Global Sports: Ellipticals Are Great for Mixing Up Your Workouts

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Ellipticals Are Great for Mixing Up Your Workouts

By Steven J. Bancroft


If you are in the market for an exercise machine, you're probably considering a treadmill, elliptical trainer or exercise bike.

What exercise machine should you buy?

One approach to consider the purchase is to choose based on what you can do for free and what you can't do without a particular type of exercise machine.

What do I mean?

For example, you can walk and run outside for free. Therefore, you don't need a treadmill in order to walk and run.

Likewise, if you own a bicycle, you can already cycle outside. However, you can't do an elliptical motion workout without an elliptical trainer. Yes, cross-country skiing is close, but it's not the same. Besides you're dependent on snow.

Therefore, one way to choose an exercise machine is based on what you can't do presently. The good news is that there's often a great elliptical sale to be had (along with excellent treadmill sales to be had if you're interested).

And yet another reason to consider an elliptical trainer is the low-impact nature of elliptical workouts. There is practically no impact to an elliptical trainer workout. Your fee remain planted on the foot pedals throughout the workout and your arms remain in place on the handles. There is no jarring.

There is less impact using an elliptical trainer than walking. I'm not saying running or walking is bad. What I'm saying is that if impact is something you want to avoid, an elliptical trainer is a good exercise machine to buy.

Then there's the workout variety perspective. If you're a runner, you can vary your workouts and muscles worked (not to mention work out your upper body) with an elliptical trainer. This too is an excellent reason to buy an elliptical trainer ... it's the cross-training reason (or at least that's what I call it).

The above reasons are why elliptical trainers are becoming so popular for home gyms and they are incredibly popular in commercial gyms. I use an elliptical trainer weekly because I like the full body workout nature of them and the fact it's low impact.




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