For overall health and well being being regularly active in terms of physical status is substantial. People have different body goals such as staying fit, building muscles, and losing weight.
There are several natural ways, remedies, and of course exercises, especially with the aid of certain machines to fulfill specific body goals.
An Elliptical is a machine or trainer used in ways such as stair climb walk or running without the headache of having pain in the joints.
This decreases the chances for injuries provides more effective results and is preferred by people with slight injuries to get back on track as well.
One of the highly raised questions regarding elliptical machines is whether it is effective for weight loss. In this article, we’ll find the answer in brief.
What are Elliptical machines?
Before jumping to any conclusions let’s take a look at what elliptical machines are. In simple terms, Elliptical machines are stationary exercise machines used to do cardio exercises such as stair climb, walking, and running.
This reduces the pressure and impact on one’s joints and body and therefore chances for injuries. For this reason, people with physical difficulties or someone recovering from injuries and a person who would like to avoid any negative result opt for elliptical trainers.
It has been available in the market since the 1990s and has been a great machine for cardiovascular exercise since. The elliptical machines are of several types and the intensity depends on specific settings and durations benefitting different body goals,
Calorie Burning
Any effective physical activity even with the use of machines as well as a great cardiovascular workout. These cardio exercises or sessions can aid in weight loss by burning calories.
Several factors like the intensity of each workout and the duration along with weight are the most important to determine how many calories you burn and how much weight you could lose.
Low-impact Exercise
Most of the elliptical machine’s motion lowers the impact on joints while working out compared to regular activities like running.
The smooth gliding movements help individuals with joint issues and also offer a great as well as effective workout session.
Complete Body Workout
These machines and their movements for sure engage several muscle groups such as the legs, arms, core, and glutes.
This experience while working out spends sufficient calories and tones muscles making an elliptical machine workout a multi-purpose session.
Adjustable Intensity
The machines come with several features and options hence they could be adjusted for multiple resistance levels, and incline levels giving you a more challenging workout with increased calorie burns and pushing your limits.
Cardiovascular Benefits
As mentioned earlier an elliptical machine is an effective option for cardio exercise and regular sessions at the right amount of time guarantee to improve cardiovascular health by increasing heart rate and enhancing endurance in the process adding more benefits to overall fitness levels.
It’s Convenient and offers Consistency
The fact that it could be used indoors like your room increases its accessibility and comfortability to use. This makes it easier for consistent sessions to contribute to your weight loss goals and fitness goals.
This could be great when you’re in a condition where it is advised to not get out and when you cannot visit the gym.
A mix of both Resistance and Cardio
The workout on an elliptical machine combines both cardiovascular exercises(Cardio) and Resistance training offering double benefits of building muscles and burning calories meeting your goals such as muscle building, fitness, and weight loss.
Increases Stamina
The more you incorporate elliptical machines and gradually increase the duration, intensity levels, or frequency, its claimed that it will increase stamina making you less exhausted even after your personal highest.
One disadvantage to the elliptical machine is that the exercises are repetitive and lack variety making it boring and drying out your motivation to continue, do practice slight warmups and cool downs before and after each session to make it more effective and reduce injuries.
Also, try out a few other exercises to make it an effective and complete body session. Despite also offering a range of body benefits elliptical machines target mostly the lower muscles and are more of a cardio hence for other body goals you might need the assistance of another machine or exercise.
Compared to outdoor and indoor running as well as cycling has its benefits and offers things differently from elliptical machines hence compare to find out what suits you the best.
Effective Elliptical workout for weight loss
Since you might be aware of the benefits let’s take a look at a few of the most effective exercises you can do on an elliptical machine to lose weight. These methods include:
- Interval Training: Switch between high-intensity and Lower-intensity recovery periods to maximize calorie burn and metabolic rate.
- Resistance Variation: Tune the resistance levels periodically between the workout sessions to challenge different groups of muscles to prevent stints without large changes.
- Incorporate Forward And Reverse Movements: Not just doing right with forward movement of exercises but also incorporating reverse pedal motions to engage different muscle groups and prevent workout plateau.
- Consistency And Duration: Remember consistency is the key, use the elliptical machine regularly at a specific but sufficient duration of at least 30 minutes and gradually increase duration or frequency for optimal weight loss benefits.
Conclusion
In summary, the elliptical machine can be an effective tool for several body or fitness goals as well as enhance and promote overall physical health and well-being.
It ranges from several benefits from burning calories to improving heart health, building muscle or fitness, and offering a full body workout.
When it comes to weight loss several factors such as intensity levels and the duration of workouts ensure effective results.
However losing weight also includes a healthy lifestyle with a good diet, sleep, and mental health.
Elliptical machines are just part of the process and when combined with the given practices with the right training for your specific goals can significantly show results for weight loss and other fitness goals promoting or enhancing overall health and well-being.
References:
- Kaplan Y, et al. (2014). Referent body weight values in over ground walking, over ground jogging, treadmill jogging, and elliptical exercise. DOI:
https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2013.09.004 - Green J.M., Crews T.R., Pritchett R.C., Mathfield C., Hall L. (2004) Heart rate and ratings of perceived exertion during treadmill and elliptical exercise training. Perceptual and Motor Skills 98, 340-348 –
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15058894/
