Elliptical workouts
Jthanmyfitnesspal
Posts: 3,522 Member
Yo!
I am always hoping I will improve my burn on the Elliptical (my gym has Precor). I typically do it twice a week, mixed in with other workouts.
A few days ago, I did 35 minutes and burned 484 kcals, not feeling that I pushed it all that hard. I felt I could do better, so today I really pulled out all the stops, included a number of sprints where my heart rate was 174bpm, and achieved a burn of 491 kcals. An improvement of only 1.4%! Geeze.
I am always hoping I will improve my burn on the Elliptical (my gym has Precor). I typically do it twice a week, mixed in with other workouts.
A few days ago, I did 35 minutes and burned 484 kcals, not feeling that I pushed it all that hard. I felt I could do better, so today I really pulled out all the stops, included a number of sprints where my heart rate was 174bpm, and achieved a burn of 491 kcals. An improvement of only 1.4%! Geeze.
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Replies
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I like the cross training program on the elliptical. But the resistance is autoset to 1 which is nothing so I have gradually been pushing up the resistance over the past year + and now when the incline is at 5 (as example) I have the resistance set at 10, anything else is too easy. As the incline goes up, I set the resistance higher. I even try to keep the resistance at 8 or 10 when the incline drops to 1 & 2. My music sets the pace and I feel like I push pretty hard. I've also done the entire program backwards and my legs were killing me the next day.
I am not a small girl, after I had surgery in November the nurse said I had the resting heart rate of an athlete. I give credit to the cardio I'm doing. I feel awesome! Keep playing with the settings and keep pushing.0 -
I just bought this one http://www.fitness-superstore.co.uk/nordictrack-e9-5-power-incline-elliptical-trainer-ifit-live-compatible.html cant wait - get it Monday and its Ifit compatable so also getting that to help motivate me more0
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Froggymcconnell wrote: »I just bought this one http://www.fitness-superstore.co.uk/nordictrack-e9-5-power-incline-elliptical-trainer-ifit-live-compatible.html cant wait - get it Monday and its Ifit compatable so also getting that to help motivate me more
Nice! I hope you like it!0 -
I have become addicted to it at the gym so I thought why not0
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One problem with workouts like the elliptical and the treadmill is that they become rote and routine, and we can feel like we aren't getting the best possible workout.
I tried to change things up on my elliptical to keep things challenging. One thing that really worked for me was interval training. Some ellipticals come with programs for this, or you can increase and decrease the resistance yourself.
Making your body and your muscles work harder at different intervals, and then giving them short breaks, will keep things interesting for your mind and also increase the intensity of your workouts. You'll feel like you had a better workout when you've finished, and find that your body doesn't feel nearly so complacent about your elliptical workouts anymore.1 -
What settings are there on the precor? Fatburn, manual? Have u tried a different setting or speed? I only get up to speed 60
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hockeysniper8 wrote: »What settings are there on the precor? Fatburn, manual? Have u tried a different setting or speed? I only get up to speed 6
I usually set to "interval training." I am slightly irritated that you can't choose the interval length. I prefer 1 minute to 2. I usually set the incline to 10 or 12 and the resistance to 10-12. High sprints sometimes at 13.0 -
I'll give you some advice if you are trying to beat your calorie burns. We own an older Precor machine, and the advice comes from me discovering what data to use. You can use this regardless of what program you use, but the numbers will line up and become more natural if you are being consistent with time, ramp angles, and resistance settings.
1. You have plenty of built in data. Use it. You can take your time and calories, then divide them down into calories per minute. In your case it was just above for your example. If you use the setting on the machine to display calories per minute, keep 14 at a minimum to never go below. Shoot for 14.5-15 range.
2. You can also use the miles distance for pace, and once again do the math to shoot for a quicker pace. Unless it has changed on the newer machines, miles traveled it not directly related to strides, it is a measure of wattage and a miles equivalent power measure for your input weight. So in short, a direct gauge of work performed, regardless of strides per minute, resistance, or ramp angle. You should be almost dead on a 10 minute per mile pace, which makes the metric easy to watch. For every minute, you must go .1 mile. At 5 minutes in, you will need to have gone half a mile, etc. In your case, just watching that display and staying ahead of that time curve will get you an improvement.
3. Use those power measures to keep as close as possible to your goal range. If you work too hard early on, the HR rise can haunt you later in the workout. Even if doing intervals on the machine, just keep that pace steady and see where your heart rate lands. If you stay at your pace and have gas in the tank towards the end, then go for it. How long and hard depends on the HR margin you have left, and the tolerance for sucking up the extra effort.
Figuring what to do with that data made it much easier for me to see improvements on a consistent basis. But even with a couple times a week if you are already putting out and working hard, just bumping your power a half calorie a minute can be quite a bit more perceived effort. And if you are still in a calorie deficit and losing weight, that may be a disadvantage to some extent. I reached a point where those extra calories from being in maintenance helped, as does enough carb fueling. Also keep in mind that the machine uses weight as a primary input, so if you are still dropping weight... well the workout really doesn't get any easier at all. The lighter person at the same cadence/ramp/resistance burns fewer calories.
And as pointed out by Mccindy72, there are plenty of ways to mix it up and have fun. A good elliptical machine is a powerful training tool. I've seen big improvements in my cardio limits, and having all that data put me way more in touch with where to conserve and when to push on my bike too. But I find new things to try all the time, including doing a true Tabata now and then. Those are some tough intervals. I often do some high intensity at different power levels, and set a goal time per intensity. Sometimes pushing that wattage up makes the normal workout pace seem easy again.
But 14 calories a minute is already fairly solid unless you're really big. Many claim that's a number most people can't reach.0 -
I think the most important think is what you do after gym. Speaking from personal experience. Try to eat healthy, sleep enough and minimise stress.
This blog might help why to workout at the gym: https://azfitnessequipment.com/blogs/blog/174293383-why-people-should-workout-at-a-gym-instead-of-at-home
Disclosure: I own this company.-1 -
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Unlike a treadmill, the elliptical has the same stride length for EVERYONE. So even if you go faster on it, you're only increasing intensity a little bit versus the treadmill where a faster speed will usually mean you'll also increase your stride length making it more intense on your legs and thereby burning more calories.
If you want to increase more the elliptical, increase the resistance while keeping a fast pace.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Also, take those calorie burns with a grain of salt because those machines are notoriously inaccurate when it comes to calories. I typically immediately take 100 calories off what the machine tells me and it is often a more realistic number.0
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I have been on an elliptical for a while... 4 years ago on a level one I managed a whole 12 minutes before I thought I was going to get carted out of the gym on a stretcher by the paramedics.. it took me about 20 minutes to recover... Now for a steady state cardio burn I will set the machine at level 5 and push for 20 minutes (as a warm up to my strength training) or extend it to 30-40 minutes for a decent fat burn... as I pump away at it I will aim for a heart rate of between 147 and 154 and maintain a pace of between 6.2 and 6.75 mph...depending on how "far" I plan to go... when I go to the max (40 minutes) I aim for 4 mile so it averages to 10 minutes/mile OR 2.5 minutes per 400m lap... IF I am on a short distance (20 minute warm up) I will reduce my time to turn a 7.5 to 8.5 minute mile... long term goals my stretch goal a couple years ago was to burn 100 calories/10 minutes of machine time... I am currently doing between 100 and 110 once again depending on the time...during the longer times I will bounce the resistance from 5 to as high as 9 for p2-3 minute periods (the length of a song)... as my fitness level has increased so to have I increased my own challenges on the machine... just a few caveats... it is important to throw in different machines once in a while to prevent repetitive motion injuries... if you don't have access to other machines... find a decent hill to climb... a set of stairs... bicycle up a hill... do things like squat jumps, burpees, jump rope... BUT the machine is a good way of gauging your progress... and of providing yourself with achievable goals and milestones... a few weeks ago I did a 7 minute mile...on level 7... I also have to add that I did plateau for a few months... I could NOT get below an 8 minute mile... I knew the answer was going to be "Intervals"... but how? I decided on stairs... they are not really a conventional HIIT format, but whatever works...so I hit a set of stairs not far from my office now 3x/week... 167 step to the top... 167 steps to the bottom... I started with a single round trip in May... added a second round trip in June... this month I am working on speed... 2 round trips as fast as I can... my August goal is 3 round trips... and I hope to average 9 minutes/mile over a 40 minute period on level 7 by Christmas...
why all this? to give you an idea on how you can set some goals on an elliptical... and how you can get past some of the inevitable plateaus.1 -
Unlike a treadmill, the elliptical has the same stride length for EVERYONE. So even if you go faster on it, you're only increasing intensity a little bit versus the treadmill where a faster speed will usually mean you'll also increase your stride length making it more intense on your legs and thereby burning more calories.
If you want to increase more the elliptical, increase the resistance while keeping a fast pace.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I'm not so sure it would work that way. It seems to me that the efficiency changes in running would be negated on an elliptical. Since often running efficiency increases with speed due to a farther distance traveled with each "bounce" it might actually be the other way around.
In terms of power, power is always increases in relation to rotational speed at any given torque output, the same as with a bike or car engine. More RPM = more power.
But I fully agree that resistance is needed at certain cadences, otherwise the rotational speed would become less efficient due to just throwing the mass of your legs around that quickly. I use my elliptical in a fashion similar to a bike, above a certain RPM I increase resistance even more, similar to shifting to a higher gear on a bike.0
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