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Admittedly, fitness enthusiasts have various exercise equipment to choose from nowadays. You have the indoor rowing machines, the treadmills, the stair climbers, the stationary bikes and the elliptical trainers. Of all these machines, the elliptical trainers are the best of the bunch for many reasons.
Low-Impact Exercise
We are all worried about lessening the impact on our joints. After all, stresses and injuries to these parts of our bodies will leave us feeling less than able to perform our daily activities, even something as ordinary as walking. And so, we always find ways to either choose the exercise with the lesser impact or make a high-impact exercise less injurious through proper attire, proper technique and proper use of equipment.
If you choose to go the first route, the elliptical trainer is the best exercise machine for this purpose. It is a very low-impact exercise because your feet never leave the comfort and safety of the foot pedals, thus, significantly lessening the load off the weight-bearing joints.
Whole Body Exercise
Unlike the other machines, the elliptical trainer provides for a total body workout. This is possible because your lower body is being exercised by the movements of the foot pedal while the upper body is being developed through the handlebars. Of course, the lower body takes most of the exercise benefits since 70 percent of the power to perform the exercise comes from it. The upper body provides the 30 percent, said ratio of which cannot be said of the exercise machines like the stair climbers and treadmills.
You may also choose to either concentrate solely on the lower body or increase the intensity of the exercise for the upper body. If you choose the former, you can do away with the handlebars, thus, placing more pressure on your lower limbs to carry the whole exercise. If you opt for the latter, then you can substitute the handlebars with hand weights for added weight. Just be sure to swing your arms in time with your steps on the elliptical machine to keep your balance.
Whether you choose to opt for a whole body workout or focus on the lower body or place greater emphasis on the upper body, you are assured that you are getting the best cardio workout possible. In the process, you are burning more fat and calories, toning more muscles and improving your cardiovascular health.
Lesser Perceived Effort
Furthermore, you get all the above benefits will less perceived effort. Simply put, it is the elliptical trainer user’s perception that he is exerting lesser effort on the exercise and yet somehow feeling the burn faster and more intensely than had he exercised on the treadmill harder and for a longer period of time.
The result is that you will be more motivated to put in the extra minutes and the extra intensity to the elliptical trainer exercise. Ultimately, you will benefit in the form of more fats and calories burned.
With all these superior exercise benefits that elliptical trainers provide, it is no wonder then that these exercise machines are considered the best in the fitness industry in its category.
The best elliptical trainer for you is easier to find than you think. Visit http://www.1-stop-fitness.com/ to learn more.
