If weight loss is on your list of fitness goals, you’re probably looking for a good workout plan that can maximize your effort. An elliptical machine can be a great tool for weight loss. Because they can provide both aerobic and resistance training, ellipticals help to burn calories and build muscle. The elliptical trainer has been a favorite cardio machine in gyms for decades. Fans of the elliptical love this gym-staple cardio machine for its low-impact, full-body workouts.
Understanding the Basics of Weight Loss and Exercise
It is worth reiterating that weight loss is largely dependent on what you’re eating. As much as you try, exercise will not take the place of good nutrition. Successfully losing weight requires a combination of proper nutrition, resistance training, and cardio. The nutrition aspect ensures you're in a calorie deficit, while resistance training prevents you from losing muscle mass during the weight-loss process. Cardio is the final piece to the weight loss puzzle, and it should be utilized as a strategy for further increasing your daily calorie deficit (while simultaneously improving your cardiovascular health and overall fitness levels, of course).
Calories In vs. Calories Out
If weight loss is your goal, you can not deny the rule “calories in vs. calories out.” Unless you have an extreme amount of weight to lose, it’s common to shoot for losing 1-2 pounds a week until you hit your goal. You want to lose fat and not hard-earned muscle, so slower is almost always better. To lose 1 pound, you must create a calorie deficit of 3,500 calories each week. A simple way to look at this is to target a 500-calorie deficit daily. You will have to track how many calories you eat to ensure you lose weight. Weight loss is an equation full of different variables, and cardio plays a vital role.
Why Choose an Elliptical for Weight Loss?
One of our favorite pieces of equipment for weight loss is the elliptical! Not only is it a great low-impact cardio option, but thanks to the resistance and incline features, it has the potential to burn calories at a pretty high rate. This means you can spend less time doing cardio while still working toward your weight loss goals.
Low-Impact Exercise
An elliptical workout is a type of low-impact aerobic exercise that is easy on the joints. The elliptical is a perfect alternative to running due to its low impact on your body. Your body is going to thank you for using a low-impact workout, like the elliptical. Running is great, but it is tough on the body. Each step you take, around 2,300 per mile, places the strain of your entire body weight on your joints. This is eliminated with the elliptical since your feet never leave the pedals. If you are someone with past injuries or imbalances or are new to working out, do yourself a favor and hop on the elliptical.
Read also: Elliptical Trainer Benefits: Weight Loss
Full-Body Workout
Many of the best ellipticals have movable arms that turn elliptical training into a full-body workout. The more muscles you work, the more calories you burn. Ellipticals engage both your upper and lower body, increasing the number of muscles involved in the workout. Most cardio exercise options are all about the leg muscles but offer little benefit for the upper body. Using the handles on the elliptical will engage all of the muscles in your upper body that contribute to the push-pull motion. The upper body is activated through the push and pull motion while you are holding the handles.
Core Engagement and Stability
Ellipticals engage your core, which can help improve your balance and stability over time.
Cardiovascular Health Benefits
Cardiovascular exercise is key to keeping your heart healthy. By raising your heart rate into an aerobic zone regularly, your heart will get stronger and you will start to see changes in your energy and your endurance. Cardio helps lower your blood pressure and improves the way your heart functions. Cardiovascular Training plays an important part in maintaining a healthy heart and lung function, so it’s no surprise we should be paying attention to how quickly our heart beats during exercise. It strengthens your heart. It improves lung function. It reduces heart disease risk factors. It lowers heart attack risk.
Versatility and Variety
You can use the elliptical for a warm-up to get the blood flowing or start your workout with a short 10-minute interval workout. You can use it for LISS cardio or HIIT. You can even include intervals between your strength training exercises. Whatever your goal is, the elliptical can keep your cardio workout exciting and fun. Since elliptical trainers mimic your natural walking and running gait, it allows your ankle, hip, and knee joints to function in their natural path. This, combined with the upper body handles, enables you to connect one side of your body to the other, increasing your coordination between limbs and helping improve your balance and proprioception.
Maximizing Calorie Burn on the Elliptical
The elliptical can definitely help with weight loss! In fact, when comparing it to other equipment, like the stairmaster vs elliptical, the elliptical wins for calories burned. An insane calorie burn is reason enough to exercise on the elliptical. An elliptical workout can help you lose weight in several ways, no matter what your fitness level is. First, it burns calories. A 150-pound person can burn up to 300 calories in 30 minutes of moderate-intensity elliptical training.
Read also: Elliptical Training: Your Guide to Shedding Pounds
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
“While steady-state cardio can certainly help you meet your weight loss goals, HIIT burns more calories in less time,” says Amanda. One way to skyrocket your intensity is to do interval training. Interval training also helps you burn more calories in less time. HIIT stands for High-Intensity Interval Training, and you can squeeze those 15 minutes in at any time of the day. To use HIIT elliptical workouts to lose weight, try altering the pace or resistance of the elliptical machine to a hard-to-sustain level, depending on your current fitness level. You should feel too breathless to speak in full sentences during your high-intensity interval session, and your recovery periods should feel comfortable and conversational.
Adjusting Resistance and Incline
One of the downfalls of elliptical machines is that your workout can be pretty easy if you don’t challenge yourself, which is not ideal for weight loss or improving your overall fitness levels. Most elliptical machines have a motor and a programmable computer that can automatically create varying degrees of resistance. Some ellipticals allow you to adjust the incline, which can make your workout more challenging. Increasing the incline simulates uphill movement, activating different muscle groups and increasing the intensity of your workout. The keys to getting the most out of this session lie with increasing resistance and incline levels and varying your speeds during different intervals. If you always keep the resistance below level 5, it will be too easy, and your body will adjust quickly. If you never raise the incline, you will miss out on added benefits for your posterior chain, as the more significant the incline the more your session will resemble climbing a steep hill.
Using the Handles
Using the machine with moving handles targets your upper body - pushing the handles works your chest while pulling works your back. Skipping handles altogether works the core and lower body.
Varying Your Workouts
One mistake is not varying your workouts. Doing the same routine repeatedly can lead to plateaus, where your body becomes too accustomed to the exercise, and you stop seeing results. Just remember variety is good. You can use the elliptical some days, walk other days, or even dance.
Target Heart Rate
For optimal fat burning, aim to keep your heart rate within 70-85% of your maximum heart rate. Most ellipticals come equipped with heart rate monitors, making it easy to track your progress. Pay attention to your heart rate during both the high-intensity and recovery phases.
Read also: Comprehensive Guide to Elliptical Weight Loss
Sample Elliptical Workouts for Weight Loss
Here are a few sample elliptical workouts to get you started on your weight loss journey:
Beginner Elliptical Workout
- Warm-up (5 minutes): Start with a low resistance level and a slow pace. Focus on getting your blood flowing and your muscles warmed up. Keep your back straight, shoulders relaxed, and core engaged.
- Cardio Phase (15 minutes): Adjust the resistance to a level that challenges you but still allows you to maintain good form. Keep a steady pace and focus on your breathing.
- Cool-down (5 minutes): Reduce the resistance and pace to allow your heart rate to decrease slightly.
HIIT Elliptical Workout
- Warm-up (5 minutes): Begin with a warm-up to prepare your muscles for the workout.
- High-Intensity Intervals (20 minutes): Alternate between 1 minute of high-intensity effort and 1 minute of recovery. During the recovery phases, reduce the resistance and pace to allow your heart rate to decrease slightly.
- Cool-down (5 minutes): End with a cool-down to gradually lower your heart rate and prevent muscle soreness.
Strength and Endurance Elliptical Workout
- Warm-up (5 minutes): Start with a warm-up to get your blood flowing.
- Resistance and Incline (20 minutes): Set the elliptical to a moderate resistance level. As you progress, gradually increase the resistance to keep your muscles working hard. Some ellipticals allow you to adjust the incline, which can make your workout more challenging.
- Cool-down (5 minutes): Finish with a cool-down to bring your heart rate down.
Integrating Elliptical Workouts into Your Routine
There’s no magic timeframe for how long you should work out on an elliptical to lose weight. It really comes down to your overall wellness plan. That being said, the American Council on Exercise recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity each week. Consistency also matters. The CDC recommends 150 minutes of heart pumping exercise per week to stay healthy.
Frequency
Aim to incorporate these workouts into your routine at least three times a week.
Supplement with Strength Training
“You also want to make sure you’re incorporating strength training,” says Amanda. Strength training is a great way to supplement your elliptical workouts because it helps you build muscle. “The combo of cardio and strength training helps improve your body composition, which can increase your basal metabolic rate.
The Importance of Diet and Lifestyle
If you’re not losing weight on an elliptical, it’s likely a sign that you need to rework your overall weight loss plan. Ensure you're consuming a balanced diet rich in whole foods, lean proteins, and plenty of vegetables. Another common mistake is neglecting your diet. Exercise alone won't lead to significant fat loss if you're not also mindful of what you eat. Successfully losing weight requires a combination of proper nutrition, resistance training, and cardio. Combining a healthy nutrition plan with a regular fitness routine will help you reach your wellness goals.
Diet Tips for Weight Loss
- Track Your Calories: Using an app like MyFitnessPal is an easy way to log your food and track your calorie intake.
- Weigh Your Food: The next step is getting a food scale and weighing your food to ensure you aren’t guessing.
- Calculate Your BMR: Using a simple Basal Metabolic Rate calculator will give yourself a baseline for how many calories your body needs to stay at maintenance. From there, try subtracting 300-500 calories to put yourself in a deficit.
- Count Your Macros: As a starting point, aim for 40 percent from protein, 40 from carbs, and 20 from fat.
- Prioritize Protein: It's important to note that you're likely better off exceeding .8 grams of protein per pound when in a calorie deficit to ensure you maintain your muscle mass throughout the process.
- Eat Whole Foods: Eat whole foods, like those featured in the 80 20 rule diet, instead of processed junk.
Lifestyle Factors
Make sure you’re properly managing your stress levels, getting at least 7 to 8 hours of good sleep each night.
Proper Form and Safety
To use an elliptical machine, carefully step your feet on each pedal and grab the handlebars or handle levers with both arms. When you’re starting an elliptical workout regimen, it’s important to listen to your body. Stand tall with your shoulders back and your core engaged.
Warm-up and Cool-down
Be sure to warm up before beginning your elliptical trainer workout and cool down afterwards.
Post-Exercise Stretching
PRO TIP: Also it’s as equally important to stretch after exercise to help prevent any muscle soreness setting in the next few days. Keep your knees slightly bent and slowly lean forward, back and shoulders relaxed, reaching towards your toes. Hold for 15-20 seconds. Sitting on the floor preferably on a mat, put one leg straight, the other inward and close to the inside of the straight leg. Hold for 10-15 seconds, and relax. Standing with two hands on the wall or tree, one leg behind. Hold for 10-15 seconds, and relax. Hold for 10-15 seconds, and relax. Sitting down with the soles of your feet or shoes together and your knees positioned outward. Hold for 10-15 seconds, and relax.
Hydration and Attire
No matter if you are an elite athlete or a weekend warrior, it is essential to drink enough water before, during and after exercise. Always wear appropriate workout clothing when exercising. Dress accordingly to the temperature and do not wear loose clothing that could become caught in the machine.
Machine Safety
Keep children and pets away from the machine at all time. Position the machine on a clear, levelled surface. And lastly, ensure that you know how to operate your machine - check that your speed, incline and emergency stop is functional.