Elliptical trainers offer a convenient, weight-bearing, low-impact way of getting the recommended 20 to 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise most days of the week. You set your own speed while pedaling an elliptical trainer, adjusting the machine's resistance to create the desired workout intensity. If you get tired of adjusting the resistance yourself, all but the very lowest-end elliptical trainers offer multiple programmed workouts to adjust the elliptical's resistance for you.
What They Do
If your elliptical trainer has a motor-adjust incline ramp, some of its programmed workouts may adjust both incline and resistance. Many, though not all, programmed workouts also include an automatic warm-up and cool down period before and after the workout, giving your body a chance to gradually ease into and out of a state of intense exertion.
What They Don't Do
If your elliptical has a manual-adjust ramp, the programmed workouts will deal only with resistance; you have to dismount and make any incline adjustments yourself. You're also on your own for any other mechanical adjustments, including stride length and pedal angle.
Audio Prompts
All elliptical trainers display your current resistance level as either a number on the screen or an illuminated bar chart, or both. The number or bar typically flashes to warn you when the machine is about to increase or decrease resistance levels. Some machines also beep to signal coming resistance changes. A very few offer audio prompts, usually from certified personal trainers, to guide you through your workout.
Heart Rate Control
Most elliptical trainers come with programs set to imitate a specific type of terrain or training workout. Examples include rolling hills, one big hill, or speed intervals. But mid-range to high-end elliptical trainers, and almost all gym machines, also include a heart rate control option. The machine monitors your heart rate through a wireless chest-strap heart rate monitor, automatically adjusting resistance to keep you within a set heart rate range.
Goal Setting
Some elliptical trainers also offer goal-oriented workouts. This usually means inputting a goal in terms of calories burned or time worked out, at which point the machine customizes the rest of the workout parameters to suit the goal you entered. Some Some ellipticals also offer training programs to help you toward a specific athletic goal -- for example, running a 5k.
Customizable
Customizable elliptical-trainer workouts allow you to create your own series of resistance changes and, if applicable, incline shifts. Most customizable workouts require you to set the machine to "record" your settings, then perform the entire workout manually. You can then save the adjustments and play them back at your convenience. If your elliptical trainer has multiple user accounts, each user typically has a set quota of stored workouts they can customize.
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