new here this week..Q about elliptical

joaniej75
joaniej75 Posts: 136 Member
edited December 2024 in Introduce Yourself
i'VE BEEN reading everyones success stories and it has really motivated me. I am so ready to lose this 30-35 pounds that are holding me back. I have no energy. I've done well the last few days. I am buy an elliptical this weekend......has anyone had success using an elliptical?

Replies

  • KaraFara
    KaraFara Posts: 6
    Hi! The elliptical is probably my favorite thing at the gym. I started beginning of January and went down 30 lbs by March. I've gone through a couple setbacks but by using the elliptical and changing my eating habits it's coming off again! Best of luck :)
  • sharleengc
    sharleengc Posts: 792 Member
    My husband and I used the elliptical every day when we had access to a gym and we both had great success! He used it for 20mins/2x a day and I used it 20 mins once a day!

    Now we live too far from a gym but it's on our list to by one by winter time!
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    Have you used an elliptical before? I wouldn't invest in one unless you've used one and like it.

    Personally? I hate the damn thing. :laugh: The movement feels unnatural to me. And I couldn't do it at all after my stress fracture in my ankle. Low impact? Sure, but it pulled at my joint in a very uncomfortable way.

    WHAT you do isn't nearly as important as doing something you're going to enjoy enough to keep doing.
  • Fit4_Life
    Fit4_Life Posts: 828 Member
    The elliptical was my first exercise machine a year ago, and I still use it! It has been the best investment for me. I bought a used one from Play it Again Sports. There was nothing wrong with it. It's an IFit machine, and the stride is comfortable. You need to test each one because some of the strides are shorter than others and can hurt your knees. READ REVIEWS online!! Make sure you would be happy with the type of elliptical machine. I try to do 30 min programmed workout. The elliptical helps with your endurance. Eating right and exercise...you will see a difference! Good luck to you!
  • MFPBrandy
    MFPBrandy Posts: 564 Member
    Yes! It is the only reason I succeeded. As a single parent, between my job and my daughter, here's not a whole lot of free time. So having th lliptical in the house let me get cardio in at odd times without having to get a sitter or drive to a gym. Once I got on a roll with that, then I had a ton more energy & motivation to do other stuff, too...but it all comes down to that elliptical for me. I highly recommend. Plus, you don't have to get fancy -- I got a plain $200 one on overstock.com without the electronic bells & whistles, and it works GREAT. Plus it's quiet, so I don't have to worry about waking up my daughter like with an exercise video.
  • chu604
    chu604 Posts: 353 Member
    Yeah you should really give it a try and make sure its not causing any pain or discomfort before you invest.

    As far is it goes though the Elliptical is a great machine. You have your whole body involved and if you dont use your arms it helps to work your legs & core even more. Though you can't add incline you are able to backpedal which makes for a killer workout.
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    I have severely bad knee's and have to wear custom braces to workout and I can tell you hands down from my account the Elliptical is the best piece of equipment for not over abusing my knee joints.. and I have lost a few pounds using it.... Watch the one you buy though.. some have very small stride ranges..

    I copied this from a article I found awhile back:

    Generally speaking, shorter people (5’3” or smaller) can comfortably use elliptical machines that have an 16” to 18” stride length, and if you are 5’7” to 6’7” your best choice will be a 20” or 21” stride length. Any time you come across a stride length of an elliptical trainer with less than 18”, it’s going to feel less comfortable to most people, resulting in short choppy strides.

    The exception would be if you are out of shape, then you may be able to work out on an elliptical trainer with a shorter length without too much discomfort. Most commercial health club models have a minimum 20” stride since the machines need to accommodate multiple users of different heights.

    I prefer the commercial stride ones because it allows me any foot position a prefer..

    Best of Luck
  • danimal5867
    danimal5867 Posts: 390
    The elliptical was my primary form of exercise for the first two months of my weight loss journey. I got to where I was on it for an hour at a time. However, now that I have dropped nearly 60 lbs. I find I just don't get the calorie burn that I want from the elliptical. I've moved on to mostly running but when I go to the gym my machine of choice is the Arc Trainer. It is a lot like an elliptical but it adds an incline setting which can greatly alter the stride path and burn a lot more calories. Definitely try them before you spend that kind of money on what could become an over-priced coat rack.
  • bkesecker
    bkesecker Posts: 163 Member
    I really like the elliptical because it takes so much stress off of my bum hip. I set the workout to "Intervals". Depending on the length of time I set, the intervals are one minute each. So on the flat I do an all out sprint. On the "hill" I use that for recovery. Doing 45 minutes of this really works up a sweat and burns tons of calories. And the best part is the time flies because you are constantly changing what you are doing - no boredom.
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