Whether your goal is to keep healthy, strengthen muscle strength or lose weight, taking regular exercise is always one of the most effective ways to achieve your goals. But we all know that in order to get better and more effective exercise results, it is essential to use a piece of good fitness equipment. Among much fitness equipment, the elliptical exercise machine stands out with its unique advantages, and has gradually become a popular choice in many people's home gyms. The reason why it is so popular is that it is simple to use, can bring good exercise effect without putting too much pressure on your joints. But if you want to make your elliptical cross trainer workout more challenging and effective, you need to master some skills. In the following article, I will introduce you to six simple and effective skills to help you make full use of your elliptical exercise machine for exercise.
1. Stand up straight
Good posture not only helps you minimize the possibility of muscle strain and injury when exercising on the elliptical exercise machine, but also maximizes your elliptical exercise machine workout. Stand up straight to lengthen your torso, which can exercise your core more effectively and even some upper body muscles such as your biceps, triceps and shoulders. If you start to feel tired when exercising on the elliptical exercise machine and can't continue to stand up straight, please reduce the resistance or exercise intensity and stop to have a rest. Remember not to keep poor posture in order to keep up with more intense exercise.
2. Don't lean on the handles
You know, laziness is the fastest way to make the elliptical trainer workout ineffective. Most elliptical exercise machines have two sets of handles: the external handles that move rhythmically with the foot pedal and a set of fixed handles near the console. When you feel tired during exercise on the elliptical exercise machine, you may unconsciously want to lean on its handles to help support your weight and reduce the pressure on your legs. But this practice is wrong, not only will it not maximize your elliptical exercise machine workout, it will also cause your muscles to be tight and uncomfortable. Therefore, if you want to exercise more effectively with your elliptical exercise machine, please don't lean on its handles during the exercise.
3. Hold the handles tightly
Although you shouldn't lean on the handles of the elliptical exercise machine to make your exercise easier, you should definitely hold the handles of the elliptical exercise machine tightly to get more effective exercise. Holding the handles of the elliptical exercise machine tightly can not only activate your arm muscles, but also effectively exercise your back, shoulders and core muscles. But it is worth noting that when you exercise with the elliptical exercise machine, don't let its handles move your arm, but use the strength of your arm to push its handles, so that the exercise effect can be maximized.
4. Don't stand on your toes
When exercising with the elliptical exercise machine, if you put all your weight on your toes, it will add extra pressure to your knees and make you feel pain or even injury. That's why some people feel numbness or tingling in their feet when exercising on an elliptical machine. If your feet are numb, your workout on the elliptical exercise machine will not be effective, which is not what you want. Therefore, the correct way is to put your whole feet on the pedals of the elliptical exercise machine and focus on making your heels contact with the pedals, which will help to exercise your lower body muscles more effectively.
5. Increase the resistance
Generally speaking, the elliptical trainer has adjustable resistance. Increasing its resistance will make your exercise more difficult, which will not only make you get more effective exercise, but also make you stronger and improve your endurance. Don't stay at the lowest resistance because you want to feel more relaxed, but gradually increase the resistance during the whole exercise process for more challenging exercise. But it is not true that higher resistance is better, and you should do your best according to your own level.
6. Add interval training
Many people keep a steady pace on the elliptical machine for 30 minutes but still hardly sweat, which may be due to insufficient exercise intensity. Therefore, in order to make your elliptical cross trainer workout more effective, you might as well try adding interval training. HIIT, also called high-intensity interval training, is a form of interval training. It alternates between short bursts of vigorous exercise and low-intensity workouts that help you adjust your breathing. This type of exercise can help you exercise effectively on the elliptical exercise machine, burn more calories and improve your heart and lung health.
As you can see, I introduced you to six simple skills to make your elliptical trainer workout more effective in this article. Try these skills and I hope they will play a great role in your next exercise.
