Many might think that ellipticals are boring and ineffective. It might be an easy and mindless exercise, but doing workout on an elliptical trainer can help you burn those extra fats in your body especially if you increase your incline and vary your speed. It can be a great start for beginners since it is a low impact workout. It is the perfect choice, especially if you are looking for a workout that needs less stress on your joints while still conditioning your heart and lower body.
A lot of people might not be aware that doing ellipticals has a lot of science-backed benefits that are beneficial for the body. It can increase your heart rate than doing treadmills and it can also improve your fitness just as efficiently as doing a Stairmaster or treadmill. Since doing this kind of workout has lesser impact, it is much easier on the hips and your knees and it’s also a weight bearing which is very important in building strong muscles, bones, and connective tissues. It can be a great bonus if your machine has arm handles since your entire body can burn more calories while still getting a little more workout for your arms. It is important to know the right way to use the elliptical, so you can get most of your workout. With the proper form and plan of attack, you can indeed get a true killer workout on this machine.
There are a lot of ways to maximize your workouts on the elliptical. Below are some tips and tricks you can do to benefit from losing calories using the elliptical.
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Always do the Proper Form when using Elliptical
It is important to keep a proper form while doing your workout in an elliptical. You will reap a lot of benefits from your workout sessions if you practice doing proper form. Make sure you stand tall and practice proper posture. Your head must be over your shoulders and your shoulders must be over your hips. One of the targets of doing the elliptical workout is your upper body. To get the most out of your workout, you do not only hold the handles, but you must push and pull it. Make sure you do not grab the handlebars too tight because it can fatigue your shoulders and forearms and you might also end up leaning on the machine which is a very common mistake. This can reduce the fat-burning and strengthening effect of your overall workout. It can also cause strain from your shoulders and back if you repeatedly do this. It is important to watch your speed as you exercise. You may increase your RPMs or revolutions per minute, so you can up the intensity. But take note that too much speed can also get you into trouble. Excessive speed such as leaning can cheat your legs out of some benefits in strengthening your muscles. It may also reduce the calories that you burn from your workout. If you notice that you are bouncing, or your feet come off the pedals, you need to slow down.
Do High-Intensity Short Interval workouts
Most elliptical machines have a short interval program. If your machine doesn’t have one, you can use the manual mode and just control the resistance. You need to set the incline at moderate to low. Also adjust your resistance in order to change the intensity.
Do a three-minute warm-up. You can simply follow the interval program on your machine. This warm up usually last from 30 seconds to two minutes. If you are doing it manually, you need to increase the resistance and feel an effort of like an eight or nine which should last for one to two minutes. One tip is to push and pull on the arm handles as this will help you increase your RPMs.
You then reduce the intensity and slow down your RPMs for a rest period which is equal to the length of the hard interval. You should be doing an exertion of about two to three during this time of your workout.
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Pedal backwards during every third hard interval.
You need to repeat these intervals until you reach a total of 27 minutes of workout time. Cool down for three to five minutes.
Hill Climber
Hill climber workout is one of the most effective workouts using ellipticals. There are usually hill programs in every elliptical machine and in this program, you would need to slowly increase your resistance and incline height to two to five minutes. Some machines may offer up to six hill repeats on every workout.
There is also a warm up of three to five minutes at the beginning of this workout. After this, do the first hill and take note of the total time. For the rest of the intervals, you need to divide the hills into two and do the following:
- In the first half, keep your hands in the middle of the arm handles. This will target your lower back muscles.
- During the second half, grab the top of the arm handles and put a lot of effort in pushing and pulling the handles. You need to have an effort level of at least an eight by the end of this interval. This can be really tough, especially in the end. You can lean forward and then press down hard while getting up over the hill.
Continue doing the workout until you reach at least 40 minutes of the entire workout time. After that, you can cool down for five minutes.
There is never an excuse for doing a great workout. Doing ellipticals are just one of the many ways you can do in your everyday routine. The benefits of working out are far more than getting your bikini body or losing those excess fats. Doing exercise benefits your whole body from improving your sleep quality to giving you a great energy level, and even improving your memory. From making you more fulfilled and happier to helping you live a longer life; regular workout is indeed a key to having a healthy and balanced lifestyle.