Ellipticals

Elliptical Machines, also known as elliptical trainers, offer a very low impact, high cardio workout. Exercise legs and arms without the pounding stress of a treadmill or running out doors. Many elliptical trainers offer heart rate control to help you stay in your target heart rate.

The Benefits of Home Exercise

We all would like to lose weight and get in shape with a minimal effort. That's how the fitness informercial makes billions per year, promising miraculous results without breaking a sweat.

If you are not fooled by their claims then you know you have to work at getting in shape and losing unwanted pounds. So where do you go for a challenging workout? If you are into walking and running, during the temperate seasons you can get your cardio exercise in the great outdoors.

But to get a total workout that is not limited to moderate weather, you will need to either join a gym or equip your home with fitness equipment. The major advantage of a home gym is convenience. And it is convenience that can result in a more focused exercise regimen. Home gyms are growing in popularity. In 2000 over $6.7 billion was spent on home fitness equipment.

Granted health clubs have the advantage of working out with other like-minded individuals. And if you are the type of person that needs inspiration from others, the health club provides that environment. Of course, for singles it is a great place to meet the opposite sex.

The disadvantages are time wasted driving to the health club, waiting in line to use equipment and costly membership fees. Some people like to work out first thing in the morning. Time is limited due to the work schedule. The extra time required to drive to a health club would deter regular workouts. Exercise for them is not a social activity. They   want to burn as many calories and strengthen as many muscles in as little time as possible. In this case exercising at home is more practical.

Get in Shape with an Elliptical Trainer

Since bursting on the fitness scene five years ago, millions of elliptical trainers have been installed in health clubs and homes. Elliptical cross-trainers are the only real breakthrough aerobic product of the past few years," says Gregory Florez, spokesman for the American Council on Exercise (ACE). "They are absolutely not a gimmick."

According to the American Sports Data, Inc., "the elliptical motion trainer, continued to grow in popularity, with 6.2 million users in 2000, up from 2.4 million when first measured in 1997."

Elliptical trainers combine the natural stride treadmill and the simplicity of a stair climber. On an Elliptical trainer, you stand comfortably in an upright position while holding onto the machine's handrails and striding in either a forward or reverse motion.

What makes a trainer unique is the ability to offer a weight bearing workout that puts minimal stress on the joints. Your feet never leave the pedals of an elliptical trainer, thereby eliminating any impact in your workout. Whether you go forward or reverse, and regardless of the level of resistance, there is a reduced risk of injury from overusing any one-muscle group.

Weight bearing exercises like running, hiking and aerobics benefits the body in ways that non-weight bearing exercises like rowing and cycling cannot. Weight resistant workouts builds bone density and burns calories more efficiently.

For individuals trying to burn calories and trim down, the weight-bearing arm/leg exercise optimizes energy expenditure during self-selected exercise of moderate intensity in overweight subjects. In recent studies it was concluded that energy expenditure among overweight subjects was higher on the elliptical machine than a treadmill, or leg cycles with and without upper body motion. For overweight individuals who are initiating a regular exercise program to decrease excess body fat, they will find that elliptical treadmills optimize energy expenditure.

We at PangeaTradewinds focus our attention mainly on affordable products for home use. We have researched the best value. We suggest for each machine the best merchant to buy from.

Emphasis is given on factors such as availablility, convenience, portability, and warrantees.

In many instances we spotlight reviews from actual owners of the equipment.

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More Info on ellipticals

Summary

Elliptical trainers combine the natural stride treadmill and the simplicity of a stair climber. On an Elliptical trainer, you stand comfortably in an upright position while holding onto the machine's handrails and striding in either a forward or reverse motion.

What makes a trainer unique is the ability to offer a weight bearing workout that puts minimal stress on the joints. Your feet never leave the pedals of an elliptical trainer, thereby eliminating any impact in your workout. Whether you go forward or reverse, and regardless of the level of resistance, there is a reduced risk of injury from overusing any one-muscle group.

Weight bearing exercises like running, hiking and aerobics benefits the body in ways that non-weight bearing exercises like rowing and cycling cannot. Weight resistant workouts builds bone density and burns calories more efficiently.

For individuals trying to burn calories and trim down, the weight-bearing arm/leg exercise optimizes energy expenditure during self-selected exercise of moderate intensity in overweight subjects. In recent studies it was concluded that energy expenditure among overweight subjects was higher on the elliptical trainers than a treadmill, or leg cycles with and without upper body motion. For overweight individuals who are initiating a regular exercise program to decrease excess body fat, they will find that elliptical treadmills optimize energy expenditure.

Why an elliptical?
If you are looking for a total body workout an elliptical cross trainer is the best choice. Dual action arms provide a more complete workout, stimulating the upper body as well as lower extremes. Ellipticals don’t wear on your joints. This is great for people with knee problems. Ellipticals also provide a weight bearing exercise, which helps protect bones against osteoporosis.

Ellipticals have the advantage of providing a training heart rate that quickly reaches the 160-175 bpm range (optimum for burning calories), without the need to over exert yourself. Another advantage of total body training is that the heart rate climbs very quickly and the total exercise time needed is shorter (20-30 minutes.

Why upper body handles?
Because of the fact that the user’s feet never leave the ground, ellipticals result in a reduced intensity caloric burn and lower heart rate than a treadmill workout. A new innovation was added that resulted in a total body workout. Handles were connected to the pedals allowing the user to push and pull with all four limbs.

Which ellipitical is best for me?
There a few factors to consider when deciding which one to choose, Do you want an inexpensive basic machine or a high-end durable model the clubs use? Club models usually offer a higher weigh capacity, heart rate control, more natural stride patterns that prevent you from bobbing up and down, and longer warranties which include service inside your home or office.

Resistance Control
There are two types of resistance control. Controlling the resistance makes your heart rate increase by making the stride movement harder. There is manual (turning a knob) and electronic (change via the toiuch of a button). The less expensive machines typically have manual, but there are a few that at a great price which come fully loaded! Check out the Eclipse brand. Great value. The advantage of manual is price. That’s it. Electronic usually means it also works with the heart rate control program to automatically keep you in your target zone. If you don’t want to worry about adjusting resistance to keep your heart rate where it needs to be, get a machine with electronic resistance control and heart rate control.

Heart Rate Control
Heart rate control means your heart rate is monitored by either a pulse-grip (handles you place your grip on) or wireless chest strap. Wireless chest straps are more accurate and preferred. Many of the ellipitical programs will include "heart rate control" which will adjust the resistance to increase your heart for the desired target heart rate. This is a great feature if you are trying to lose weight and don’t want to worry about your BPM (beats per minute) which needs to be in a specific target zone for weight loss. This all depends on your gender, age, and body type which can be entered into the computer program of some models. Heart rate control on ellipiticals is usually a bit more expensive, but worth it. It eliminates the guess work and need to increase speed while your working out. If you don’t require it, you can save a good deal of money.

Programs
Most ellipiticals have an array of programs. Programs are predefined settings that help keep you motivated by varying the resistance each minute to provide a specific type of workout. More than 3 programs is usually enough.

Ergonomics
Oversized foot pedals glide easily and silently on sealed bearing, polyurethane wheels. If the pedals incline and decline through the stride path, you many experience a bobbing motion which can make you uncomfortable. Look for pedals which look flat or parallel to the ground while in use. This will mimic the geometry of cross country skiing. You also want to have ergonomically designed handlebars for proper technique and a smooth stride. Upper body handlebars function in unison with the adjustable resistance of the stride, this encourages good posture and proper technique.

Ellipiticals are user friendly and typically have fewer settings. Some however; do have preset programs and incline adjustments, but it is easy to master and doesn’t require much balance or practice.

Warranties
In the ellipitical world, the first thing to go is the magnetic resistance. It’s normal and part of wear & tear just like tires on your car. They won’t last forever. However, it’s best to find warranties that cover parts and labor for at least the first year. This way, any parts and the labor cost for a technician to install them are covered. Always try to extend the warranty on your ellipitical to at least 1 more year on everything. Some of our ellipiticals carry a 3 year warranty and we suggest a 1 year extended warranty.

Guides:
Home Ellipticals
Generally low weight capacity and durability is good for 1-2 people. Brands to consider: Eclipse, Gazelle, Horizon, Stamina, Thunturi.

High-end Home Ellipticals
Much higher quality and durability with high weight capacity.
Brands to consider: Scifit, SOLE, Tunturi, Theradyne.

Best selling home ellipticals
Horizon, Sole, Tunturi, Eclipse




Here are some ideas on preparing a spot for your new training partner. You’ve just bought a elliptical trainer. Now, where are you going to put it? Here are some ideas on preparing a spot for your new training partner:

If possible, avoid placing your elliptical trainer in the basement. You know the saying, "Out of sight, out of mind." With your ’mill downstairs, you’re less likely to use it.
Put the machine in front of a window so you can see outside and have easy access to fresh air.
This one’s a no-brainer: Position your elliptical trainer in view of a television, or turn on some motivational music.
Hang a full-length mirror in front of your elliptical trainer to help you monitor your form.
For inspiration, try hanging favorite posters, pictures or a bulletin board nearby.
Light candles or potpourri to counteract stale, sweaty air. Also, set up a fan to keep you cool.


Elliptical Motion

The low impact, intensive cardiovascular workout of an elliptical trainer is achieved through smooth and natural motion. The fluid, non-jarring motion makes the elliptical trainer ideal for anyone with back, knee, hips and joint problems. The dual action machines utilize both the legs and arm in providing a full upper and lower body workout.

Motion studies over the last decade show that the human foot moves through an elliptical pattern as we walk, run or jog. Fitness products that imitate and support this motion are the fastest growing new category of cardiovascular equipment.

With scarce time, a major factor in people's daily lives, total body exercise can be truly beneficial. A total body exercise machine meets three goals that are most desired - weight loss, time efficiency, and motivation.

Total Body Exercise involves more muscle mass in an aerobic exercise activity. For the average person, the larger the muscle mass involved in exercise, the more effective that exercise is for improving fat mobilization, burning calories and building muscle endurance in an efficient period of time, and at a reduced perceived rate of exertion. The upper and lower body workout of a trainer utilizes the quadriceps. hamstrings, glutes, chest, back, triceps and biceps.



Elliptical Technology

Within the fitness industry, "Elliptical Technology" has become the generic name for devices that incorporate various linkages and mechanisms in an effort to create a preferred pattern of movement for a pair of foot pedals. The shape of this preferred movement is intended to mimic the natural path of the ankle, knee and hip joints experience during locomotion - walking, striding, jogging, running.

In its most rudimentary form, Elliptical Technology consists of a crank arm that revolves around an axis at one end and is attached to a bar at the other. The opposite end of the bar moves in a reciprocating linear pattern when the crank rotates. Since one end of the bar rotates in a circular pattern while the other moves linearly, points between the two ends of the bar move in elliptical patterns. The points of the bar closest to the crank move in wider, more circular ellipses (closest to a circle) and the points closest to the other end move in thinner, flatter ellipses (closer to a straight line).

The most obvious advantage of Elliptical Technology is the lack of impact to the lower limbs and back. Unlike a treadmill in which the foot of the user is continuously lifted off of the running surface, striking that surface upon the return, the foot and foot pedal of an elliptical machine are in constant contact.

Impact force is also felt on stairstepper devices. Although the foot often remains in contact with the foot pedal when such devices are used, the foot pedal undergoes a virtually instantaneous direction reversal. Essentially, the foot pedal is moving in one direction, must stop and then is pushed in the opposite direction. The force required to reverse the movement of the mechanism results in "impact" to the joints of the lower body.

The mechanism incorporated in an elliptical machine moves in a smooth, continuous motion and does not suffer the effects of direction reversal. The exercise experienced on elliptical machines is weight bearing (versus exercise bikes) which has ramification in the inhibition of the onset of osteoporosis.

In addition, although cycling is a well-recognized and safe tool to improve cardiovascular conditioning, the elliptical modality is a more functional pattern of movement. Since ellipticals simulate a natural walking pattern, they easily lend themselves to an upper body component of exercise. Many other devices, either due to their mechanical structure (treadmills) or the pattern (cycling) do not readily adapt to a total body configuration.

The various manufacturers of elliptical machines have developed many iterations of this basic technology. As a result, the field is full of machines that have a different "feel" - the articulation of the ankle, knee and hip is different. The true nature of Elliptical Technology has been somewhat obscured by the preponderance of these questionable devices. Many lack the design and mechanism to duplicate a fluid, natural motion. As with all forms of exercise equipment, there are cheap versions that in some cases offer negligible physical benefits.

Due to the natural motion, combined with an upper and lower body workout, quality elliptical trainers will continue to grow in popularity. They appeal to a population that is looking for an optimum workout for burning fat and calories.





Benefits of Elliptical Trainers

Benefits What That Means to You
No Impact Safe for joints. Ideal workout for people with back, knee, hips and joint problems.
Weight Bearing Exercise
Builds bone density and burns calories more efficiently. Inhibits the onset of osteoporosis.
Time Efficiency
The dual action of arms and legs optimizes energy expenditure. Requires less time to achieve more results.
Passive Motion

Safe to use. Machine stops when you stop - not active like a treadmill.
Lower Power Draw
Low electrical usage. Less costly to operate.

Low Maintenance
Less impact means less wear and tear.
Small Footprint
Does not take up valuable floor space.


History of Elliptical Crosstraining

It has been just over five years since the introduction of Elliptical Crosstrainers. The idea of standing in an upright position and getting a cardiovascular exercise with very little impact to the joints was, and still is, very popular in health clubs and homes alike. Initially, the first trainers offered only a lower body workout, using an adjustable incline ramp to provide a little more intensity. It does not offer a natural stride, but rather a bouncy feel. In particular, the high level of plantar flexion causes a bunny-hop motion in all users over 5'6" tall.

Innovation of Upper-Body Handles for Full-Body Workout

Because of the fact that the user's feet never leave the ground, these lower-body only units resulted in a reduced intensity caloric burn and lower heart rate then a treadmill workout. In 1997 a new innovation was added that resulted in a total body workout. Handles were connected to the pedals allowing the user to push and pull with all four limbs. The majority of health clubs began purchasing the newer full body version of these Ellipticals.

These total body machines had the advantage of providing a training heart rate that easily got into the 160-175 bpm range (optimum for burning calories), without the need to feel like you are over exerting yourself. Another advantage of total body training is that the heart rate climbs very quickly and the total exercise time needed is shorter (20-30 minutes). In addition, the foot pattern on these total body versions is flatter with a more natural feeling.