Whats your view of Eliptical cross tainers?

silverharp

I only started using them about 6 weeks ago and I find it a good warm up machine and good to get the breathing / heart rate up. Ive been doing 30 minutes 2 or 3 times a week on one in a gym , using the levels for resistance and at times not using the arms and going backwards, my heartbeat was up at 170 but didnt feel I was going flat out but I guess it will go down as I get fitter. I also find it fits in well with jogging I do, so last Sat for instance did an hour in the gym and then was still able to go for a 10k jog on the Sunday then had Monday as a rest day.
So are they more useful at the earlier stage of fitness work and will the benefits plateau out in a month or two. or can you get very clever with interval work?

Aptitude

silverharp wrote: »

I only started using them about 6 weeks ago and I find it a good warm up machine and good to get the breathing / heart rate up. Ive been doing 30 minutes 2 or 3 times a week on one in a gym , using the levels for resistance and at times not using the arms and going backwards, my heartbeat was up at 170 but didnt feel I was going flat out but I guess it will go down as I get fitter. I also find it fits in well with jogging I do, so last Sat for instance did an hour in the gym and then was still able to go for a 10k jog on the Sunday then had Monday as a rest day.
So are they more useful at the earlier stage of fitness work and will the benefits plateau out in a month or two. or can you get very clever with interval work?

I find the Elliptical cross trainer is a nice low impact exercise to do at the gym to warm up or cool down, and if you increase the resistance and go fast you can get a decent cardio workout. Try the rowing machine too.

Alf Veedersane

You'll plateau if you continue to use them in exactly the same way in the same way that you will plateau if you run in the same way continuously.

Switch it up, do intervals, etc etc and you can maximise it.

mdwexford

Great for not putting impact on the joints like a treadmill does and also much easier to do HIIT on.

silverharp

I do like the movement and the low impact and its supposed to be good for leg muscles that dont get worked so much in running. Some machines are supposed to have an incline setting but havnt spotted that yet.

I like the rowing machine but tend to use it for shorter spells 7-10 minutes