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Elliptical Workouts

An elliptical trainer is a cardiovascular fitness machine that can be used to train the upper and lower muscular systems of the body, as well as the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Your specific results are dependent on how you conduct your training workouts. Workouts can be designed to yield specific results, depending on your training goals.

  1. Warm Up

    • An elliptical trainer, when used in conjunction with the handlebars, can be used as a warm up machine for the entire body. The machine should be set with low resistance. The key is to warm the muscles by increasing the blood flow, but not to work out so hard as to truly fatigue the activated musculature. The activity should last for at least 15 to 20 minutes, during which time the cardiovascular and respiratory systems will begin to respond to the activity by increasing your breathing rate and blood flow to the body's muscles, to prepare the body for much more intense activity.

    Strength Development

    • Setting the resistance to a high level affects your ability to maintain a high pedal speed and arm rotation at the handlebars. The result on the musculature of the upper and lower body, however, will be the development of muscular strength in the activated muscle groups. The key to successfully developing muscle with this type of training is maintaining your pedal speed and arm rotation at as high a speed as you can. Although you will not be able to maintain the same level throughout the exercise, due to muscule fatigue, you ultimately want to keep your speed as high as you can for as long as you can.

    Endurance Development

    • Setting the resistance of the machine to a moderate level--one that allows you to perform the machine movements at a relatively high rate of speed but does not severely hinder your performance--can be used to develop muscular endurance within the activated muscle groups when used properly. The workout session should last for 30 to 45 minutes to properly challenge the targeted muscle groups. Regardless of the muscular burn you may feel, you want to attempt to maintain your high rate of speed for the entire training time.

    Cardiovascular Fitness

    • Regardless of the type of resistance used during your workout, your cardiovascular and respiratory systems must respond appropriately to the activity, to supply the body with the necessary oxygen needed to maintain the workout. Your heart rate must increase to get the additional oxygen to the muscles, and your breathing rate must increase to take in the additional oxygen. By performing this type of workout as part of your regular training, your body will adapt to the training; over time, this will lead to more efficient cardiovascular and respiratory systems. The key to success is ensuring that your workouts last for at least 30 minutes.

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