Elliptical Help & General Inquiries

cryingangel

I'm trying to figure out how to use my elliptical properlly. I find that my arms are just sort of flowing with what my legs are doing. I worked out on it for 15 minutes so far and my arms feel worked but I feel like they are just going with the motion. Isn't there some way to build more resistance for my legs with my arms?
Also, what else should I be doing? That's not strength training and I have nothing in the way of weights. I'm dead serious about this life change this time. I haven't adjusted my eating habits as of yet but I will once I go grocery shopping tomorrow. I'm making little changes at first. Never been a breaky person so that's going to be my biggest challenge. Always has been and always will be.
Right this minute, I've had 2 cups of coffee with a tsp of sugar each and a dash of milk. Haven't eaten anything. I usually eat what my kids eat for lunch (ie mac and cheese, egg sandwich, grilled cheese, etc.) absolutlely nothing healthy whatso ever. And for supper we have various things. I usually have a small snack to tide me over before bed which is ALWAYS unhealthy.
I have some work to do but I'm here... and staying. I have goals and things I want in my life. I can't achieve any of this with the way I've been living.
I guess reality has set in. I can Bit** and moan about being the old me... keep thinking that I'm magically going to wake up and be 140lbs again OR I can actually DO something about it. And I am. I just nee some intel, some advice. I don't know what to do exercise wise. I know what I need to do eating wise.

Any info or advice on anything would be great. Thanks in advance!!!

I'm happy to be here..... again.

taco_tap

maybe hold on to some weights while you are on the elliptical? if you dont have those, hold something that weighs the same in both hands.. i move my arms like I would if i were running.. I dont know if I should but it doesnt hurt anything. I feel like if your arms feel worked, then they probably are being worked. I also like doing Jillian Michaels 30 day shred, its a good burn. However, weight loss is mostly what you eat but exercise is important as well. Feel free to add me. Support is also very important in this journey.

WillieEverlearn

Generally, your arms do pretty much "go with the flow" on ellipticals...but you'd be surprised how much that arm motion helps add to your heart rate/activity. You won't get anything out of your elliptical in terms of strength training, but it's great for cardiovascular. Does it have a heart rate monitor? If so, monitor your rate and keep in the "zone" you need to burn calories. If it doesn't have a heart rate monitor, I highly recommend getting one--a Polar or something similar, that will keep track of your rate and calculate calories burned for you.

If you feel like you want to engage your arms more, you can concentrate on "pushing" the handles away from you while you move, rather than just letting them be loose.

Another way to up your intensity, if you feel you need to (or more specifically, if you need to get your heart rate up in your zone quickly): do intervals on the machine. Chances are, it already has an interval setting. But if not, you can easily do it yourself. Choose a "resting" interval of one or two minutes at a lower level, then a "work" interval of a minute at a higher level. For instance:

Level 3: One minute
Level 5: One minute

Keep repeating those intervals until you get in your full workout.

If I spend an hour on the interval with my Polar heart rate monitor, I can easily burn 700+ calories in an hour.

cryingangel

Thank you for the input Specka.

tlhines, when you burn the 700+ calories, do you eat the extra 700 you earned? I find that part on MFP kind of confusing. I don't know the "zone" I need to be in to be burning fat. It has a little screen on the elliptical but all it says is 0 on everything. I have yet to figure that out.

I plan on walking a lot more too. Again, no idea what the pace needs to be to be burning anything. I guess I'll learn as I go.

WillieEverlearn

tlhines, when you burn the 700+ calories, do you eat the extra 700 you earned? I find that part on MFP kind of confusing.

I don't think you're alone, but it seems there's a lot of disagreement about this. Some say you should eat the calories you work off, and some say you shouldn't. What I think is sensible, and what I'm aiming for, is to look at my NET calories, and make sure those never drop below 1300 calories in any day (my net calories are the calories I eat, minus the calories I burn for workouts).

Right now, my "target" for calories consumed is 1,806 per day. But if I eat 1806 per day, and burn 700, I'm at a "net" of 1,106 (1,806 eaten - 700 burned). That's too low, so I'd try to eat at least another 200 calories to compensate--maybe even up to 500 more, if I need to. But I don't feel I must eat all of the calories I burned, as long as I'm staying above that 1,300 calorie threshold. If I start dropping below that too much, I think the body's more likely to go into starvation mode and try to keep the weight on. I'm no medical expert, but this is kind of the conculsion I've come to after reading both sides of the debate.

I don't know the "zone" I need to be in to be burning fat. It has a little screen on the elliptical but all it says is 0 on everything. I have yet to figure that out.

Oh, sure. It's going to vary, based on your age, resting heart rate, weight and sex. You want to at least aim for a "fat-burning" zone on your workouts, with spikes into your "aerobic" zone. I peeked at your profile, and a "general" range for a 25-year-old female:

Fat Burning Zone: 138-158
Aerobic Zone: 159-177

So this means you don't want to go above 177 while you're training. If you're doing intervals, you want your heart rate to be above 138 during your "rest" period, and peak between 159-177 during your "work" periods. If you get above the 177, back off a bit.

These are just general calculations. You can google "calculate heart rate zone" and get a ton of information. Runner's World also has a heart rate calculator. If you have a built-in heart rate monitor (or a Polar Heart Rate Monitor), it will calculate these zones for you!

cryingangel

Wow thanks for the info!!

I have another question now too.
Is it going to be a problem to break my workouts up? I mean 15 mins on the elliptical was hard enough. I was to do 30-45 mins every other day to start.

WillieEverlearn

Is it going to be a problem to break my workouts up? I mean 15 mins on the elliptical was hard enough. I was to do 30-45 mins every other day to start.

You'll probably get a variety of opinions on this too. I think the best answer is: do whatever works best for you. If it works best to do 15 minutes, three times a day, go for it. If it works best to do it all at once in 45 minutes, go for it.

withchaco

If you really want to focus on your arms on the elliptical, try leaning back slightly and pull the arm handles as hard/fast as you can. You'll be moving the handles/ pedals mostly with your arms, and your legs will be the ones just moving with the flow.

You can definitely get a great workout without focusing on your arms like that, though.

FatAndThirty

Wow thanks for the info!!

I have another question now too.
Is it going to be a problem to break my workouts up? I mean 15 mins on the elliptical was hard enough. I was to do 30-45 mins every other day to start.

I've been using the elliptical machine everyday for almost two weeks now.. When I first started I was on 15 minutes. Now I'm at 25 and ready to move up to 30 this afternoon. The more you do it, the longer you will be able to stay on. Just keep pushing yourself and you will get to 30 or 45 minutes very soon.