The elliptical doesn't do anything?

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  • kristinegift
    kristinegift Posts: 2,406 Member
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    It's good for cardio! I'm not sure how much it does for you muscles-wise, though; the only time I ever used an eliptical I couldn't figure out how to make it feel natural, so I've never used one again. I'd rather bike, use a treadmill, run on a track, or just run outdoors, if I need to get my cardio in. But I know plenty of people who love the eliptical, so go for it! If you're getting results you like, keep at it!
  • Nedra19455
    Nedra19455 Posts: 241 Member
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    When I belonged to a gym, I never felt like I "got" the elliptical. I felt like I'd expend very little effort and the foot thingies would just kind of move on their own and I'd be along for the ride. I definitely felt like it wasn't doing as much for my body as other workouts. I'm guessing that I was doing it wrong. Maybe the people you're referring to have had similar experiences with ellipticals?

    I momentarily got really into it when I saw how great my calorie burn was in comparison to the treadmill, but when I raved about this to the trainer guy at the gym, he explained that the calorie burn on their treadmills is the most accurate and the calorie burn on the ellipticals is the least accurate.

    My HRM and the elliptical are usually within 5% of each other.

    Oooh! That's good to know. Maybe it was just the ellipticals that were at that particular gym that weren't so accurate.