Elliptical Crosstrainers
For a Total Body Workout

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 elliptical crosstrainer, 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. Elliptical crosstrainers offer resistance in addition to aerobic exercise.

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 crosstrainers 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.

Elliptical Crosstrainers offer the Benefit of Elliptical Motion

The low impact, intensive cardiovascular workout of elliptical crosstrainers 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.

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.

Elliptical Crosstrainers offer Total Body Exercise

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 the various linkages/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 and/or running.

In its most rudimentary form, elliptical Technology consists of a crank arm (similar to the crank of a bicycle) that revolves around an axis at one end and that 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. Elliptical crosstrainers effectively eliminating impact.

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 elliptical crosstrainers moves in a smooth, continuous motion and does not suffer the effects of direction reversal. The exercise experienced on elliptical crosstrainers 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 elliptical crosstrainers 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.

Due to the natural motion, combined with an upper and lower body workout, quality elliptical crosstrainers will continue to grow in popularity and their sales will substantially increase. They appeal to a population that is increasingly overweight and looking for an optimum workout for burning fat and calories. Elliptical crosstrainers also appeal to an aging population that seeks a total body workout, minus the impact.

*This article on Elliptical Crosstrainers is copyrighted and registered by www.fitness-equipment-source.com. All rights reserved.