Eliptical Machine- resistance?

feby28

I'm not sure how to guarantee I get a good and hard workout on the eliptical. I'm not sure how to use the resistance levels...
Can someone help me out?

haroon_awan

What's the difficulty?

Either do steady state cardio, eg 20 mins of constant speed
or do high intensity interval training, eg 30 second sprint/high resistance and 1 minute slow for 20 mins

JenMc14

If it feels too easy and you want to go harder, but the resistance level. It will get harder to keep peddling the same same way you were at a lower resistance. I also like to play with the inline.

justkate88

I do 5 minutes at the lowest resistance, then 3 minutes at level 4 resistance, then 2 minutes at level 6 resistance and repeat until I think I might die.

lilpoindexter

I have been using the elliptical for over a year, with good results. i do a program where it goes low for 2 minutes, than hard for two minutes. i usually have the hard setting on "10" which is a little difficult for me, and the light setting on "7" or " "8", and I repeat and repeat and repeat for 30-60 minutes until I burn the desired ammount of calories.

mrsg2006

I do 5 minutes at the lowest resistance, then 3 minutes at level 4 resistance, then 2 minutes at level 6 resistance and repeat until I think I might die.

Do you also adjust the incline?
Do you find that you burn more calories this way?

CAS317

bump

blancokitty

I personally get on it for 3 or so mins. level 5 at slow pace to raise heart rate, then leave it on level 5 and go as fast as you can tolerate for 10 mins, then I raise it to level 13 and continue at moderate pace for 20 mins.

justkate88

I do 5 minutes at the lowest resistance, then 3 minutes at level 4 resistance, then 2 minutes at level 6 resistance and repeat until I think I might die.

Do you also adjust the incline?
Do you find that you burn more calories this way?

The ellipticals at the gym I use don't have the option for an incline. I have an orientation at another local gym tomorrow, if those have the option I'll probably play around with it.

When I first started going to the gym I would do an hour on the lowest resistance, I was a little bit sweaty at the end. I switched to the routine above on the advice of my brother (he is a gym instructor) and since I've been doing that I can manage between 40 and 50 minutes, I get very sweaty and sweat from places I didn't know I could sweat from! It is definitely working for me and works me much harder. For the last 20 or 30 seconds of each round at the highest resistance, I really push it and then recover back in low resistance.

Edit: Seems that the machines I have differ from the ones people are mentioning. Level 6 is the highest resistance level on the machine. So probably the equivalent of 12 or 13 on others.

tracymat

I prefer using the Precor Eliptical - which is resistance instead of incline. I get the best workout doing 2 minute intervals - level 8 and level 20. Level 20 is more of a "step" motion. Gets those muscles BURNING!

McKnightAM

I use a Precor and it has the option to adjust resistance and incline. I love having the option to play with both to work exactly which part of the legs I want etc.