What is an Elliptical Trainer and Should you Use It?

Copyright (c) 2007 Jess Harley

Elliptical trainers are among the most popular gym equipment. It is like having two exercise machines in one because it combines the movements of a stair climber with those of the exercise bike to give you an excellent impact free workout. The fact that is impact free is one of its best qualities. It is ideal for women with any sort of back, knee, hip or joints problem. For some it gives the benefit of being a treadmill with a stair climber's edge to it.

It is no secret you can get a great workout from elliptical trainers because you are combining movements of hiking, cross country skiing and of course biking. The resistance that the machine provides you with is able to help you not only lose weight but also fight off osteoporosis. It is also one of the few machines that will give you a full body workout because you are working your quads, your back end muscles and if you take advantage of the handles that most elliptical come with your arms will get a good workout also.

Another reason why elliptical is so popular is because you get a great workout for less the effort. Elliptical machines have what is called a "Perceived Rate of Exertion" which means you are doing a lot of work and burning a lot of calories but you do not feel like you are working as hard as you really are. I used to spend at least forty minutes on the elliptical and not even feel like I was working out.

You don't need to belong to a gym to get a good workout on an elliptical. Go to any sporting store or even department store to see the styles of ellipticals that are out there. Most ellipticals are smaller than a treadmill and can be stored away easily also. When shopping for an Elliptical machine keeps your budget in mind. How much can you spend? You can get a good elliptical machine without breaking the piggy bank. You also want to keep in mind the size of the model you are looking at. Will it fit in your home. Make sure it can be folded up like most models and stored away under the bed or in a closest if you do not have an in home gym. Also look at the features the model comes with. Is it important to you that you know how many calories you are burning? Is having a built in heart rate monitor important to you? How much extra are you willing to pay for these features? Lastly you might want to try it out and see if you like the feel of it. Is it comes with arm bars, can you reach the arm bars and is it comfortable to use them? I am fairly petite and have seen a few models whose arm bars I can't use because my arms are to short for them. The more comfortable you are using it, the more use you will get out of it.

Elliptical are great exercise machines and work great for those of us who don't want to do a high impact workout but still want to get the benefits of one.