Elliptical

Today I’m going to talk to you about that ungainly looking machine the corner of your gym.  That thing that looks like a stork fettered a bicycle.  I have been, not so much working out, as spending my warmups on them this week.  I thought we might delve a little deeper into how and why this machine ended up consuming so much floor space.

Where did these machines come from?  Elliptical trainers first came on the market in the 1990s.  they were invented by the gym equipment company Precor, and soon followed by others. It’s an interestingly recent addition to our workout world.

Why “Elliptical”?  That is the motion your feet make. It’s an horizontal ellipse.  An ellipse is the mathematical term for a standard, or regular oval.  If you watch the feet of someone on the device you’ll see that their feet trace an sideways oval, meaning the feet go forward and back more than they go up and down.

Whereas on a bicycle your motion would trace a circle and if you’re running with good form it’s a bit of a vertical oval.

What’s different about the elliptical is that it is a sort of hybrid between running and cycling.  You still get the full foot roll of running but you get the low impact of cycling.

The machines come with or without arm attachments.  One version has just the leg motion and another has handles attached that give you an arm motion as well.

Most have two adjustments.  One is ‘incline’ that changes the angle of your ellipse and the other is resistance which changes how hard the pedals are to push.

What are the benefits of an elliptical?

First, because you never lift your feet it is low impact.

Second, it is ‘sort of’ a running motion.  It gives you an exercise that recruits more of the running related muscles and fascia than a bicycle would.

Third, it is a cardio workout.

Fourth, if you have the one with the arm attachments you can get a bit of a ‘rowing’ type of workout at the same time.  Both upper and lower body.

Fifth, it has variable incline and variable resistance so you can dial up workouts that tick all the boxes in terms of various effort levels and intervals.

Sixth, that extra lateral movement recruits more and different muscles.

Seventh, you can go either forward or backwards to recruit even more and different muscles.  Going backwards is particularly good for the hamstrings.

And eighth, it is supposedly easier on your back than running and cycling.

Is there a right way to use an elliptical?  Are there do’s and don’ts?

In general, you want to have good, upright posture when on the elliptical, just like you would while running.  Don’t slump over it like you see many people do.

Like any other new exercise you want to warm up before you go hard and don’t try to do too much too fast.  Remember that phrase I used “new and different muscles” and give it a couple weeks for those new and different muscles to figure it out.

It is recommended that you do workouts with some variability in them.  Many times you see people in the elliptical and they just do one speed and one resistance level for the whole workout.  That’s ok, but you’re not getting any strength or cardio benefit out if it.

Once you’re warmed up do workouts that are HIIT or Interval based to get the most benefit.  The machine lends itself to that.

It’s also recommended that you alternate front and back motion to get more variety during a workout.

Most of the ellipticals in the gym have some sort of heart rate monitor.  But usually they are crappy grasp-based.  You can do elliptical training by heart rate zones but probably want to use your own heart rate monitor to do so.

As with everything these days the internet is your friend and you can google elliptical workouts.  You will find a plethora of fun and interesting workouts to do.

So, my friends, if you are looking for a low-impact alternative to running you can jump on that elliptical and get a work out in.