Avoiding the Common Mistakes People Make on Their Elliptical Workouts

Elliptical workouts

Elliptical workouts have been proven to burn hundreds of calories in a short amount of time. It provides a relatively quick and intense workout. Part of an entire workout plan, it can be a great part of cardio assisted workouts and help with weight loss. It provides both an upper body and lower body workout. Though many people will make mistakes when working out and need to think about how to properly get up on this and start an amazing workout.

Machine Basics

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After you’ve unpackaged that elliptical you’re probably dying to jump right on it and start working out. You’ll have to wait a little bit to get these key basics down. One of the first things you need to do is calibrate the machine. Personalizing your stats and needs will help with your weight loss goals. Most machines are calibrated already for a person around 150 pounds. You’ll want to change the value to match what you are.

After the machine is set up and in a proper place that is both dry and cool, you can begin.  It may be boring now, but get to know the manual. This can assist you in figuring out how to fix it if something goes wrong or what you can fix by yourself. The elliptical may look simple, but there are a lot of moving parts that need to be accounted for. The digital console might need some getting used to and a small learning curve.

By reading your manual you’ll be able to master the settings and get the most out of your workout rather than just jumping up there and getting straight to work. A focused elliptical workout is better than a flailing attempt at something else.

Body Mechanics

Make sure to have good posture and stand up straight on the machine. If you’re leaning on the armrest it won’t maximize your exercising potential. This will engage your core and upper body muscles, assisting in a more verse and fluid workout. You want to choose an elliptical that has an upper body component along with a lower body one. Working out on an elliptical is the time to hit the entire body.

Check out the best elliptical you can get for yourself. There are a variety of elliptical machines that are ranked on performance, reliability and modes of workout. Along with standing up you want to be able to switch positions quickly and often. This will engage both your quads and hamstrings in your legs. Engaging all of your muscles is paramount to a successful workout. Alternating directions helps for dexterity and balancing issues in your muscles.

Problems to Look Out For

There are a lot of problems to look out for in regards to both yourself and your machine. If you’ve ever noticed a strange noise coming from your elliptical, it’s probably a problem with you either going too fast and not having enough resistance. You’d be better off changing the settings.  Make sure there is enough resistance so you can fill the push and pull of each individual muscle, the contraction and reaction.

Working out the body is also about confusing the body. Its adaptive qualities are amazing but can be the end of a good fat burning routine. Make sure to change up your intervals at varying times to give your gym time an extra boost. Change up the resistance or the pace as much as you can.

Elliptical training shouldn’t be easy and with that comes increased resistance with each subsequent advancement you feel you have. IF you want to reach your fitness goal, then you’ll have to keep getting better all the time.

Full Rounded Workouts

A full rounded workout should include both the elliptical machine and a host of other types of exercises. This may include weights, other cardio, going to the gym and working body weight exercises. All of this contributes to a full workout. Make sure your working out both parts of your body on the elliptical. Many people will work out their lower body only, by not using the top half of the elliptical.

Focus on engaging different muscle groups and varying time intervals between 1-2 minutes and 4-5 minutes for both legs and arms.  Overall, an elliptical workout can be a necessary cardio aid in a full workout. By knowing your equipment, calibrating it for yourself and switching it up from time to time all contribute to not making mistakes in training.

Jonathan Talbot is a personal fitness trainer during evenings and weekends. He loves meeting new people and seeing how their fitness and technique improve over the weeks or months he works with them. He shares his advice for gym junkies and those just starting out in getting fit.