Lose Weight with an Elliptical Trainer

Let’s face it, trying to lose weight can be such a pain!

So if you’re serious about losing weight and keeping it off, you need to exercise on a more regular basis.  An exercise machine that is recently surging in popularity is the elliptical trainer because it elliptical trainers you are not only exercising more muscle groups, you are also optimizing your energy expenditure. That means it takes less time to achieve more results, like burning calories and increasing your cardio capacity.

There are two factors that make an elliptical trainer so attractive.  It offers low-impact exercising, and it works out both the upper and lower body simultaneously.

Why a Low Impact Workout is Important

The low impact function of an elliptical trainer reduces the strain and stress on your body, particularly your lower back, knees and ankles.  Your legs work in an elliptical motion, they never leave the foot pedals and there is no reverse action (although we must note that the top-rated elliptical fitness machines available in the market these days offer a reverse action feature to vary workouts).

By contrast, when you walk or run your feet impact the road on every stride, causing a strain on your ankles, knees and lower back.  For runners that impact can be as much as 2.5 times your weight while for those who are overweight, the impact from just walking can be very detrimental and may result in strains or even injuries.  Elliptical trainers can substantially reduce the potential for injuries.

Weight Loss Benefits from Upper and Lower Body Workouts

The other attractive feature of elliptical trainers is that they workout both the upper and lower body.  There are two benefits from simultaneously working out your upper and lower body: [1] you build muscle density throughout your body, and [2] you also burn calories more efficiently.

When you exercise on an elliptical trainer you utilize the chest, back, quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, triceps and biceps. There is no other machine that offers this benefit. As we mentioned previously, will be exercising more muscle groups while optimizing your energy expenditure. Again, that means it takes less time to achieve more results, like burning calories and increasing your cardio capacity.

It has also been suggested by certain experts that this dual action process reduces the perceived rate of exertion. In other words, you are burning more calories without a noticeable difference from a less strenuous workout.

We must mention that it is, of course, important to apply a reasonable amount of resistance when you exercise and it is also necessary to divide the exercise equally between the upper and lower body.

There is also that tendency to let your arms follow the motion of the handlebars, and let your legs absorb most of the resistance. It is important to transfer some the resistance load to your arms and distribute the exercise more evenly.  This once again will result in more efficiently burning calories and reducing your weight.

For the benefits enumerated above elliptical trainers are all the rage these days. They are great exercise fitness machines, amazingly easy to use, and with regular workouts you will not only reduce your weight, but keep it off as well. Plus there are many good brands, models and prices to choose from.