What is An Elliptical Trainer?

An elliptical trainer is a stationary workout machine that is designed to stimulate walking, running or climbing stairs without putting pressure on the joints and thus avoiding injuries. It is a favorite cardio machine found in most gyms, and it provides an effective cardiovascular exercise regime that helps burn calories and enhance aerobic capacity. If you work in a busy environment the whole day, you may find going to the gym hard – even with gyms that open 24 hours. And some people get to feel uncomfortable while working in front of others and prefer to exercise in seclusion. So, an elliptical trainer is the ideal machine that gives you freedom to exercise in the privacy of your home. Fitness To Go website offers more information on the same.

Understanding an elliptical trainer

Health Benefits

An elliptical machine is designed to apply pressure and grant you enormous body benefits. While helping you exert yourself to the level of drawing sweat, it works out your entire body and is the ultimate fit for cardiovascular health. Like any other muscle in your body, your heart responds to sustained levels of stress by getting stronger. To get the best health benefits, researchers recommend that you should do at least 160 minutes of moderate or 80 minutes of vigorous cardiovascular exercises every week, and If you have hip, knee or other joint problems, the natural motions found on an elliptical machine are soft and don’t put excessive pressure on your knees.

Highly customized

Modern elliptical trainers come with personal trainer designs and heart rate monitoring gadgets that help you control your exercise intensity. Designed with swinging and stationary handlebars, and unlike treadmills, which force you to keep up with them, elliptical machines come with adjustable footings that enable you to target specific muscles rather than perform a full-body workout when you want. This is proof of how flexible these machines can get.

Versatility

Another huge plus is their versatility which gives you freedom to exercise at your pace, since you’re the driving force and develop an exercise routine that works for you whether you’re a newbie or seasoned trainer.
How do They Work?

How an elliptical trainer works

Most elliptical machines ape the running or walking movement but without the impact. While the hands grab the adjustable bars and allow you to turn a cardiovascular exercise into a full body workout. If you stay on an elliptical trainer for 30 minutes, you’ll expect to burn 180 to 280 calories on average, depending on the intensity of the exercise. A good elliptical trainer is sturdy and easy to use and is supposed to align with your walking or running motion.

Elliptical trainers exercise your hamstrings, quads, glutes and to a lesser degree your calves. If the machine has an adjustable incline ramp, you can enhance the calf workout by adjusting the slope to a deliberately difficult and steep angle. You can also push or pull the moving handlebars for your upper body workouts.

Best time to buy an elliptical trainer

If you’re considering buying an elliptical trainer and working out in-house, then January is the best time. This is the period well-fed consumers look to compensate on their health-based New Year’s resolutions.