Elliptical workouts

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

I have become addicted to it at the gym so I thought why not

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'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.

I love using the cross trainer and every time I try to beat my previous distance/calories burnt....it keeps it exciting! So proud of yesterdays performance (see pictures) bearing in mind I'm still a 16 stone fatty!!

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.

ninerbuff wrote: »

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.