- A lot of programmed options to choose from according to your goals and physical fitness
- It’s easy to learn and use on the daily basis
How to perform a basic elliptical workout?
The thumbs rule is to start any workout after warming up properly. For using an elliptical, after warming up, you need to use it at low intensity at start and then you can gradually speed up. The controls on the machine might vary from model to model. You can get guidance about it from the trainer in your gym. After knowing the basics, it’s time to get elliptical:
Step 1: Step on the idle machine and start pedalling in the forward direction to turn the monitor on.
Step 2: On the monitor screen, you’ll observe that instructions will be displayed. In those options, you can either choose pre-set workout programs or can also set your workout plan manually.
Step 3: The intensity of workout can be increased or decreased by increasing or decreasing the pedalling resistance during workout by employing up and down buttons. The handles of the elliptical trainer have sensors which monitor your heart rate to calculate the workout intensity.
Step 4: When you’ve finished your workout, stop the workout on the monitor and wait for the elliptical to completely stop. Step down and take a rest before doing any other workout.
Intense Elliptical Workout Variations
Though basic elliptical workout can also work out your extra body fat and can strengthen muscles. But to get immense benefits from the elliptical trainer workouts, you should definitely try these variations.
1. HIIT Style elliptical workout
The principle behind this workout is to work for different intervals of high intensity and then lowering down the intensity and then going high again. Usually the basic elliptical workout follows the ratio of 1:1 for workout and rest. But due to the intensity of this workout, the rest ratio has been doubled up as compared to the workout time. To perform this workout, warm up for like 5 minutes and then with increased resistance perform the high intensity movements for straight 15 minutes. Then slowly end the workout and cool down for 5 minutes.
2. Hill climbing elliptical workout
For this workout you need to keep increasing the incline level of the elliptical trainer at short intervals. You should feel like you are climbing a hill. You need to keep switching the levels of both resistance and incline to create the maximum difficulty level. Start this workout with a 5 minutes warm-up and slowly increase the resistance and incline in between the intervals of 20 minutes. End your workout by slowing the pace and cooling down, in 5 minutes, keeping resistance and incline at zero.
3. Total body blast
This workout, as the name suggests, is dedicated to workout the muscles of upper body and lower body, in the intervals. First, you’ll start with pushing your upper body with your arms for 10 minutes. Then you’ll change the program to intensify the workout for your lower body. In this session, you’ll push your body through your legs and feet. You can add a high level of incline to intensify this level. Perform this lower body workout for 10 minutes. After this, try pushing both your upper and lower body at a time-and that will be your total body blast by an elliptical trainer. This is one of the most challenging elliptical workouts, but has the maximum benefits as well.
Conclusion
Elliptical trainers are a good choice for you to train your muscles while improving your heart’s health and boosting your metabolism. And as it goes soft on the joints, the people with joint injuries or joint problems can easily add this workout to their fitness routine. Though it’s a great choice for anyone, if you are looking to strengthen each and every muscle you need to couple elliptical workouts with other workout programs as well.
I look up to fitness as a lifestyle and love to pen down about it. I have 2 years of experience in content writing and I am here to share my research and knowledge on health and fitness.
