An elliptical is an exercise machine designed to provide a cardiovascular workout much like a treadmill. The main difference is that an elliptical utilizes pedals that move in an oval track, eliminating the impact from the exercise. They take up less room than treadmills, and provide a variety of functions that allow you to customize your workout.
Low-Impact Exercise
When you use an elliptical trainer, your feet remain on the pedals the entire time. That means there is no impact absorbed from landing on a hard surface. Your knees, hips and back do not absorb the same shock they would if you were running on a treadmill, so ellipticals can help you rehabilitate or avoid lower body injuries. It is important to maintain proper posture throughout the duration of your workout, however.
Weight Loss
Ellipticals help you to burn calories by increasing your heart rate and maintaining the elevated rate. This in turn increases your metabolic rate, which burns calories. Regular training on an elliptical allows you to do get the same weight loss benefits as a treadmill, while enjoying the lower-impact track of the pedals. The handles that work the upper body give you the added benefit of an upper body workout, which speeds up the fat-burning process.
Heart Health
In addition to increasing fat burn, the handles that allow you to work your upper body also speed up your heart rate. Maintaining an elevated heart rate strengthens the heart, which in turn can lead to a decrease in the risk of heart attack and other cardiovascular ailments. Most ellipticals have a built-in heart rate monitor that displays your beats per minute while you work out.
Versatility
Ellipticals have a number of settings that can be adjusted to fine tune the workout. You can opt to use the upper body component or do without it. You can also adjust the resistance level of the pedals, which increases the difficulty of each step and adds a resistance training component to your workout. Foot pedals can move in the reverse direction, and some models also allow the pedals to incline to various angles to specifically focus on different muscles, such as the hamstrings, glutes and quadriceps.
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