Elliptical Trainer Buyer's Guide
Ellipticals combine the best elements of treadmills, skiers, steppers and exercise bikes to provide a versatile low impact cardiovascular workout to people with a wide variety of fitness levels and exercise requirements. They provide a full body workout, exercising both upper and lower body including the quadriceps. hamstrings, glutes, chest, back, triceps and biceps in a single session - great for people on a busy schedule.
Ellipticals mimic the walking or running motion but rather than each footstep ending in a jolt (as in normal walking/running) the elliptical motion continues in a smooth, seamless fashion which is similar to walking, or riding a bike, but vastly kinder on knees and joints as your feet remain flat on the pedals at all times.
Many allow you to make a small adjustment to change the oval motion into a stepping motion as seen on steppers and offer upper body exercise handles to give the same muscle workout as ski machines.
The popularity of elipticals is well founded, recent studies have shown an hour on one of these machines can burn around 550 calories and elliptical machines provide an excellent exercise routine for toning muscles and strengthening your cardio respiratory system. Equivalent studies have show over-weight people burn calories faster on ellipticals than any other comparable exercise machine.
Elliptical fitness machines are also becoming widely popularised amongst the older fitness enthusiast because of their low impact means of providing a full body work out which means less strain on back, hip and knee joints and overall, lessens the chance of over-working muscle groups and sustaining injury.
Which Elliptical Trainer Should I Choose?
Which elliptical trainer is best for you depends on your personal fitness requirements. However, there are several things a good elliptical trainer should come equipped with as standard.
- Upper Body Motion
Somewhat bizarrely, some of the cheaper elliptical trainers only provide a lower body workout. Be sure to check your model of choice provides upper body exercise as well as lower body or you are missing out on the full body exercise which is the main unique selling point of ellipticals in the first place!
- Electronic Versus Manual Resistance
All elliptical training machines offer some way to adjust the resistance in order to make for an easier or tougher workout. You should look for an automatic or electronic adjustment of resistance in both forward and reverse motion. Manual adjustment means breaking your routine to jump off and play with the mechanics whereas motorised resistance adjustment can be achieved at the touch of a button or two which can be worked directly into your exercise routine without breaking out of your stride.
- Incline Controls
Again all good elliptical trainers should allow for slope adjustment through control panel incline controls. Manual incline adjustment is available but again, it means breaking your workout to change the angle of the slope which is restrictive and is guaranteed to become annoying in time.
- Importance Of Ellipical Stride Length
Always look for an eliptical with a minimum stride length of around 20 inches. A restrictive stride length will greatly reduce the effectiveness of your elliptical trainer.
- Heart Rate Monitors
Most of the half-decent ellipticals come with some form of heart rate monitoring equipment. Heart rate sensors come in three main types, the chest strap monitors are the most accurate followed by thumb and ear clips.
- Control Panel Feedback
At the very least your elliptical trainer should give feedback on speed, distance travelled and time. Better models also include things like measurements of calories burned and pulse rate which can all be used to keep your workout at the optimal level for maximum effect. Ellipticals with programmable fitness routines can be used to add variety and maintain interest and might just be worth that little bit of extra cash.
Other Questions and Considerations When Shopping For An Elliptical Trainer
- How Much Should I Expect To Pay?
Elliptical trainers vary in price from under £200 for non-motorised models to over £3000 for gym quality motorised machines with lots of bells and whistles on the programmable console. Whilst we wouldn't recommend the non-motorised, manual ellipticals, home users can still get a decent quality motorized elliptical trainer for under £600 which will do everything you need. The more options you want in terms of things like adjustable programming, slope incline, heart monitors etc. then the more you have to expect to pay.
- Safety Requirements
If you are opting for one of the motorized ellipticals then be sure it has an emergency stop button. If you are exercising 'around people', then be sure they are out of the way and if you have small children or inquisitive older children, you might want to consider one of the models which is password coded to keep them from playing around with it unattended. You might like to check for non-slip pedals as well.
- What Are The Space Requirements Of Ellipticals?
The larger elliptical trainers can be around 6ft in length and 3ft wide. Basically, you are saving something like a foot or two smaller when compared to something like a treadmill but you will probably still find yourself needing a dedicated room, garage or perhaps shed or other out-building to use such a machine.
- How Noisy are Elliptical Trainers?
If resistance is provided by a belt or strap on the flywheel then they can be quite noisy. If noise is a problem then you are better off choosing a model which uses magnetic resistance instead. A noisy machine will ultimately drive you, anyone you share the house with or the neighbours quite batty before too long so noise levels are an important factor to consider!
Ellipticals Compared To Treadmills
Studies comparing treadmill and elliptical exercise machines show that they are hard to separate in terms of their effectiveness in burning calories and providing good cardiovascular exercise. However, elliptical motion machines offer a full body workout as opposed to a treadmill which works on fewer muscle groups. In addition, because the user's feet never leave the foot pedals on an elliptical trainer, it offers an impact-free exercise which is better for the user's back, knees and lower-limb joints which means the elliptical trainer, when compared to a treadmill, is arguably a superior piece of equipment and is vastly preferable piece of exercise equipment for people with joint or back problems.
Ellipticals Compared To Stair Climbers
Elliptical exercise machinery can be used to exercise the same muscle groups as a stepper or stair climbing machine. However the comparison between ellipticals and stair climbers falls favourably on the side of the elliptical when you are looking for low impact exercise. Although, in theory, stair stepping equipment provides the same kind of exercise as an elliptical, the rapid change from downward to upward motion mimics the impact of walking or running which is not replicated in the oval motion of elliptical fitness equipment.
Elliptical Machines Compared To Exercise Bikes
The elliptical motion is designed to copy the motion of the ankle, hip and knee joints whilst walking, running, or strolling which is a more natural motion when compared to the less natural cycling motion. Additionally, elliptical training machines offer a weight-bearing exercise workout whereas cycling does not. Load-bearing exercise burns calories and increases bone density faster and more efficiently than non-weight bearing exercise.
How To Tell a Good Versus Bad Elliptical
Simple really. Cheap = bad, Not cheap = Good! OK, so it's a bit more complicated than that, but in the cheaper ellipticals you tend to find jerky and variable motion, non-motorised incline and resistance adjustment, fewer fitness measurement options on the control panel and generally, poorer build quality as you go down in price. If you are serious about your fitness regime then buying cheap is false economy - look for discounts and sale offers or save your pennies for a few weeks longer to buy an elliptical which is worthy of your money and which really will work as you expect it to.
Clearance and Discount Sale Price Elliptical Cross Training Machines
Sweatband Fitness always has discounted ellipticals and on sale elliptical cross trainers at reduced prices to buy online in the UK.
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