Elliptical questions

doingit4myprincesses

I joined the Y a few weeks ago and been doing the stationary bike and treadmill. I have been wanting to do the Elliptical but the few times I have done it I can only do it for about 5 minutes and it causes my left leg a lot of pain and to go numb. Does anyone else have this problem or is it my body getting used to doing it. I wouldn't think it would be much different of a movement from doing the stationary bike. Any tips would be appreciated and feel free to add me if you want!!! :flowerforyou:

robin52077

it's WAY different than the bike or treadmill. I have all 3 at home. I can use the other 2 for an hour or more but the elliptical shocked me when the first time I couldn't go for more than ten minutes. It's been a couple of months and I finally got to 30 minutes!

I have no explanation for your pain or numbness, perhaps you should just stick with what is comfortable for you?

jusniq

I had a hard time w/ the elliptical the first time I used it too. Now...I love it. The numbness, the pain in the legs....I only got them the first time i used it, and when i go back to the gym after not going for a while. I say keep going at it....you'll get use to it.

gailosborne

Hi,
Start off slowly and work up. I'm not sure about the pain perhaps ask one of the trainers about it. One of my feet sometimes goes a bit numb so I need to move it about every so often, apparently it is common because the elliptical is not a natural movement.
Sorry to not be much more help but I really enjoy this machine and think its worth sticking with if your leg can cope.

Best Wishes,
Gail

Nina74

Definitely ask one of the trainers.

I was scared of the elliptical and could barely do 5 mins. My trainer told me to start at 5 mins, add a couple mins each day. Now I'm up to 30 mins at a time, although I do notice that after 20 mins or so my feet can get a bit numb from being in the same place, I tend to just shake out my legs/reposition my feet.

Avandel

The numbness seems to be a common problem, only my right foot used to go numb but after a few months it subsided. When I first started I too could only do 10 mins, now I can do 45 mins with no problem

lharbolt

Changing the placement of my feet and not pushing with my toes (keep your feet flat) helps get rid of the numbness for me. I do an hour almost daily on my eliptical and I have found that using your entire foot to get your rotations or switch it up and go backwards helps too. Going backwards also uses different muscles in your legs.