Workouts

Health and Fitness: Elliptical exercise machines—do they really help?

The fitness goals of the women are largely different from the men and are are usually skewed towards fat and weight loss. There are are women out there who do love to weight-train, but doing cardio is one of those things that can virtually help just anyone. Have you been thinking of getting onto one of those elliptical machines because you heard it’s great and better than the treadmill? Let’s find out if it’s really the case.

Elliptical machines entered the fitness facilities after becoming a hit with the cross-country skiers for its fat-burning capabilities. The mechanical features on these machines have been tweaked over years, like some of them provide the basic hand/arm movements, others don’t.

When compared with a treadmill, elliptical tends to advantage the upper body too, which isn’t the case with treadmill. But there are a few other benefits too, and after hearing them you won’t be thinking twice again whether you should use this machine or not.

The Benefits

When you perform an aerobic exercise, the human body needs to deliver 60 percent of the blood supply to legs. But elliptical machines will require additional 20 percent for you upper body. This would mean a higher heart rate, and more fat burning. How? Because when you use upper and lower body resistance simultaneously, this would mean a lot of work for the heart to do at the same time. But caution is required while using an elliptical exercise machines, as you wouldn’t like to stay too long on it and go past the recommended heart rate. Try using a heart-monitor with elliptical machines, because if you won’t, persistent high levels of heart rate can lead to rising cortisol levels, which results in fat gain, rather than removing it.

Why elliptical machines are great for women?

Treadmills can really be hard on your joint and the exercise time has to be cut short to avoid any injury. However, for elliptical machines, its non-impact, and smooth striding design makes it perfect for people who have arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and osteoporosis.

The benefits of elliptical machines over treadmills are eminent, but the two exercise aren’t interchangeable, and that’s what women try do most of the time.

Choosing an elliptical exercise machine

If you are training at home, or you are planning to revamp your lost fitness level, you can get an elliptical exercise machine for your home. But even if you are going to a gym, you have to be careful with your choice there too.

Above anything else, you need to have an elliptical machine that doesn’t affect your coordination. For instance, when you right leg is forward, your left arm should also be forward and vice versa.

In a gym, go for an an elliptical machine with a solid frame. If you just don’t want to push handles back and forth, you can also try using some dumbbells. For example, when your left leg goest forward, your right arm should go up over your head and vice versa.

Hopefully, this may have helped your queries. See more at: http://totalfitnessequipment.com/elliptical-machines/

About author

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Enter Captcha Here : *

Reload Image

Time limit is exhausted. Please reload CAPTCHA.


Close