Elliptical exercise machines provide an excellent low impact aerobic exercise, burning lots of calories in the process. Aerobic exercise – or physical activity that uses large muscle groups and is intense enough to condition the heart and lungs – is a powerhouse in the energy equation, mainly because it increases the oxygen content in the blood and airflow through the lungs.
Aerobic fitness means increasing how well your body uses oxygen. This depends on the condition of your heart, lungs, and muscles. During any type of aerobic exercise – walking briskly, running, swimming, biking, rowing, stair climbing, or working out on an elliptical machine – your body increases its consumption of oxygen and continuously delivers it, along with nutrients to your muscles and cells.
The word “aerobic” literally means “with oxygen,” and aerobic exercise refers to any repetitive activity that is done for a long enough period of time and at high enough intensity that it provides a challenge to the heart and lungs, which is why it’s also called cardio-respiratory conditioning.
It is recommended that we get this type of exercise 3 to 5 times per week for 20-60 minutes at a stretch.
If you want exercise to be truly aerobic and produce a conditioning effect, you will need to work out at your target heart rate – between 60 and 80 percent of your maximum heart rate.
To calculate your maximum heart rate, subtract your age from 220 – this number estimates your maximum heart rate in beats per minute. Then, you will need to multiply the resulting number by 0.6 to get the lower limit of your target rate, and by 0.8 to figure out the upper limit. You can tell if you’ve reached this target zone by taking a break to check your pulse on your wrist: Count the number of beats in 15 seconds and multiply by 4 to get your heart rate in beats per minute.
If you don’t feel like doing all this math, you can use what is called a “perceived exertion” rating to gauge the intensity of the exercise you are performing. The rating reflects how you feel about the effort you are exerting: from 0 being “no effort a all” to 10 being “really, really hard”. You should be striving for “somewhat hard” – which means anywhere between 4 and 8 on a 10-point scale.
If you are wondering which elliptical trainer to buy, read my other posts Buying Elliptical Exercise Equipment and Elliptical Trainers Benefits: Should You Be Buying an Elliptical Machine? If you have made up your mind, then you can Buy an elliptical machine here.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Aerobic exercise is one of the best solutions in burning fats, this is because it involves a large muscles in the process, working out is very essential cause it will keep you fit, and maintain your health status perfectly the way you will like it, it will exercise give you that sexy body you are looking for, also reduce your fat intake for your health sake,
Aerobic exercise is one of the best way to burn down that troublesome calories, because aerobic exercise involve large muscle in the process, keeping fit is one of the solution to fat burning, the food you eat is is what we need to put into consideration, fat are not really good for a healthy life style .
I actually prefer the anaerobic possibilities of the elliptical. I just feel like it’s more beneficial for fat loss and hypertrophy. Excellent article though!
Daniel@compare ellipticals´s last blog ..Save 100′s- Possibly Even 1000′s- When You Compare Ellipticals with Our Elliptical Trainer Reviews!