BIP.

Exercise library · Cardio

Elliptical

Cardio on a machine.

How to do it

  1. Starting position

    Stand upright with your whole feet on the pedals and lightly grip the moving handles.

  2. The movement

    Move the pedals in a smooth cycle while alternately pushing and pulling the handles.

Most common mistake

Don't hang on the handles, keep your body upright and let your legs and arms drive the movement.

Muscle group
Cardio
Equipment
Machine
Where
Gym
Logged as
Time and distance

What it trains

The elliptical trains your fitness without impact, because your feet never leave the pedals. Your legs do most of the work: the quads and glutes push the pedal forwards and down, helped by the hamstrings and calves. The moving handles give your chest, shoulders, back and arms a little to do, but it is not upper-body strength training. More resistance makes your glutes and thighs work harder, and an adjustable incline changes the feel in your legs. The machine suits long sessions, a return after a break, or keeping your fitness up while your running takes a rest.

Common mistakes

  • Resistance set too low. The pedals then almost turn themselves and momentum does the work instead of your muscles. Raise it until you feel yourself pushing on every stride.
  • Pushing only through your toes. When your heels lift, your calves and forefoot take everything, and many people get numb feet. Let the pressure run through your whole foot, with a little more weight in the heel as the pedal goes down.
  • Trusting the calorie count. The calories on the screen are an estimate and can be off in either direction. Compare time, resistance and how hard the session feels instead.

Variations and alternatives

  • The treadmill when you are building up towards running.
  • The stationary bike is just as gentle but seated, if you'd rather not stand for the whole session.
  • The rowing machine gives your upper body and back far more to do.

How to plan your sessions

A good basic session is 20 to 45 minutes of even effort: warm, a little out of breath, but still able to talk. For intervals, raise the resistance a couple of levels for one to two minutes and lower it for the same time, six to eight times. The movement is gentle, so it often works the day after a leg session, but check how your legs feel. The guide on how often to train covers splitting the week between cardio and strength.

Build time until you can manage 30 to 45 minutes, then raise the resistance one level at a time, the same idea as in the guide to progressive overload. Note down time and resistance level, since the distance on the screen varies between machines.

Swap for

Taken, or missing the equipment? The same movement with something else.

Want it in a programme?

Tell BIP your goal and your equipment, and BIP builds a week with sets, reps and rest worked out. You log your weights as you train and watch yourself get stronger. The first week is free.

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