Elliptical Ppl. How do you do your work out?

ElyseL1

HI! As I'm sure you can tell my workout of choice is my afg elliptical. I do it on a ten percent grade and the resistance at 3 for 1.5 miles, then 5 for half a mile, 4 for a quarter mile and then 5 for another quarter mile. Then I'm back down to 3 for my last half mile. This takes me 30 to 35 minutes. Do you think this is a good enough work out for a beginner (I've been doing it for two to three weeks) or should I be pushing myself harder?

hayden2218

I'm not super familiar with the levels and such (the machine i use is a little different) but it sounds like you are doing a good job mixing it up. It keeps up the challenge for your body. Either way 30-35 minutes of cardio is great. I think you're doing a great job! Now that you're 2-3 weeks into it, you can try changing up the levels if you want, maybe bumping up your 3s to 4s or changing how long you stay on the harder level. It's really up to you and how you experiment with it. See how you like it and then go from there! The key is to keep it challenging. The more your body is challenged, the more change you will see! Keep up the great work!

ElyseL1

Yea I bumped it up a lot this week. Before I was just doing three and I never felt the least bit sore so I knew I wasnt pushing myself hard enough.

tytso

Everybody is different; but for me, I gradually ramped things up to the point where I'm doing 60 minutes on the elliptical, 5-6 times a week. Some weeks when I'm really busy I'll drop back down to 30-45 minute workouts, but I found that given where I am at, the weight really dropped off those weeks where I was doing 45-60 minutes per workout --- far more than the difference between the 400 calories for a 30 minute workout vs 800 calories if I do the full hour would suggest.

I don't do 60 minutes, 5-6 times a week all the time, but when I do, it definitely is a great way to turbo-charge my weight loss regimin.

I would suggest gradually working up to that level, though!

Lone_Wolf70

I use the ARC trainer on settings of 20 for Incline & 55 for resistance.

I do 45 mins on cardio only days & 15 mins on lift days

Jacwhite22

Personally I am not a huge fan of steady state. I would warm up 3 min or so and then go all out (resistance, speed or both) for 30 seconds.....then down for a minute....then all out for 30 seconds, etc........repeat for 30 minutes or so.

bethfartman

I would up your time, my doctor told me to do at least 60 minutes to get the full benefit.

lmarshel

I have a Schwinn elliptical that I use at home. I alternate the elliptical with running for my cardio workouts, since I can't run every day. My machine has an interval program that I use, and I also vary speed within that program. So the resistance adjusts up and down automatically, and I up my speed to "sprint" for about a minute out of every 3 minutes. It's challenging enough to burn about 550 cals in a 40 minute workout.

BSchoberg

I used to love the elliptical! I'm doing other things now, but when I did use it, I wasn't worried about anything but heart rate - if I couldn't keep it in my target zone I either increased the incline or the pace - or both! If you stay on target with your HR, the fact that your body adapts to the work won't be impactful --- you will continue to challenge yourself to keep your HR up but increasing the intensity. The great thing about cardio is it's cumulative --- if you hit your target HR for 60 minutes total for the day, you can break it up any way that works for you.

One thing - if you tend to have trouble sleeping (getting to sleep or staying asleep), try not to workout in the late afternoon or evening. I learned that the hard way!

livestar

I've got a bad knee, so have been using the elliptical forever. For me the key is to really do the hardest I can tolerate for 45 to 60 minutes.

I gradually increased from level 1, no incline.

Now I do full incline at 11 resistance and incorporate my interpretation of HIIT (alternating fast as I can for 1 min, then rest, then again...)

This makes me sweat more, burn more, and I swear I'm getting stronger.

dr_tina

your going to get the best results if you do intervals between the elliptical and weight training (or some type of resistance training).

ElyseL1

I have a bum shoulder. Thats why I havent added any real weight training yet. I wanted to lose 30 lbs or so before getting back into it. I used to do Kettle bells for my weight work. O and what abt me doing half an hr twice a day instead of doing it all at once?