Elliptical Machines
An elliptical machine provides a cardio workout that can improve your fitness regimen. An elliptical is considered a low-impact activity and is easier on your joints than other exercise equipment while still offering you an excellent cardio workout. Maintaining a fitness and exercise regimen is important for a healthy lifestyle, and an elliptical trainer can help you achieve your health goals.
What is a cross-trainer?
An elliptical can also be referred to as a cross trainer. They are machines that simulate walking or running without causing pressure on your joints. This helps reduce the risk of injury and pain in your joints. An elliptical machine should be able to measure your heart rate and have programs that work like it is your own personal trainer to keep your exercise and fitness routine on track. A cross-trainer machine can be added to any fitness or exercise routine to help keep your body healthy and fit.
What are the benefits of an elliptical?
You can achieve cardio training on many kinds of machines. However, there are some advantages to using an elliptical machine. Here are some of those benefits:
- An elliptical trainer can give you an aerobic workout with less stress on your hips, back, and knees than other types of aerobic exercise might.
- Most ellipticals have moveable arms or poles that allow you to exercise both your legs and arms at the same time, which busy people appreciate.
- An elliptical machine can often move in reverse, allowing you to work your muscles in different motions for a more complete fitness plan.
What features should be evaluated on an elliptical?
- Comfort: Be sure that you feel comfortable using the elliptical machine you’re considering. You should be able to stand up straight when moving the handles. In general, you should feel comfortable, not awkward, when using all parts of the elliptical trainer.
- Features: Having a heart rate monitor can be an important feature for some people. Health tracking, device connection capability, and built-in workouts may be important factors to consider when choosing your ideal elliptical trainer if you tend to get bored with exercise machines. Some even have built-in programs that work like your own personal trainer.
- Adjustability: Most elliptical trainers should be able to adjust to your overall size and needs. People have different strides, so an elliptical model should come with an adjustable stride feature on its pedals. Many have an incline option to increase your resistance and the intensity of your workout. Make sure that you measure the space that you have for the elliptical machine, remembering that the pedals often extend past the footprint of the elliptical itself.
- Intensity: Ellipticals offer variable resistance to help with any fitness level. The lowest level should make it easy to work the pedals, and the most challenging level should be difficult at least 75% of the time. If you are interested in varying the incline of your workout, be sure that your elliptical machine offers an adjustable incline.