Fat Burning Elliptical Workouts

Elliptical machines provide a healthy workout without putting undue stress on the joints. What's more, they work the entire body if you grip the handles during your workout. As with all cardiovascular exercise, higher intensity burns more fat than lower intensity. There are a number of ways to achieve high-intensity workouts on an elliptical machine.

Interval Training

• Interval training is key to fat loss in any kind of cardiovascular exercise. You exercise at extreme intensity for short bursts. These bursts can vary from one minute with a one minute rest to three minutes with a one minute rest. During the rest, you should slow down but not stop; you want your heartbeat to remain at a reasonable rate.

Speed

• One way to interval train is to increase the speed. You could do one minute of exercise at a speed that keeps your heart rate reasonably low, then go extremely fast for three minutes. Repeat this process for a few sets. The great thing about interval training is that the total workout should only be about 20 minutes, so four sets with a five minute warm up is completely reasonable. You should start with two or three sets and gradually work your way up.

Intensity

• Another option is to work out at the same speed but vary the resistance or incline. This also will increase your heart rate but works the body in a different way.

Variety

• Mix up your exercise routine. If you speed up the intervals one day, then change the resistance the next day. You also can change your routine during one workout; perform the first set at normal resistance and high speed, and then do the second set at normal speed with high resistance. Interval training is effective because it never lets your body get complacent, and the key is to constantly change how you get your heart rate up.