I was thinking back on when I started to get into exercising regularly. Cardio was my jam initially. I thought that was the way to health, fitness and a fabulous body.
My parents bought an elliptical machine for the downstairs. That was what my workouts consisted of for a few months. I was on that machine way too much. I guess it was better than sitting around eating Little Debbie cakes all day though.
I wanted to get into more about the elliptical machine and my experience with it in this post.
The machine!
Most people have seen this machine before. When you go to a gym there are typically many of these on the floor. You will also probably see a lot of people whizzing away on them.
The feet movements you do on there are similar to climbing stairs. For the hands and arms there are either moving poles or handles to hang on to (see here: https://www.proform.com/ellipticals/endurance720e?gclid=Cj0KCQiAgKzwBRCjARIsABBbFui4liEWafRzDOyRBRI4FTEqf2GM0Bv0J2e5eqwZyDv-5mDJ3tgd5R8aAmUXEALw_wcB). There are usually different settings on them so that you can make your workout as intense as you want it to be.
These machines are said to be easier on the joints than treadmills and stair steppers. Even the Arthritis Foundation lists it as a great exercise option for those that suffer from it (see here: https://www.arthritis.org/living-with-arthritis/exercise/arthritis-friendly/elliptical.php).
As far as price, there seems to be a wide range. The cheapest I could find on Amazon went for $130 and the most expensive was $17,000 (yikes!). If you are really thinking of buying one for your home, the Elliptical Reviews site ( https://www.ellipticalreviews.com/) is great for finding one that would work the best for you.
In terms of calorie burn, it all depends on your weight and how intense you are going. There are various sites that provide calculators that estimate how many calories you burn for a certain amount of time (here is a good one: https://caloriesburnedhq.com/calories-burned-on-elliptical/).
My experience with it
As mentioned before, cardio made up my workout routines for a while. This was back in the summer of 2007 when I went on Weight Watchers. I was chunky due to me eating junk with friends in my senior year of high school.
I started to take notice of women's fitness magazines when I would go to stores. Before I knew it I was buying a lot of them. I only paid attention to the articles about cardio at first and this was what inspired me to hop on the elliptical machine almost everyday.
For the first few weeks of doing elliptical workouts, I just did steady state. After that I started upping the intensity a little bit. I never really did that hard of a workout on there though.
I really liked to have the TV playing as I was on there and/or have a magazine on the little shelf that was on the console. There was a calorie burn estimator on the machine that I glanced at a lot. It became a goal of mine to burn as many calories as I could.
The most time I ever spent on the elliptical was two hours. Looking back on it, it seems a little obsessive. At that time I didn't know anything about quality vs. quantity when it comes to workouts though.
After a while, I started getting bored with the elliptical machine and took notice of the weightlifting workouts that were in the magazines. I then bought hand weights and got a gym membership where I began doing circuit training. My cardio workouts consisted of me being on the Stair climber and/or treadmill instead of the elliptical.
This switch was when I started seeing a difference in the way my body looked. Sure I lost weight with the elliptical combined with Weight Watchers but I didn't have a fit, sleek look to me. I just had a slimmer body with no definition.
Finally I looked the way I wanted to look. I stuck with lifting weights regularly and have never looked back.
I haven't been on the elliptical machine in a long time and don't think I will ever get back on one. The workouts I do now are intense and more "fun" to me. I am grateful to it though in that it started off my love of staying in shape.
Do you like elliptical machines? Let me know!
Thanks for reading!
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