Have you heard of elliptical crosstrainers? It's a fairly new concept ‚ less than a decade old. Youíre probably familiar with treadmills ‚ theyíve been around a lot longer ‚ but what do you know about ellipticals? Do you know what they look like? Do you know what they do?

This article is designed to educate you in the field of fitness equipment, specifically ellipticals. We want to teach you how ellipticals work. Weíd like you to have a working understanding of these great fitness machines. They really are a benefit to any exercise program.

Why were ellipticals invented?

Let's look first at basically what ellipticals are, and why they were invented, without going into too much technological detail. The need for ellipticals arose out of the need for a no-impact exercise machine that would get your heart racing, thereby providing the cardiovascular exercise your heart needs, as well as tone and strengthen your muscles. There are many fitness machines on the market today, but most are directed at only a portion of the exercise your body needs. One machine may be good for your cardiovascular, while neglecting your muscles. Some concentrate on only one portion of your body, like your upper body only, or your lower body only. Treadmills are a good example of the type of machine that leave out at least one important part.

Treadmills offer a great lower body workout, combined with really good cardiovascular exercise. But they donít do anything for the upper body. Another disadvantage is that they donít offer a natural stride, but rather a bouncy feel. And if youíre taller than 5í6î, you actually get a kind of a bunny-hop motion. So the fitness equipment industry needed to develop a machine that would provide a whole-body exercise program without the impact. And develop it they did.

Enter ellipticals ‚ the total-body workout

Elliptical trainers, or crosstrainers, as theyíre sometimes called, are one of the most popular and fastest growing workout machine in the industry. They offer an exceptional cardiovascular workout, while reducing stress on the joints. Their fluid motion strengthens the muscles of the glutes (butt), thighs, calves, arms, shoulders, chest and back without straining the joints. Theyíre perfect for the beginner or for the fine-tuned athlete.

As simply as we can, weíll explain the mechanics of this great machine. The idea of ellipticals is to duplicate the natural path of the ankle, knee and hip joints while walking, striding, jogging or running. Now follow this carefully and itíll make sense. The basis of the machine is a crank arm that revolves around an axis at one end, and is attached to a bar at the other. The opposite end of the bar moves in a linear pattern. Because one end of the bar rotates in a circular pattern, with the other end moving linearly, points between the two ends of the bar move in elliptical (oval) patterns. The points of the bar closest to the crank move in wider, more circular ellipses than the points closest to the other end, which move in thinner, flatter ellipses. The result is that the motion of the pedals duplicates the motion of your body as you walk (or run, depending on the setting you use).

The result of this motion, especially since it creates such a natural movement for the body, is a very smooth ride. Your body is positioned over the center of the drive wheel for the most natural ergonomic positioning. And the more natural the exercise, the better it is for your body.

And remember, ellipticals are great for your heart, as well as your muscles. In 1997, when they added the upper handles to the foot pedals, users could now push and pull with all four limbs at once. The result of this was that their heart-rates rose much quicker, so the total exercise time needed was shorter (20-30 minutes). These total-body machines produced a training heart rate that easily got into the 160-175 bpm (beats per minute) range. And thatís an excellent rate for burning calories ‚ and the users didnít feel as if theyíd over-exerted themselves.

There are many elliptical models to choose from

Just to give you an idea of the many choices you have, both in models, and in options on each model, weíll take a close look at the features of a particular model:

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