Elliptical Workouts

Why Use an Elliptical Machine Over a Treadmill

• They place less pressure on your joints.
• Resistance Provided Allows Better Lean Muscle Growth.
• Variations in the Adjustments Targets Muscles Better.

Less pressure on the joints means you can last longer and go harder without much residual, next day, pain. The pedals on the elliptical machine are held above the ground and allow you to move them horizontally rather than up and down. This displaces your weight and allows the joints to simply move your body without the added weight.

Every time you take a step on a treadmill the body weight is compacted on the treadmill surface and your muscles are asked to spring your body back into position. An Elliptical trainer is designed to have your feet moving back and forth almost like ice skating preventing the pressure to the joints.

When you use a treadmill you will most likely have the option of using the hand guides. I would suggest doing this if it is available to you for a few reasons. First, they allow your body to move in a more natural way. Second and most important is they help you burn more calories because you are asking more from your body.

Additionally because you can set the machine to provide resistance you can get a more toned and defined upper body as your arms are required to push and pull the handles, where on a treadmill they are simply used to pump your body along.

You can position the elliptical treadmill in a way that targets better more defined muscle growth. For example if you raise the machine up to its highest point you will feel more of a burn in the more desirable fitness areas, ie the upper thigh, lower butt.

Because you can reverse the direction of the motion you can actually target a workout to your front legs or shins to develop muscle strength there as well.