If it's been years since you've hit the gym, an excellent stationary exercise machine to make use of would be the elliptical. In fact, it is the ideal machine to advance your way into hardcore cardio exercise.
First off, the elliptical machine doesn’t place as much pressure on your joints as a treadmill does, but you still get all the benefits of a full body workout. Don’t forget about the fact that an elliptical works out your arms as well as your legs, which is something a treadmill cannot achieve.
For the most part, professional trainers consider the elliptical machine to be a low impact workout that’s effective towards warming up your body for a more intensive workout session.
If you use an elliptical machine correctly, you can target specific muscle groups. This will take practice, but we are here to help guide you on your journey to staying fit.
You should keep on reading to find out which elliptical workout routine best caters to your body's needs.
Beginners can’t go as hardcore as those who have been going to the gym once or every day of the week. This means 20 minutes on the elliptical machine should be enough to achieve an adequate full body workout.
People usually assume that you can't adequately target your core on an elliptical machine because you have to use both your arms and legs simultaneously. What if we told you that is not true.
You don’t have to utilize the handles aspect of an elliptical machine. In fact, many personal trainers advise those who have joint problems to hop on the elliptical machine when it comes to developing a strong core.
By only using your legs to propel yourself forward, you engage your core since you have to rely on your abdominal area to center yourself. As a side note, whenever the RPE exceeds the level five, you’ll want to incorporate the handles since it’ll be difficult for you to keep your balance.
For those who prefer an explosive workout session will find that a High-Intensity Interval Training workout, otherwise known as a HIIT workout, is the best elliptical workout possible. You'll basically be switching high-intensity sprints to low-intensity ones within a 30-second time span.
The trick to perfecting your elliptical HIIT workout lies in your warm-up period. During your warm-up, you need to find the ideal resistance and incline that pushes your body to a comfortable level without causing any damage to your muscles.
This will take several tries, but once you get it right, you'll only be performing HIIT workouts.
Elliptical workouts are to be taken seriously since you can do so much more on an elliptical machine then you can get done on any other exercise machine. There are many more elliptical machine routines you can follow, but you can use the three we have provided above as inspiration.
Whether you're a beginner or trying to find something new to incorporate into your exercise regime, we can all agree that using an elliptical machine is always a good idea.
If you happen to have more questions or comments regarding elliptical workouts, it would be wise to leave them below. We will make sure to answer them all.
Resources:
Self
LiveStrong