How to Properly Utilize an Elliptical Machine

The elliptical machine is an excellent aerobic exercise equipment. It can help the body burn fat, shape beautiful muscle lines in the lower limbs and reduce the pressure on the knees.... Some people say that their legs become thicker after exercising, which is entirely due to not mastering the correct usage method of the elliptical machine! How to use the elliptical machine correctly? Of course, you should do a warm-up exercise before using it. Then step onto the elliptical machine and find your own rhythm. Meanwhile, pay attention to your body posture. Keep your head up, chest out and don't hunch your back. Let's take a look at the detailed introduction below.

The Correct Usage Method of the elliptical machine

1.Gently hold the handrails above the elliptical machine with both hands. Then, your hands should push forward in turn following the rhythm of your feet as you pedal. After finding the rhythm of the exercise, gradually increase the pushing force of your hands and the pedaling force of your feet.

2.Pay attention to your body posture when using it. Keep your head up, chest out and don't look down while practicing. Keep your eyes fixed on the front and focus your whole attention on your legs.

3.It's better to exercise in groups when practicing. There are two ways.

One is to group by time, with each group lasting 5 - 6 minutes. The other is to group by the number of times, which can be determined according to your physical capacity. When using the elliptical machine for exercise, the frequency and speed should be gradually increased, and it must be within the range that you can adapt to.

4.Pay attention to your breathing. Breathing is very important in all exercises. Breathe rhythmically and don't pant suddenly, as it will be harmful to your body instead.

The Correct Posture for Using the elliptical machine

1.Keep your body in a straight line and don't bend over or hunch your back.

2.From the front view, your ankles to your buttocks should be in a straight line. In other words, don't let your knees swing outward or buckle inward.

3.Don't shrug your shoulders. Look straight ahead and tighten your abdomen.

4.The center of gravity should be between the heel and the toe, slightly closer to the heel. In other words, the center of gravity of your body is at the middle and back of your foot. Therefore, when using the elliptical machine, your heel must not be lifted, otherwise the center of gravity will shift to the toe.

5.Tighten your buttocks when exercising. This can make your gluteus maximus get exercised and reduce the stimulation on your thighs.

6.When exercising, swing your hands by grasping the handles, which can burn more calories.

7.When exercising, your whole sole should be on the pedal. If only the front part of your foot is on the pedal, your calves will become thicker after exercising for a period of time.

Precautions for Using the Ellptical Machine

1.Don't do backward pedaling movements on the elliptical machine. Some people think that backward pedaling can better exercise the muscles of the buttocks. In fact, it's completely unnecessary. Whether pedaling forward or backward, it's actually for exercising the legs, especially the thighs for the elliptical machine. However, when pedaling backward, it's difficult to control the balance and it's easy to cause danger. Moreover, the pressure on the knee joint will increase when pedaling backward, and it will have a bad impact on the ligaments and tendons of the knee joint in the long run.

2.When using it, your soles must be attached to the pedals to ensure the stability during the exercise and reduce unnecessary risks.

3.Nowadays, many elliptical machines can adjust the slope. For different slopes, the exercise effects are also different. So sometimes, after adapting to the exercise on one slope, changing to a slope with a higher difficulty for exercise will be more challenging and can also better shape a perfect figure.

4.Special attention should be paid when ending the exercise. The elliptical machine has inertia when in motion. We can't suddenly stop when we are in high-speed motion, as it's easy to cause sports injuries. We should slowly slow down the exercise frequency and get off the elliptical machine after it stops slowly.

5.The display screens of most elliptical machines have a step-counting function. In order to achieve the ideal fat-loss effect, the number of steps per minute should be controlled between 120 and 160. If you use the elliptical machine for HIIT, the number of steps per minute is about 160 during the sprint stage.

6.When exercising, the closer the center of gravity of your body is to the heel, the more the back of your thighs and your buttocks will be stimulated; the closer it is to the toe, the more the front of your thighs will be stimulated.

7.If you want to exercise your core area (abdominal muscles and lower back), your hands can leave the handles on the premise of maintaining balance.

8.Don't sway your body from side to side.