If you are one of the many people with bad knees and couldn’t run if your life depended on it but still want to follow the best weight loss tips and do lots of cardio, your best bet is an elliptical workout. That or a stationary bike, but disadvantage with a stationary bike is that it only works your lower body, and you have to exercise twice as long as an elliptical.
A good elliptical machine workout may not be what you think it is. It may seem like you can simply jump on and start pumping. Anyone using this method is really missing what elliptical workouts are all about. You need to engage as many muscles as possible; this is done by flexing the muscles that are not in use. Take the abs for instance, they are not being used much at all during a typical elliptical workout. However, if you flex them through the entire workout you will get that much more out of it.
Most elliptical workout machines have built in trainers to get you the workout and results you want. The workouts typically used are;
- Manual – Just like its name hints, this setting allows you to manually choose the workout you want.
- Heart Rate – This can be used for a cardio workout or for fat burning and everywhere in between. You simply type in your specific information and maximum heart rate and you do the rest.
- Interval – Interval exercise is the latest form of cardio to be popularized, and for good reason. Interval training is great for both fat loss and cardiovascular conditioning. Many elliptical workout machines allow you to get the most out of the workout by adjusting resistance and incline levels from predetermined points that you enter.
- Weight Loss (fat burn) – Like the heart rate workout the weight loss or fat burn setting keeps your heart rate where it needs to be. Believe it or not to burn the greatest percentage of you need to keep your heart rate relatively low. Most elliptical machines have a heart rate monitor to keep your heart rate in the fat burn zone; otherwise you would have to stop repeatedly to get see if you are in the fat burn zone.
- Variety – This setting combines high incline, high resistance with lower climbs as well as flat and low resistance. It is much like an interval workout except that the interval, incline and resistance settings are not pre determined.
- Performance – Sports performance and endurance is what this workout is all about. It is designed to get you to and keep you at peak performance during the off season.