4 Grueling Elliptical Machine Workouts to Burn Fat

Do you love the Elliptical machine but sometimes find yourself getting bored with the standard workouts? Well don’t worry; because in this article we’re going to give you some of the best Elliptical workouts around, so next time you’re in the gym, you can keep things fun and interesting while burning a ton of calories and fat in the process. Read on to find out the best Elliptical machine workouts.

What’s the Benefit?

The Elliptical is a fantastic exercise machine as it allows you to enjoy a true full-body workout, it works everywhere, from your legs to your core to your chest and arms, and the best part is, it’s also low-impact, so you don’t have to worry about having sore muscles and achy joints the day after a workout. Using the Elliptical can benefit your endurance, stamina, heart health, it’s also a great way to burn a ton of calories at the same time.

Best Elliptical Workouts

Let’s take a look at some of the best elliptical workouts around, and see which ones you can add to your workout routine.

The Incline Pyramid

This challenging workout requires you to use different inclines and levels of resistance to push your body in a pretty unique way.

Changing the incline setting will lift the front of the Elliptical, which makes the workout much tougher, and also helps you to burn more calories. You can also alter how much tension the muscles feel, which is great if you’re trying to target certain muscles.

How to do it:

Start with a 3-minute warm-up, gradually increasing the resistance and the incline to a comfortable level. Once you get to the 3-minute mark, the workout begins.

Increase the incline by 1% and the resistance by one point, repeating every 3 minutes. Once you reach 15 minutes, start to come back down the pyramid, reducing the resistance, and the inline, by the same amount each time.

This will give you 4 rounds going up, 4 rounds going down, and you’ll have time for a 3 minute cool down at the end.

Elliptical HIIT

One of the easiest ways to get rid of boredom when performing cardio is to do a HIIT-style workout. It’s also a fantastic method for burning a ton of calories, increasing your heart rate, and challenging your body to do better.

On an elliptical, it’s no different. HIIT is a great way to workout and to make good progress in your fitness journey.

How to do it:

0-3 minutes: Complete a comfortable 3 minute warm-up with varying incline and resistance.

3 minutes to 13 minutes: 90 seconds fast at an easy resistance level followed by 30 seconds at a slow-paced speed. Complete back to back then have one minutes rest.

14 minutes to 24 minutes: 1 minute fast at a challenging resistance and incline, followed by 1 minute at a slower pace. Complete back to back then have a minute's rest.

25 minutes to 30 minutes: 30 seconds fast at a moderate resistance and incline level, then 30 minutes slower pace to catch your breath. Complete back to back.

When you reach 30 minutes go into a controlled 3 minute cool down.

Always Moving

This fun workout has been designed to keep you on your toes by making use of directional changes.

It helps you give all of the muscles in your lower body a thorough session and ensures your muscles are sufficiently worked out at the end of it.

How to do it:

Perform a 3-minute warm-up and set the resistance and the incline to a moderate to challenging level. You’re going to maintain a good pace throughout so it shouldn’t be too easy or too hard. Once you’ve selected your levels the format is simple, 2 minutes pedaling forwards followed by 2 minutes pedaling back alternating between the two until you’ve done 8 rounds total.

For maximum effect make sure your arms are working hard too and you’re exercising your entire body.

Finish with a slow-paced 3 minute cool down to take the edge off once complete.

Full Body Blast

This powerful workout is a great way to work your entire body and it’ll really make you sweat. It targets all the muscles in your body and is a great way to blast some calories in the process while also making you adjust how you move.

How to do it:

The format is simple, complete a comfortable 3-minute warm-up to get your body ready, then you’re going to perform three 1 minute splits.

1 minute focused on the upper body – Select a challenging resistance and lead with the arms, pushing and pulling with force for the full minute. Your legs are just along for the ride.

1 minute focused on the lower body. Hold the inside handles so your arms aren’t helping, and power through with the legs only.

1-minute full-body using the arms and legs at the same time for a full-body blast.

Complete 5 rounds each and then finish off with a cool 2 minute cool down.

Tips for Success

Use Forward and Backwards Motion – Unlike on most pieces of cardio equipment the Elliptical machine allows you to move in both a forward and backwards motion, resulting in slight differences in how it impacts your body.

Using the Elliptical in a forward motion puts more emphasis on your glutes and hamstrings (the back of the body) which is a great way to target the essential muscles in your posterior chain that are often missed.

Moving in a backwards motion puts more emphasis on your quads and calves and also makes the movement feel more difficult, which can be a good way to spike the heart rate.

Changing between the two is a good way to switch things up and make the workouts more challenging.
Use Your Upper Body – Watch anyone on the Elliptical and it’s clear that their lower body is doing the bulk of the work, therefore you might think that it’s purely a lower body exercise, but you’d be wrong. The Elliptical is unique because it works your lower body, and your upper body, but for that to happen you need to make sure you’re moving your arms. Many Elliptical machines have two sets of handles
Use the Incline – Using the incline feature on the elliptical is a great way to increase the difficulty and hit different muscles in the legs. It’s also an easy way to increase the intensity and raise the heart rate. Unfortunately, not all machines are made the same, so you’ll have to pay attention to the resistance on your machine when you use it.

ConClusion

The Elliptical machine is one of the best cardio machines available today. It burns calories at a very high rate and because it’s low-impact, you won’t have to worry about sore muscles, achy joints, or painful body parts the day after exercising. The only real drawback you can point to about the Elliptical is that on occasion, just like any cardio machine, it can get boring. Well with the new workouts listed above and the handy tips we gave you for improved performance, you won’t have to worry about boredom any longer. Now you’ve got everything you need to make your workouts more fun and enjoyable while adding a few extra tips to increase the intensity too.