How to get the most impact on elliptical?

[Anonymous]

With the goal of weight loss and toning? Is it speed? Incline? Duration?

[Anonymous]

You can't tone on an elliptical because toning is not a thing. It's fat loss and muscle gain. THAT'S IT. You're not going to gain muscle on an elliptical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can't tone on an elliptical because toning is not a thing. It's fat loss and muscle gain. THAT'S IT. You're not going to gain muscle on an elliptical.

Ok then what's the point? How is an elliptical the most effective?

[Anonymous]

Intervals. Don't worry about the incline too much, I think a lot of that is comfort and depends on your height.

Do speed and resistance intervals. Something like:

5 minute moderate warmup
1 min hard resistance
1 min moderate/recovery
1 min speed
1 min moderate/recovery
1 min hard resistance
etcs for 30 mins, with a 5 min moderate "cooldown"

You can play with the times/numbers, but intervals are great for revving your calorie burn.

Also try letting go of the handlebars sometime, to get the big leg muscles really take over, and also work your core some (balancing takes strength which uses energy/calories). Test your body and let your arms swing freely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Intervals. Don't worry about the incline too much, I think a lot of that is comfort and depends on your height.

Do speed and resistance intervals. Something like:

5 minute moderate warmup
1 min hard resistance
1 min moderate/recovery
1 min speed
1 min moderate/recovery
1 min hard resistance
etcs for 30 mins, with a 5 min moderate "cooldown"

You can play with the times/numbers, but intervals are great for revving your calorie burn.

Also try letting go of the handlebars sometime, to get the big leg muscles really take over, and also work your core some (balancing takes strength which uses energy/calories). Test your body and let your arms swing freely.

Excellent thanks!! Does pedaling backward make a difference?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't tone on an elliptical because toning is not a thing. It's fat loss and muscle gain. THAT'S IT. You're not going to gain muscle on an elliptical.

Ok then what's the point? How is an elliptical the most effective?

You'll burn more calories without putting pressure on your joints like running does. Burning more calories than you take in results in weight loss.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't tone on an elliptical because toning is not a thing. It's fat loss and muscle gain. THAT'S IT. You're not going to gain muscle on an elliptical.

Ok then what's the point? How is an elliptical the most effective?

You'll burn more calories without putting pressure on your joints like running does. Burning more calories than you take in results in weight loss.

I'm all for weight loss and not running. Is there a good duration that I should aim for?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't tone on an elliptical because toning is not a thing. It's fat loss and muscle gain. THAT'S IT. You're not going to gain muscle on an elliptical.

Ok then what's the point? How is an elliptical the most effective?

You'll burn more calories without putting pressure on your joints like running does. Burning more calories than you take in results in weight loss.

I'm all for weight loss and not running. Is there a good duration that I should aim for?

Weight loss is about calories in vs calories out. The sum of what you eat vs. the sum of what you burn. You can eat 5000 calories a day and lose weight by burning 6000 calories a day, but that's impossible for most of us who aren't professional athletes. As long as you burn more than you're consuming, whatever those numbers are, you'll lose weight.

As for backwards... it can help with things like balance, but I wouldn't spend too much time on it. If you want to go backwards for about 5 mins a couple times a week (slowly), then go for it, but it's not going to burn as much.

But intervals. Definitely intervals.

[Anonymous]

There is no "good duration" when it comes to doing cardio. It's all about intensity. In simple terms, a 10 minute run on a level 10 is perhaps just as good as a 100 minute run on a level 1.

[Anonymous]

Do the random function on the machine to get you intervals, at a high level (I usually go 12 or higher). I don't think going backwards does anything special. Make sure you use the arm handles, it ups your heart rate.

As for toning, it basically will help your legs and butt.

[Anonymous]

Pedaling backwards works different muscles slightly more.

There are some machines which shows the different muscles being worked out with the change of each setting. Such as if pedaling backwards, changing incline, etc.

If you're just focusing on cardio, it might not matter much and you can just focus on keeping your heart rate up. But I like to change it up a bit.

[Anonymous]

Add wrist and ankle weights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no "good duration" when it comes to doing cardio. It's all about intensity. In simple terms, a 10 minute run on a level 10 is perhaps just as good as a 100 minute run on a level 1.

Agree about the intensity. People will spend an hour on it and wonder why they don't lose any weight. Well, if you're just mindlessly pedaling while reading a magazine and Facebooking, you're not getting much at all out of the workout. You're only going to see results if you make it hard. Sweating. Very tired at the end.

[Anonymous]

Don't hold on. Sprint for 30 sec intervals every 2 mins.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can't tone on an elliptical because toning is not a thing. It's fat loss and muscle gain. THAT'S IT. You're not going to gain muscle on an elliptical.

Yes!!