Implementing physical activity into your daily lifestyle is an easy way to help improve your overall health and wellness. There are so many different types of machines and equipment you can easily start incorporating into your daily routine.
From focusing on strength and endurance to helping you lose weight, machines like ellipticals can beneficially help condition your body. Whether you are interested in learning more or whether you are already deep into your fitness excursion, the elliptical is a great way to aid in your weight loss journey with its variety of benefits.
Health Benefits Of An Elliptical Machine
Elliptical machines offer quite a few health benefits, engaging your whole body in an exceptional workout down to your core. Regardless of your experience, elliptical machines are simple to use and can be appreciated by anyone. Regularly exercising can help improve your mental and physical health. Here are some health benefits you can get from using an elliptical machine:
Full Body Workout
Unlike most exercise machines, which usually target one muscle group or a specific area, Elliptical machines have the benefit of impacting your upper body and lower body muscles. The elliptical machine is equipped with mobile arm handles to utilize in forward or reverse motion during your workout.
This feature helps engage your upper body muscles, such as your biceps, triceps, shoulders, and chest, for example. The lower pedals can also be used in forward or reverse motions, which helps contract muscles such as your quadriceps, gluteus maximus, and hamstrings.
There are different variations of elliptical machines, such as the StreetStrider, that can help engage additional muscle groups. Unlike most elliptical machines, the StreetStrider is unique in the way that it is not stationary. This outdoor elliptical allows you to use your body by leaning to help steer the machine. This activates and engages your inner core muscles on top of the upper body and lower body workout already implemented in the StreetStrider elliptical machine.
Low Joint Impact
Elliptical machines offer the advantage of providing a great aerobic workout without putting too much pressure on your joints. The elliptical machine provides a platform for your feet as you mimic the jogging motion, which helps to reduce the stress placed on your joints. This low impact feature helps protect your hips, knees, and back from the stress it would be bearing from other aerobic exercises, like running on pavement, for example.
Cardiovascular Training
With any good workout, your heart should be pumping more blood than normal to provide better circulation throughout your body. Cardiovascular training helps to condition and strengthen your body through endurance and persistence. As your heart is working harder to provide more oxygen to the muscles that are working, your lungs will start to compensate by breathing a little harder and faster than normal. As the elliptical machine is known to provide cardiovascular training, it helps maintain strong and healthy improvement in your respiratory system.
Weight Loss
An elliptical machine is a great way to help you lose weight and tone up your body. It has high fat and calorie burning ability, which is essential when trying to shed some weight. But of course, with any weight loss journey, what you put in is what you get out. Determination and consistency can help in providing a beneficial outcome in using an elliptical machine.
If you appreciate the previously mentioned benefits and want to lose more calories fast, the StreetStrider has additional features that can help. Because it’s mobile, your body is working more to get the machine to move versus a stationary elliptical. It has the potential to help you in losing 50% more calories than a bicycle due to its weight-bearing feature and can help you lose 15% more calories than a stationary elliptical. It’s also easier to keep up with your exercise routine when you're outdoors moving and having fun.
Elliptical Tips To Help Shed More Weight
Implementing an elliptical machine into your workout routine is a great way to help burn some calories. However, there are some tips and tricks that can help shed some extra calories for an even better workout. Before going on, it is important to know and understand how your body responds while you are exercising.
The food and beverages you consume are metabolized through a complex biochemical process, converting those calories into energy. The calories consumed are usually provided by the amount of carbohydrates, fat, or protein. Typically, one gram of carbohydrate and one gram of protein contains four calories as fat contains close to nine calories per gram.
Needless to say, foods high in fat are usually high in calories, which is why it takes more work and effort to burn off fat. Generally speaking, during a moderate activity with consistent intensity, your body will utilize carbohydrate sources within the first 20 minutes of your workout. After those 20 minutes is when your body will then start using its fat supply as energy. With this fact in mind, let’s dive into some tips and tricks that can help get the most from your workout.
Monitor Your heart rate
Monitoring your heart rate is a good way to keep track of the calories you are burning during your workout. Typically, when you are at roughly 70 percent of your maximum heart rate, your body is going to burn more of your calories from fat than carbohydrates.
If that doesn’t motivate you enough, the closer you get to your maximum heart rate, there is a higher chance that your body will be continuing to burn calories even after your workout. So, with this in mind, striving to work harder to increase your heart rate can help you get the most out of your workout!
Check Out Your Form
As simple and easy that the elliptical machine is to use, it is very important to make sure you are maintaining a proper form throughout your workout. A common mistake that people tend to make has to do with their posture.
Maintaining proper form is important as it helps to activate a broad range of muscle groups, which affects both muscle strengthening and the amount of calories burned. The more muscles you activate, the more calories that are expected to burn. Here are some points to keep in mind the next time you are on the elliptical.
- Keep you back straight and avoid slouching over the machine.
- Keep your feet flat on the pedals. Most people tend to put more pressure on their toes, elevating their heels. This can target just your calf muscles during your workout, when ideally, your quadriceps, hamstrings, and gluteus maximus should be activated.
- Keep a light grip on the handles. Gripping the handles too tightly can prevent your body from getting all the benefits from the elliptical machine.
Incorporate Intervals
Consider incorporating interval training during your workout. Intervals consist of alternating between high intensity and low-intensity training. For example, give it your all on the elliptical machine every 30 seconds, resting in between with a lower intensity pedaling for 15 seconds. Switching up your activity during your exercise makes your body work harder within the intervals. Having a shorter lower intensity and a longer high-intensity interval prevents your body from recovering 100%. Through this technique, your body will continue to burn calories hours after you finish your workout. Another way to incorporate intervals into your workout is to change the resistance levels. This will help strengthen your muscles and work them harder, which helps your body burn more calories at rest.
Utilize The Handles
Some people tend to swing their arms freely or only use the handles as a crutch. Take advantage of the wide range of motion that the handles provide. This activates more muscle groups, including your back, shoulders, chest, biceps, and triceps. As you can probably guess why this is beneficial, the more muscle groups you activate during your workout increases the potential areas to burn off those calories.
How Much Exercise Should You Be Doing On An Elliptical Machine
Everyone is different and can respond to exercise in different ways. Generally speaking, it is recommended for an average person to maintain 30 minutes of physical activity five days out of the week.
From a different perspective, it is also recommended for an average person to walk 12 miles a week to help improve your health and wellness. Using these guidelines can help you determine how much more time you want to set aside for your workouts, depending on your personal health and weight loss goals.
Conclusion
In summary, the elliptical machine is a great option when you are looking for some effective exercise. The elliptical is easy on your joints, which will help your body out in the long run. As one of the main takeaways, we have learned that the more muscle groups you activate and the more you work your muscles, the more calories you will burn during and after your workout. This is a great benefit from using an elliptical machine as it promotes a full-body workout, activating numerous muscle groups throughout the body.
With Street Strider‘s mobile feature, you can attain all the benefits from an elliptical machine while also enjoying a nice, scenic view of the outdoors during your ride.
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