Last Updated on November 4, 2021 by Jeff
The elliptical is one of the machines that are frequently taken for granted, though it’s not less popular than the treadmill or weight machines.
In this article, we’ll let you in on nine crucial reasons why you don’t want to cut out using the elliptical, and if you’re not using one, you’ll get to know why you should start doing so straight away. So, are you ready for a big surprise?! Let’s jump right in!
9 Different Benefits of the Elliptical Machine
You’ll find elliptical machines in every gym out there, but are they really worth it? Can they help with losing weight and burning fat? That’s what you’re about to find out!
1. Low Impact 
Ellipticals have an excellent reputation for being low-impact machines. Although it doesn’t feel like you’re exerting much effort, using an elliptical trainer engages your upper and lower body parts and helps burn calories in areas where fat accumulates the most.
Moreover, it’s among the safest machines after injuries as it doesn’t stress your joints and muscles, unlike high-impact machines that potentially cause joint damage and muscle tears.
That being said, the elliptical helps you stay in good shape and adopt a healthy lifestyle by keeping you physically active with minimal risks of getting injured or developing muscle pain after the workout.
2. Cardiovascular Endurance 
Exercising makes your heart and blood vessels more competent. As the heart rate increases, it pumps more blood to your muscles and organs so they can function more efficiently and your health improves.
Furthermore, elliptical workouts train the heart to cope with stress. Thus, they’re capable of overcoming various heart conditions with lesser chances of developing a heart attack as you get older.
3. Controlling Blood Pressure
The initial step to controlling blood pressure is to get a healthy lifestyle. This doesn’t just mean a healthy diet and a consistent sleeping schedule. In fact, working out is among the most effective ways to control blood pressure for a handful of reasons.
For one thing, you’re strengthening your heart muscle while exercising, which means that your heart will be exerting less effort to pump the blood into the vessels, which puts your heart and blood vessels at ease, brings your heart rate down, and subsequently, your blood pressure decreases.
Secondly, exercising helps relieve stress and anxiety, which are among the most common causes of developing hypertension. It gives you a chance to take a break from whatever is going on in your life and perhaps release some anger, so it always feels like you’re dialing things down a notch, and if anything, it’s better for your heart and blood pressure.
4. Increasing Stamina 
Nothing is less motivating than a sedentary lifestyle with the same thing happening over and over again. With time, we all tend to become winded with the least physical effort. However, using an elliptical will get you moving and increase your capacity to do a lot of stuff without feeling tired and apathetic all the time.
As we were just saying, it also helps with anxiety as your body releases chemicals called “endorphins” that are similar to morphine. Endorphins make you feel good and trigger a positive, encouraging vibe that gives you a push to exercise more and stay in a good mood for longer periods.
5. Dual Exercise
If you’re a big fan of treadmills, you probably know they focus on the lower body part giving you more leg muscles and an attractive sculpted leg appearance as they build the calf muscles. Did you know you can get a similar effect from an elliptical? Elliptical machines aren’t the same; this is why finding the best elliptical, for that matter, can be tricky.
However, if you’re keen to push your leg muscles to their limit, you can get a dual elliptical machine like the Pro-Form Hybrid Trainer. This machine is used as an elliptical and a recumbent bike as well, giving you more ways to exercise and work your muscles.
6. Warm-Up
Warm-ups are essential before workouts and ex
ercises, and the elliptical is one of the most effective ways to stretch your muscles and loosen up so that you can start more challenging training. Not to mention, it allows you to engage around 80% of your body muscles; it’s really impressive that one machine can be enough of a warm-up.
Cardio machines tend to be expensive, but the good thing is, elliptical trainers aren’t, let alone the budget ones. The Nordic Track Elliptical and the Nautilus E614 Elliptical are great for warm-ups and maintain a good body image.
Nonetheless, there are plenty of other outstanding yet budget-friendly elliptical trainers if you don’t want to break the bank for getting your own machine at home. You can check some of them in this guide: best budget elliptical.
7. Expedite Recovery
Athletes’ injuries can take forever to recover, or at least that’s how it feels like, even if it’s not true. The thing is, during the recovery period, the muscle mass decreases, and the joints become more tense and strict.
Unfortunately, in some conditions, you have to rest completely and avoid applying any stress on the injury site, particularly during the acute phase.
However, once your recovery starts, you can speed things up using an elliptical as it allows full range of motion when you’re recuperating from previous injuries. This way, you preserve most of the muscle mass and get back in the game sooner.
8. Balance and Mobility 
Even if you don’t have any previous injuries whatsoever, using the elliptical can improve your posture, strengthen your core, and tone your muscles. Accordingly, you won’t age as early, and you can enjoy a better quality of life.
9. Losing Weight
Like any other cardio machine, the elliptical can help you blast fat, especially in resistant areas like the abdomen and the hips. The way to do so is by starting high-intensity interval training (HIIT), during which you combine a short period of intense exercise followed by a brief recovery period in successive sets.
HIIT is truly challenging, but with consistency, the results are always mind-blowing.
Conclusion
Whether you’ve been injured before or you’re sound and injury-free, there’s A LOT that you would be missing out on if you don’t use the elliptical. With that in mind, keeping the workouts as consistent as possible with fixed or increasing intervals guarantees the best results.