Elliptical Exercise Routines

Elliptical machines are among the most popular of cardio gym equipment. They provide a challenging workout while minimizing the impact on joints, making them a great alternative to the treadmill for those who are injury-prone. They facilitate natural motions for the body, giving you a great workout without feeling like you have over-exerted yourself. Some machines come with pre-programmed routines that you can select, or you can create your own. There are two basic elliptical exercise routines you can vary to keep your workouts interesting.

  1. Considerations

    • Before you undertake any type of workout plan, speak with your physician if you have any health problems that could potentially be aggravated. Be sure to have a small snack, such as a yogurt or energy bar, about 1 hour before working out. Just before using the elliptical machine, stretch out your entire body to prevent injury. Begin every workout session with a 5 minute warm-up and end with a cool down to acclimate your body.

    Steady Workout

    • One of the simplest elliptical exercise routines involves maintaining a steady pace throughout the workout. Select the amount of time you want to workout, from 30 to 45 minutes. Choose the amount of resistance, depending on your level of physical fitness and the machine settings. Experiment until you find the right amount of resistance to get your heart rate up, but not so high that you cannot maintain the pace. If this routine becomes too boring, try pedaling backward for 5 minutes to work your glutes. Alternate pedaling forward and backward to challenge different muscle groups.

    Interval Workout

    • Since maintaining the same pace and resistance for long periods of time can become boring and no longer challenging for your body, some days you might want to try an interval workout on the elliptical machine. Your machine might have this setting, or it may be called something like "Random." If not, you can control the resistance yourself by increasing it and pedaling hard for 1 minute, and then giving yourself a few minutes to recover at a lower pace and resistance. Continue this pattern for the full workout time. When doing an interval workout, you will tire quickly and burn calories faster, so it is not necessary to continue for more than 20 minutes.