HIIT Workouts On Elliptical

HIIT Workouts On Elliptical

While a treadmill is normally synonymous with High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), there’s another model that can be similarly effective, offering a lower impact workout, the Elliptical. However, little impact doesn’t imply easier sessions. As far as you’re putting effort, you’ll certainly make the sweat and cut plenty of calories.

Head into a local gym at 5 PM, and you’ll possibly find most of the cardio area pretty much occupied. And more interestingly, one piece of workout equipment that tends to be always engaged is elliptical. But why? Ellipticals provide a great cardio workout and high-intensity interval training for those looking to save their joint system with low impact exercises.

Since your foot is always on the footpad throughout the elliptical workout, the stress and tension exerted on your knee joints, hips, and ankle is minimal. This is suited for persons with bad knees or people who can’t run or workout on other machines due to pains and flaring up of a long-time injury.

However, some people barely use their elliptical, claiming that it doesn’t grant them a sustainable workout. This could be the case when executing steady-state cardio, but when you throw in a more vigorous or HIIT routine in this piece of workout equipment, you are bound to be more impressed otherwise.

Elliptical exercises such as sprints give you a heart-pumping session, and you’ll be able to exercise your core at the same time. HIITs, as offered by elliptical, are considered to be much safer compared to making sprints with other machines like treadmills and stair mills. This is because your feet are always laid and secured on the footpads.

Consider trying this HIIT workout on your elliptical

When it comes to pacing an actual HIIT workout, it’s more of back and forth between rushes of energy and recovery periods. Even for those who are just starting their workout sessions, you can comfortably execute these kinds of intervals.

If you want a HIIT routine that’s accessible for anyone, start small and work your way up as you build confidence and endurance.

Below is a good example of a high-intensity interval workout.

• Take 3 minutes to warm up (or until sufficient). Less resistance at a constant easy pace
• Increase the incline/resistance to a challenging level and do full-force for about 20-30 seconds.
• Bump the resistance/incline down to a moderate level, similar to warm up for about 60-90 seconds while copping with the breath.
• Repeat the process.
• If possible, aim for 10 times through, but if you can’t manage that go with what you are capable of and tone up 10 times.

As you may already know, HIIT workouts offer a great range of benefits, including slowing the adverse effects of aging while boosting your heart health.

According to training professionals, you can progress through a sequence of high intensity rushes for a shorter time and then have an active rest or recovery. The amount of time for a HIIT session depends on the individual as well as their experience regarding the exercise.

But how do you correctly use your elliptical to conquer the next HIIT workout? Here’s what you need to know before turning up the intensity.

How to make the best out of your elliptical session

Elliptical was created to emulate running action in a lower-impact environment, and it does that rather effectively. Moreover, if you have injuries that limit you to perform high-impact activities, then elliptical a one-stop cardio and strength solution.

To make sure you don’t waste your time blurring along with trivial effort and lackluster results, be sure to have these two major things in mind.

Hump up the Intensity

While some people claim that elliptical trainers don’t offer as more intense workouts as treadmills, that doesn’t hold as long as you alter the resistance/incline and increase the cadence.

That means you should first know how to modify the resistance as well as the inline on your elliptical machine. Not all of these models come with adjustable incline, so if yours does, you should definitely take the advantage.

The resistance system is your close friend when it comes to HIIT workouts on elliptical. Once you get accustomed to it, perform the best you can. Likewise, if your elliptical features an incline function, be sure to take the advantage. Higher incline levels will provide higher intensity workout sessions.

Perfect your Form

You will not achieve the most from your workout sessions if you are not utilizing the machine correctly. Similar to running, posture and form is crucial. No matter how exposed you are to elliptical workouts, a correct position could be exactly what you need if you are currently feeling plateaued.

Starting from the bottom upwards, your feet should be squarely placed in the pedals, and the heels should be grounded. Stand tall while maintaining that posture, shoulders, and hips in line. On the handrails, lightly place your hands and focus on pulling and pushing with your arms. This way, you’ll be able to exercise your core, legs, and glutes.

While the process might be somewhat awkward at first, you can ideally mimic your natural running, sprinting, walking, and jogging motions while using the machine. Again, ellipticals are designed to offer the same action as running, only with less and well-managed impact.

In case you want more guidance or even more workouts, several apps can help with that, including Aaptiv and BeatBurn Elliptical trainer. Some provide audio-guided exercises, meaning you can have your earbuds in and start working out without the need for tracking time on the display while improving your pace during the high-intensity bursts.

Additionally, there are more variations you can try to step up your routine. For instance, you can place your feet all the way back from the foot pedals, heels as far backward as possible, and keep them still on the pad. You can have your toes all the way and far from the front as you can or somewhere in between. You can also have your feet flat, toes lifted, or maybe even heels lifted.

These are just small factors but will bring about a fast burn in a more distinct way. For instance, by lifting your toes and digging deep into the heels, you’ll be able to create a burn in your glutes. On the other hand, raising the heels and putting your weight on the toes will help burn more in the quads.

Other than that, it will be up to you to determine whether you will hold on to the available handles while performing your sprint bursts. In case you choose to hold on, it will help you to endure more resistance. If not, you might have to kick the incline/resistance down; it won’t be very easy to cope with the motion purely short of the core support.

Conclusion

Whatever workout style you choose, make sure you have your midsection tight throughout the session. This is not just a good postures practice, but it also gives your core more comprehensive workouts as well.

By having high-intensity intervals in your elliptical session, you will be able to save time while accelerating the attainment of your goals. Keep fit with variations of HIIT workouts on elliptical, and you will have a great physique in due course.