31 Dec 11 Finding the Best Workout Machine For YOU!
Finding the Best Workout Machine For YOU!
Horizon Elliptical trainers get straight to the point of giving you a compact fitness machine without having to spend a lot of money on expensive gym programs, and should be carefully considered when you want to work out in the comfort of your own home without having to go to the gym.
The membership fees, extra lessons, “specially designed” fitness programs, nutritional supplements and the other little things that most gyms want you to spend on are usually in excess and are often things that you may not even be asking for. A Horizon Elliptical trainer, on the other hand, keeps the overall expenses down without compromising bodily fitness:
Cardio Exercises
One of the most important aspects of exercise is the cardio exercises. Burning calories, strengthening the lungs and making the heart more capable of dealing with stress are all essential benefits that a good cardio machine gives, and the Horizon Elliptical trainers do not fail to deliver: the pedals which make up the core design of a trainer is specifically designed with cardio exercises in mind. This means you have a very powerful and compact system for working out your cardiovascular system while burning up calories; shaving those pounds in time.
Muscle Toning
Along with the cardio exercises, the Horizon Elliptical trainer, like the elliptical cross trainer, also serves as a muscle toning device for your arms, legs and abdominal muscles. The pedals are a given muscle-toner: the variable resistance rates means that you can increase or decrease the weight your legs will have to push with each step, and you can build up those leg muscles as much as you want.
The hand grips attached to the pedals, on the other hand, serve more than simple supports for you as you work out: by flexing your arms, your flex both your arm muscles and your abdominal muscles. This repetitive motion makes the muscles in these regions more toned and shaped than if you had simply gone jogging or followed some other form of exercise.
Tags: Finding, Finding Workout, Machine, Workout, Workout Machine
26 Dec 11 How Many Calories Did You Really Burn on Your Elliptical Trainer Workout?
How Many Calories Did You Really Burn on Your Elliptical Trainer Workout?
You jump on your elliptical and you starting turning the pedals. After what seems like forever, you have managed to tick off 5 miles and burn 400 calories, according to the read out on the machine. That Chinese food you ate last night is finally burned away and you can feel great when you sit down to your salad tonight. But, how do you know the number on the machine is the true number of calories you burned?
If during your workout you increase your heart rate, manage to sweat throughout the workout and need to breathe faster and harder, you can feel good about burning a significant number of calories during your workout. But, the number on the machine is just an estimate and according to experts in the field of fitness, that estimate can vary from machine to machine.
Experts agree that consumers should recognize the difference between the realities of fitness and the expectations. Many people expect they can depend on the calories burned readout as a means of planning their menu for the next day. This is especially true of people who are trying to shed a few pounds. No fitness machine, whether it is an elliptical, treadmill or a stepper can predict how many calories the body truly burned.
How to Make the Estimate More Accurate
Whether using an elliptical trainer at home or in the gym, it is important to choose a model that asks for your age and weight before starting a program. If the calories are figured without these two factors, there is sure to be a huge variance between the actual calories burned and those appearing on the readout. How can a machine predict the number of calories burned if it has no idea what type of body the user is working with. Advanced calorie burn readouts will also take heart rate into consideration and adjust the calories burned total based upon the heart rate throughout the workout.
Using the Calories Burned Readout as a Benchmark
The best way to use the calories burned readout on your elliptical machine is as a benchmark for improvement. If you managed to burn off 150 calories without stopping the first time you used the elliptical, write down that number somewhere close to the machine. Over the course of the weeks ahead, notice how the number of calories burned increases while the effort you are putting forth seems to remain the same.
As the body adjusts to working out, you will be able to work longer and harder on the elliptical machine managing to burn more calories with time.
Using an off machine calorie burn calculator can also help gauge performance. If, for some reason, you replace your elliptical machine one day, the readout for the same workout you had been completing on your old elliptical may register as burning fewer calories. If an off machine calculator is used, no matter what machine changes take place, the same formula for calculating calories burned will be used.
No fitness machine will definitely monitor the inner workings of the body precisely. The elliptical machine is no different. Using a generalized math formula for the amount of energy needed to complete a certain exercise, the elliptical calories burned readout will estimate how much energy you used during your time on the machine. This is only a guess, not an absolute.
Tags: Calories, Calories Elliptical, Elliptical, Really, Really Calories, Trainer, Workout
22 Dec 11 An Elliptical Machine Workout For Low Impact Exercise
An Elliptical Machine Workout For Low Impact Exercise
The elliptical exercise machines are well known these days pertinent to the fact that they are listed amongst the most effective equipment for fitness purposes. The work out on such machines is quite similar to a work out under the supervision of an expert trainer; and this will hasten up your fitness level resulting in the fecundity of your physical health. For this very reason, the elliptical exercise machines are also known as elliptical trainers. And the exercising techniques on these elliptical machines are relatively easier to learn.
The elliptical machines or the elliptical trainers are interleaved with miscellaneous health benefits that these provide to the user, and amongst those include the weight bearing work out for which the fitness experts validate their opinions that such weight bearing exercises are the best possible way that could ameliorate your health conditions and will result in the increment of the density of the bones, as well as strengthen the muscles and burn the calories, efficiently.
Generally, the low impact exercise provides a handsome weight bearing work outs, where as these elliptical machines are pro actively of a relatively low impact, and thus it lays the minimal stress on the bones and joints during the work out on these machines. The foot does not get away from the pedals and so there is no chance that one could experience ligament fractures or muscular strains, which are the results of heavy work outs.
And for the cardio vascular exercises, these elliptical exercise machines are an excellent provision of cardio vascular work done, which along with the weight bearing work outs, too is an essential part of salubrious fecund. It comprehensively enables you to work out if you intend to lose some weight or to firm your body up, or probably the both; just let the incorporation of the cardio vascular work outs into your exercise routine, and this will give you out a long term triumph.
Normally those people who start and end their exercise routines of and on; have a perception related to the work outs, that one should get into something that yields out the best positive results in the minimum span of time. And upon satisfying this notion, these elliptical machine work outs give you out the best, while putting in your minimum time, as most of the people lead a busy life style and unlike tradition work outs, you don’t have to put in several of your hours for working out and devote the time on regular basis. This machine is a very good option for such peoples.
Tags: Elliptical, Exercise, Exercise Impact, Impact, Machine, Workout, Workout Exercise
06 Dec 11 Get A Total Body Workout With An Elliptical Machine
Get A Total Body Workout With An Elliptical Machine
Whether you work out at home, on some home gym equipment or you are attending a health club, cardiovascular exercise is an important part of your exercise regime. Elliptical trainers are gaining in popularity both in health clubs all over North America and as machines in people’s homes all over.
Why Are Elliptical Machines So Popular?
Elliptical crosstrainers have gained popularity so quickly because they are extremely beneficial exercise machines. If you are looking for a highly effective fat burning workout, than an elliptical machine is the piece of equipment for you. When you walk into your health club you will be faced with a number of different choices for cardio equipment. What should you choose? If you are looking for a complete body cardio workout that is low impact than an elliptical trainer is for you.
What Does Low Impact Mean?
Elliptical trainers are low impact because your feet do not have to leave the foot pads during the workout. When you workout on a traditional treadmill your feet will repeatedly lift from the pad and strike it, causing impact on your joints. The joints that are affected with an impact form of exercise are usually the knees, ankles, hips and back. With an elliptical machine you still get the benefits of other impact machines but with no impact thereby saving unnecessary wear and tear on your joints.
What About Losing Weight?
In today’s time crunched society everyone is looking for a quick fix. More and more overweight people are looking for an easy solution to lose weight and keep it off. The truth is that there is no magic pill that you can take, a sensible diet and regular exercise is the only solution to the problem of obesity. If you need to lose weight then you will need to engage your body in aerobic exercise. Aerobic exercise gets the heart pumping faster and it allows your body to burn calories faster and more effectively. The elliptical crosstrainer is a very effective machine that allows your body to work harder, faster and burn more calories.
Elliptical trainers burn calories faster because you are using both your arms and your legs during the workout. By using both arms and legs you are utilizing two major muscle areas instead of just one as you do with steppers or treadmills. Because you are engaging more major muscle groups you are optimizing your energy expenditure which burns more calories. And as we all know, if you want to kick start fat burning, you need to use calories.
Total body exercise is beneficial because you will be able to sculpt and tone your legs, buttocks and hips as well as your arms, chest and back. By using your entire body in an aerobic activity you are able to burn calories faster while you are toning and sculpting all of those muscles.
What About My Bones?
In recent years there has been a lot of information in the health world about bone density and osteoporosis. It has come to be known that in order to prevent the disease or slow its progress you should engage in weight bearing exercise. This is particularly important for women who face a greater risk of this bone disease.
Generally if you want to perform weight bearing exercise, it will take the form of using free weights or weight machines in the gym. But you can also perform a cardiovascular exercise that is weight bearing exercise as well. With elliptical machines you are not only getting an excellent cardio workout, but you are also getting a weight resistant exercise as well which helps to build bone density.
Is An Elliptical Challenging Enough For Me?
Sometimes, more advanced exercisers will worry that they will soon out perform their gym equipment and require something more challenging. This is not a concern with an elliptical trainer because you can adjust the tension and resistance on the machine allowing it to grow with the individual.
Most of the better elliptical trainers also have on board computers which allow the user to set different programs each time that they work out. You can choose from different weight loss workouts, and interval workouts. Most machines have between six and eight different programs in the on board computer.
Who Can Use The Elliptical Trainer?
The wonderful thing about the elliptical exerciser is that it is easy to use and everyone, regardless of their personal fitness level can use it successfully with very little training. Because the machine simulates the action of walking and running combined with skiing and cycling it is a workout that appeals to many different people.
The elliptical machines are great for pregnant women who want to remain active through their pregnancy as well because the workout is a low impact workout. And because it is low impact it also appeals to older people who have joint problems as well.
What Is The Bottom Line?
The bottom line is that the elliptical trainer provides an excellent total body workout for people of all fitness levels. Whether you want to lose weight or just get an effective cardio workout the elliptical cross trainer is an excellent choice.
© 2005 http://www.best-elliptical-trainers.com
Tags: Elliptical, Elliptical Machine, Machine, Workout, Workout Machine
27 Nov 11 The Elliptical Workout
The Elliptical Workout
Elliptical workout machines have not been around very long but have become extremely popular pieces of exercise equipment. There are lots of benefits to doing an elliptical workout rather than using some of the more traditional machines.
The first real benefit is that elliptical machines provide a very low impact form of exercise. When using the machine, you never take your feet off the pedals. This is similar to using a bicycle, so what makes elliptical trainers a better choice than an exercise bike?
It’s all in the name. Elliptical machines allow your feet and legs to follow an elliptical path which is much more similar to the actual movement you get while running. Training bikes of course follow a circular movement as your feet drive the pedals round.
So an elliptical cross trainer, as they are also called, allows you to follow the natural running movement without the impact of your feet striking the ground or the moving belt of a traditional treadmill. Removing this repetitive shock to the joints is a great advantage for many people.
People who have suffered an injury, those in the later stages of life or individuals with other joint related problems can now exercise their muscles on this type of machine without aggravating the injury by causing undue stress on their joints. It is also a great machine for pregnant women to gain some necessary exercise without any shock to their bodies and their unborn child.
When elliptical machines first appeared they only concentrated on the lower limbs but soon afterwards vertical handles were added that allow the user to get the arms and upper body moving at the same time. Although there isn’t a lot of weight to lift or push against with the handles, the simple back and forward movement adds greatly to a cardiovascular exercise that gets your heart pumping and looks a bit like the movement of cross-country skiers.
The elliptical movement employed while using the machine feels very natural and so getting a good workout doesn’t seem so difficult as using other exercise equipment. Another bonus is that, since you get your whole body moving, boredom seldom sets in and that, very often, is one reason many people stop going to the gym.
Since your feet never leave the pedals, an elliptical workout is also ideal as a load bearing exercise. These forms of exercise are excellent for increasing bone density which can be a major problem as we grow older.
Tags: Elliptical, Elliptical Workout, Workout
23 Nov 11 Elliptical Workout Equipment Information
Elliptical Workout Equipment Information
In this article, I’ll talk about the benefits of elliptical workout equipment and the benefits of this type of workout, compared to running or using a treadmill to exercise. You’ve probably already been to a gym or maybe you’ve been training on your own at home. If you’re looking to invest in a good machine, then it’s worth considering the elliptical strider, because of its numerous benefits.
What makes an elliptical workout machine so special? Well, the most important fact about this type of equipment is that it provides a no-impact total body workout. No-impact because your feet rest on the pedals for the whole duration of the workout, which means your feet are not hitting on a hard surface as they would if you were running on a road for example. And total body workout because most elliptical trainers have handles for you to hold on to, and exercise your upper body muscles.
What are the most important features of an elliptical workout machine? Well first of all, there are three different types of drives: front drive, center drive and rear drive. The front drive machines are the cheapest to manufacture, and so they are mostly used in the low end elliptical trainers. The rear end drives are the most expensive to manufacture, and so they are usually seen in commercial gym equipment. The center drive is a relatively new type, but is considered to be better than the rear-end drive type.
Then, you have the console which gives you statistics such as calories burned, speed, distance, which are useful and motivating. You can use a heart rate monitor around your chest and it will automatically calculate the data. The electronic panel also lets you select different workout programs, which is an important feature, because it means more versatility in your workout routine, and thus less boredom in the long run.
Also, when you are testing out different models before deciding on which one to buy, pay attention to any recurring noise or friction which could be annoying if you have to put up with it each time you workout. Also, make sure that the movements feel natural and comfortable to you and anyone else who will use the equipment. Don’t hesitate to play around with the programs, they should be easy to select. Also, some models have a weight limit, so be sure to verify that aspect.
So, what are the main benefits of an elliptical workout over a treadmill workout? When you’re working out on an elliptical machine, you are working all the muscles at the same time, that means that you will burn more calories in less time. Also, you won’t risk injuring your joints, because of the no-impact aspect of the exercise. It’s ideal for people who may have a bad back or knees. Another thing is the variety you can get from a good elliptical strider. You can adapt the resistance and the intensity to get the workout adapted to your level of fitness.
The final word is that you’ll find that the most important factors are durability and the possibility to vary the parameters, such as stride length, resistance and incline. This will ensure that you will get satisfaction from the elliptical workout trainer over the longest period of time possible.
Tags: Elliptical, Equipment, Information, Information Elliptical, Workout, Workout Elliptical
16 Nov 11 Elliptical Workout vs. Treadmill Workout
Elliptical Workout vs. Treadmill Workout
An elliptical workout differs from a treadmill workout in a few ways. Both will give you an aerobic workout but an elliptical trainer will work different muscle groups than a treadmill.
While both are excellent choices, they do have distinct differences. By knowing the difference, you can decide if an elliptical workout, the treadmill workout or even a combination of both works best for you.
Elliptical Workout
When comparing an elliptical workout to a treadmill workout the first thing you will notice is the elliptical trainer has much less impact. This low impact is especially good for people with joint, knee, lower back or hip problems.
An elliptical workout also works the upper and lower body simultaneously which makes your heart rate climb faster than with a treadmill workout. The elliptical trainer works your legs, back, shoulders, chest and your arms making it a total body workout.
Another great feature of an elliptical workout is you can add variety by pedaling backwards. This backward pedaling motion targets your lower body quadricep muscles.
Treadmill Workout
A treadmill workout can also give you an excellent aerobic workout and a lot of people still prefer it to an elliptical workout. If you prefer to run, jog or walk to exercise it’s obviously a smarter choice.
If you are just beginning to workout or just don’t want a total body workout a treadmill workout might be perfect. Most treadmills offer a different intensity level that you can increase as you get more fit.
A treadmill workout provides a different variety over an elliptical workout by allowing you to run, jog or walk on an incline. While it is a less intense workout, it is a great way to burn fat while promoting good cardiovascular health.
Even though treadmills remain the number one piece of fitness equipment sold today, elliptical trainers are quickly becoming very popular. With more and more health clubs adding more elliptical trainer machines, more people will try elliptical workouts.
Both elliptical workouts and treadmill workouts will build bone density, burn fat, promote good cardiovascular health and increase your energy level. The important thing is to workout on a regular basis whether it’s at home or in a gym.
If you are looking to purchase a treadmill or an elliptical trainer, the bottom line is, you usually get what you pay for. There are great values especially online but it just makes sense to get quality equipment that will last.
Whether you prefer a treadmill workout or an elliptical workout choose the one that you feel is right for you. That way you will work out more often, lose more weight and be much healthier.
Copyright © 2005 Treadmill Info.com All Rights Reserved.
Tags: Elliptical, Treadmill, Workout, Workout Treadmill, Workout Workout
15 Nov 11 Enhance Your Workout with Quality Elliptical Machines
Enhance Your Workout with Quality Elliptical Machines
Compare the different brand names available to you. Here I have listed 6
different popular ones with their various features.
Deluxe II: Two ellipticals are offered by this manufacturer. Both are
light-weight, and relatively inexpensive. Small and compact, they are easy to
move and set up. One style can be easily changed from an elliptical to a stair
climber and stepper.
Useful features include:
Hand pulse
Programmable display
Quiet and smooth magnetic resistance
Foam padded dual-action handlebars (which means they move in sync with the
pedals – this allows you to work your arms out at the same time)
Bottle holder (some with water bottle included)
Wheels for portability
Sturdy steel frame construction
7 series elliptical cross trainer: Maintenance-free magnetic resistance and
impact-free motion are two big benefits with this type of exercise machine.
Useful features include:
Dual action, push and pull handle bars
Large, easy to read LCD monitor
Measures: speed, time, distance, calories, pulse and workload
Built in hand grip pulse sensors that provide contact heart rate
Telemetry heart rate monitor
Sturdy steel frame
Built-in transport wheels
Water bottle and holder
Maximum user weight: 300 lbs.
Life fitness: The top choice of health clubs all over the world. These are
popular with athletic training centers and the armed forces because of their
high quality. There are multiple versions of this type of elliptical machine –
some are larger than others, though they all can hold the same weight.
Features include:
Digital heart rate monitoring system – this is the most accurate method
available
Lower body movement and arm action leads to a total body workout
20 levels of resistance
9 pre-programmed courses
Maximum user weight: 400 lbs.
Comes with a storage and reading rack
Precor elliptical: Patented EFX(TM) technology and the Cross Ramp(TM) incline. These
types of elliptical machines mimic cross-country training, as well as skiing,
walking, running, and climbing.
Forward or reverse stride
Industry standard
Elevation from 10-25 degrees, or 10-35 degrees, depending on make
20 levels of resistance
Power options: 110 volt/220 volt
8 pre-programmed courses
Some contain Polar® to measure heart rate
Maximum user weight: 400 lbs.
Contains a reading rack
StarTrac Natural Runner: Supplies a total body workout, with minimal impact on
your joints. These were the first ellipticals to be self powered – something
other companies have now introduced.
Has the longest stride of all the machines
Total body workout with arm action
15 levels of resistance
10 pre-programmed courses
Fitness test
Polar(TM) telemetry and contact heart rate monitor
Maximum user weight: 350 lbs.
>
StarTrac Elliptical Edge: similar to the Natural Runner mentioned above, but
also contains a towel, bottle, and personal stereo holder.
Readouts: speed, time, distance, calories, calories/min, heart rate,
resistance level, course profiles
All other aspects of this machine are comparable to the one above.
The smallest machines are the first four mentioned – but that does not mean they
can carry less weight. Smaller machines are lighter and easier to move out of
the way if you have a living area that doesn’t accommodate large machines.
Warranties vary depending on manufacturer, brand name, and retailer. On
individual machines, the warranty is often divided up according to frame,
electronics, motor, parts, manufacturer defects, and phone support.
Remember that you get what you pay for – so if you want the machine to last for
many years, you may want to splurge and purchase a more expensive elliptical trainer.
Either way, you will have a great workout without putting stress on
your joints!
Tags: Elliptical, Enhance, Machines, quality, Quality Machines, Workout, Workout Elliptical
