Whether at the gym or during a commercial at home, chances are you’ve seen an elliptical trainers and heard it can help with weight loss. You’ve likely wondered if it’s too good to be true and, if not, how good they really are.
Is it something you should add to your gym rotation (or invest in for your home gym)? In this article, we’ll take a quick look at elliptical weight loss so you can determine if it’s the right workout machine for you.
Benefits of Using an Elliptical Trainers
There are several benefits to using an elliptical machine, some of which are listed below:
1. It’s easier on your joints: High-impact cardio can wreak havoc on your joints. If you deal with joint pain but still want to benefit from using a cardio machine, an elliptical will help. It’s also great post-injury as a low-impact cardio workout.
2. It burns body fat: Since an elliptical burns more calories than other cardio machines (stationary bikes, for instance), you can lose body fat quickly. It’s an upper and lower body workout, which is part of the reason it’s so effective.
3. It boosts your stamina: Because cardio machines like ellipticals make your lungs and heart work harder to flood your muscles with blood and oxygen, they strengthen your heart, lungs, and muscles – boosting your overall endurance.
A Basic Elliptical Workout Plan
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) has become very popular due to how well it works. Thankfully, you don’t need to push your joints to the max to do it – you can use an elliptical!
Here’s a quick 20-minute beginner workout:
1. Warm up for five minutes
– Keep your heart rate at 50-60%
2. Go as fast as you can for 30 seconds
– Push yourself hard for half a minute
3. Slow it down for 1 minute 30 seconds
– Bring the pace back to your warmup pace
– Take the full 90 seconds before you go again
4. Repeat this pattern 9 more times
– Ten repetitions altogether
5. Cool down
– Spend 5 minutes going slow
– Let your breathing return to normal
6. Of course, you can do more muscle-specific workouts on the elliptical. Muscles worked should include:
– Upper body
– Core
– Quads
– Glutes
What’s the Best Way to Burn Fat?
If you want the best workouts for belly fat, you can’t go wrong with interval training. HIIT workouts allow you to see more progress in a shorter time. You can also try interval work with a 2-to-1 ratio (for recovery vs. intense workouts) on an elliptical.
Shape your body according to the workout goals that are most important to you. Your fitness goals are in your hands!
Tracking Calories Burned on Elliptical
If you want to track your elliptical weight loss, you may be interested to know that there are handy online elliptical calorie calculators. This takes the guesswork out of knowing whether you can have that piece of peanut butter chocolate cake as your post-workout meal or need to choose something safer!
For more awesome fitness tips, check out our latest blog, “ Yoga Blocks Workout Strengthen”!