For the Love of the Elliptical
Anyone familiar with the elliptical machine at the gym knows that it is one of the best machines around. There’s often a line just to use the elliptical machines, and most gyms have increased the number of elliptical machines available to meet demand. There are now rows and rows of the machine available now, and it is for good reason.
Elliptical machines gained their popularity for being a good workout machine by giving you a workout for your whole body, for burning more calories than running alone, and having a shorter recovery time because of their low impact on joints.
Elliptical machines are well-known for their results. The low-impact cardio results in quick results when it comes to weight loss. That feature alone has people flocking back to them all year long. The only drawback that the elliptical presents is that, even when it’s gorgeous outside, you have to be inside to use it. When runners want to get off the treadmill and head outdoors, it’s no problem to move the party. Cyclists can easily switch from the stationary bike to their traditional bikes and see the world. For people who prefer the benefits of the elliptical, it is exciting to learn that there is now an outdoor option for them too. This outdoor option is an outdoor elliptical bike.
What Is an Outdoor Elliptical Bike?
Outdoor elliptical bikes are an innovative melding of the low-impact exercise from an elliptical and the ability to travel and get outside of a classic bicycle. The design combines the features of the elliptical trainer that engages the upper and lower body and the core with the functionality and freedom of traveling outdoors. It works your body in full-body exercise the way jogging does, but it takes the pressure off of your body to reduce the risk of injury and joint pain.
An outdoor elliptical bike is also very safe. It travels along in the same ways as a bicycle, but the posturing and design allow for more visibility and less risk of an accident. So, it offers the same functionality as traditional forms of commuting transportation.
If the outdoor elliptical bike is new to you. You may wonder what the benefits of the outdoor elliptical bike are. What makes the outdoor elliptical special? Is it right for you? Is it safe? Is it just like a bike? These are normal questions, and you really need to know more about the outdoor elliptical bike to answer them for yourself. Here are some of the benefits of the outdoor elliptical bike to consider.
11 Benefits of the Outdoor Elliptical Bike
1. Full Body Workout
When you make time for a workout, you want to accomplish the most you can with the time you have. Full-body workouts are the best ways to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Outdoor elliptical bikes, like the elliptical itself, provide a full-body workout. It targets the upper body, the lower body, and the core.
The pushing and pulling movement on the handles provides a workout of the biceps, triceps, chest, shoulders, and back muscles. You don’t get that upper body attention with a bicycle. The lower body is worked as it engages the quadriceps, the hamstrings, and the gluteal muscles. The elliptical works differently than other lower body engaging workouts. The core is addressed through the lean-to-steer engagement required to steer the outdoor elliptical bikes. As anyone who knows about exercise will tell you, a strong core is the key to progress.
2. Low Joint Impact
The outdoor elliptical bike is a low-impact cardio workout. Low-impact here refers to the impact it has on your joints, but it can still have a high impact on your fitness goals. The outdoor elliptical bike has you in a natural jogging motion with your legs. However, because you are on the bike, you aren’t experiencing any of the jarring impact of repetitively smacking pavement like you get from running. This relieves the joints in your ankles, knees, and hips from a high impact with a hard surface.
If you’ve ever run on pavement, you are familiar with the jolt you get in places like your ankles and knees with every step. Running for long lengths of time can actually make you quite sore afterwards, even if you have the stamina to do it.
Since the outdoor elliptical bike removes this factor, you can go for longer periods of time without major impact on the joints. This allows you to exercise without a lot of fear of the recovery time it will take to nurse sore joints. That is an important consideration for people who have experienced injury, arthritis, shin splints, and more. Because it is low-impact, it also helps reduce the risk of future injuries and osteoarthritis.
3. Burns Calories
The outdoor elliptical bike is also amazing at burning calories. The OEB burns 50% more calories than traditional cycling. It also burns 13% more than a traditional elliptical. A high caloric burn rate means you will burn fat as you simultaneously strengthen and tone muscles. When you increase your muscles, you increase your resting metabolism.
For anyone looking to lose weight, high caloric burn rates are crucial for seeing results that will keep you motivated. Weight loss is not always about vanity. It is essential to improving overall health, reducing the risk of heart disease, and lessening the pressure on your joints.
4. Cardiovascular Conditioning
Heart health is one of the most important aspects of healthy living, and it drives a lot of people to begin exercise in the first place. The heart is quite literally the most important muscle in your body. Improving cardiovascular health is most effectively addressed with cardio workouts. Cardio workouts are great for weight loss, strengthening your heart, and giving you better sleep.
Because the elliptical is so effective as a cardio workout, you will find it in the cardio area of the gym. The outdoor elliptical bike is also great at cardio. The outdoor elliptical bike increases circulation, decreases blood pressure, and improves overall heart health. The low-impact on the joints typically means that you can work out for longer stretches of time, which increases the heart health benefits as well.
5. Builds Muscles
Because the outdoor elliptical bike targets muscles throughout your body, it also helps you build muscles. The elliptical motion initially engages muscles in a different way than traditional running or cycling. If you’ve ever asked a traditional runner to get on an elliptical, you may have been surprised at how they reacted to the machine. This is because it fires up the muscles in different places.
Over time, as you need to challenge yourself in different ways, you can adjust the resistance on the outdoor elliptical bike to increase the strength building it provides. This will help you to build muscle throughout your body at the same time in a controlled manner. When you have muscle gains throughout, it leads to faster gains throughout as well.
6. Weight Bearing
On the outdoor elliptical bike, you are standing on your feet. The bike bears your weight. This helps you to strengthen your bones without applying as much pressure, reduces the risk of osteoarthritis, and reduces stress on your joints. This is a benefit that makes the outdoor elliptical bike appealing to people of all ages and fitness levels.
The outdoor elliptical bike also supports higher weight limits than a typical bike. So, for people looking to lose weight, the outdoor elliptical bike allows you to get started without losing weight before you can use it, and it doesn’t require you to sacrifice your joints the way you would if you were to begin running at that same higher weight.
7. Promotes Good Posture Naturally
What is more natural than standing? Being upright is what gives jogging its natural feeling, and the outdoor elliptical bike offers the same upright positioning as jogging. Unlike jogging, though, you don’t have a jarring impact on the joints. So, the positioning is simply natural, comfortable, and provides high visibility when traveling.
When you’re cycling, typically, you have to hunch over a bit to effectively steer, tilt your head upwards to give you visibility, and use a less natural sitting position. This can lead to a bit of back and neck pain when you cycle for a longer period of time. On the outdoor elliptical bike, all of that is eliminated by the natural posture of the proper alignment of standing. The lean-to-steer feature means that you stay in a standing posture for the duration of your ride.
8. Fun + Outdoors
Nature therapy is commonly prescribed for virtually everyone. We are discovering how important it is to get out of our buildings and be among the elements of nature. The outdoor elliptical bike allows you to literally glide along in a natural environment. It’s been likened to jogging on air. Elliptical exercise meets the great outdoors.
Outdoor exercise has been shown to help participants feel rejuvenated, more energetic, and more satisfied. Maybe that’s because it hardly feels like a workout when it reminds you of just playing outside. Sun on your skin, wind in your hair, and the gentle bend of a turn are some of the best parts of good playtime memories. Simply put, it’s fun!
9. Green Transportation
When you start taking care of yourself, inevitably, you think of taking care of the world around you. The outdoor elliptical bike can help you do that, too. It provides a method of green transportation for commuting, and it doesn’t require any gas or electricity. You can head to work, run errands, or scoot about town for fun without leaving any carbon footprint in your wake.
Doing something for the environment, even in a small way, makes you feel healthier too. If you can make a difference in the world, then it’s easy to imagine that you can improve your own health too.
10. Relieves Stress and Anxiety
Because the outdoor elliptical bike has you exercising outside, it provides you with increased levels of brain chemicals like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, which all work together to soothe you. With the high caloric burn, as with other exercises, riding your StreetStrider bike can also help treat mild to moderate depression and anxiety.
Getting exercise helps with mental health. However, making it easy and fun to get that exercise helps relieve stress as well. There’s so much to think about and worry about, but with the outdoor elliptical bike, you just get on and go. You don’t have to think about if you’re getting a good workout because you already know that you are getting one.
11. Versatile and Travel Friendly
The outdoor elliptical bike, because of its design, means that it is ideal for being versatile and travel-friendly. It folds up much flatter than a bike, so it stores well and travels nicely. Most outdoor elliptical bikes have a stand that makes them usable indoors when outdoors isn’t a viable option. If you can adjust your workout to fit your situation, it’s much more sustainable, so this versatility is so important.
There aren’t a lot of pieces of workout equipment that can fit in your trunk and be an active part of your vacation, but the outdoor elliptical bike can go with you and also help you explore your destination once you arrive.
Summary
If your love for the elliptical goes way back, or you’re just starting to explore the world of the elliptical, it is time to take hold of your freedom and experience the benefits of the outdoor elliptical bike.
No more long lines at the gym. You don’t have to be stuck inside to get that elliptical workout that you know and love. With full-body workouts, increased strength, and cardiovascular health, your weight loss and fun don’t have to be limited to the gym anymore. You can take your elliptical love and explore the world around you again without the joint pain of running.
Breathe the fresh air, bend with life’s curves, and enjoy the low-impact total body workout of an outdoor elliptical bike. Regardless of your motivation, there are benefits for all.
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