Elliptical machines have become popular as gymnasiums add equipment to their collections of training options. If you are looking for a fitness machine for regular, daily exercise that emphasizes your lower body in a fashion similar to running, the elliptical machine is an excellent choice. However, elliptical exercise is not an exact substitution for running, and you should consider the benefits and drawbacks if you are training to run competitively.
Elliptical Machines: Low-Impact Benefits
If you have a running injury or prefer to exercise indoors, you can replicate portions of your outdoor workout on an elliptical machine without the impact. As explained by Fred Waters on Selfgrowth.com, in an article called "Treadmill vs. Elliptical Trainer," you stand on the elliptical machine's floating platforms and recreate the running motion with your legs, with the option of pumping arm levers back and forth. You can adjust the resistance of the platforms and arm levers, and work as hard or as gently as you like. Your strides will remain smooth and low-impact. Your may also get a great upper-body workout.
Running: High-Impact Benefits
Running is a weight-bearing impact activity, wonderful for developing bone strength and tendon and muscle stability. The repeated impact of your legs against the road stimulates your bones to regenerate at the cellular level, and your tendons and muscles also strengthen to adapt. If you incorporate rest days and intelligent nutrition into your routine, running's impact will not be a problem. As suggested in Peak Performance's online report on running form, it is faulty biomechanics, not the pounding, that causes most running injuries.
Similarities
Elliptical machines exercise the major muscle groups you use to run. Your quadriceps, hamstrings, calves and hip and gluteus muscles work together with every stride, and with skill and balance, you can also use your feet as if you are pushing off the road surface during a run.
Differences
Elliptical machines cannot totally mirror running. They are stationary, lack wind-resistance and promote smooth action, whereas running outdoors requires overcoming air-resistance while adjusting to different terrains and surface irregularities. Elliptical machines alter the leaping action of running. When running, you are really jumping; you push off with sharp ankle flexion and land on your other leg. You cannot exactly replicate this on the elliptical machine. Your arm-swing changes, too; an elliptical machine brings your arms up and forward and sometimes puts them slightly out of sync with your legs. Running requires your arms to stay lower and to your sides, and timed to your foot-strike.
Specificity of Training
Running injuries sometimes force you to seek elliptical exercise, even though it won't exactly replace running. Elliptical machines do provide a record of heart rate, speed, time and calories burned, as well as a safe environment if you wish to plug into electronic entertainment. However, if you want to be a better runner, you must run. Specificity of Training emphasizes that, as with any sport, running's unique physiological actions require practice to produce running success.
Member Comments