Outdoor ellipticals are a great way to engage your entire body and get a complete workout with less joint pain.
While you may not yet understand the fad of outdoor ellipticals, you probably can visually see how they came to exist. They are a combination of bicycles and ellipticals, taking the popular cardio machine outside.
The next time you see someone using these around town, maybe stop and ask how their machine has impacted their life. From our experience and research, they should be getting stronger thanks to the highly effective workout such a bike brings.
What do you get out of a workout on an outdoor elliptical bike? Read on to learn.
Muscle Activation
In something called a Wingate test, researchers asked volunteers to expend as much energy as they could on both a standard elliptical and a normal bike. What they found is that people were getting exhausted more quickly on ellipticals and getting better workouts.
They attributed the effectiveness of ellipticals to the increased core activation, arm use, standing position, and use of more leg muscles.
An elliptical recruits more of your body’s muscles when doing a workout. Not only are you forced to stand and engage your core, but you also use your upper body and more of your leg muscles than when you use a regular bike.
Lower Impact
A crucial health benefit of using one of these new combination machines is the reduced impact on your joints.
Compared to the turning and resistance your knees face on a bike or jolting impact from running or using a treadmill, the elliptical action is smoother and reduces this potential for pain.
For older athletes especially, reducing the impact on your joints is important to maintaining overall health and extending the life of your high energy.
A comparison of ellipticals to treadmills showed that you get a similar cardio workout but with a significantly reduced impact on your joints when using an elliptical.
Build More Muscle
Your glutes and hips work harder when you use an elliptical than they do when you walk or use a treadmill. The motion of the elliptical activates these muscles more effectively and gives them a good workout.
When you use an elliptical, you know you can look forward to seeing the gains in the near future. With regular workouts, you can build muscle everywhere you feel it working. That includes your upper body.
Engage Your Upper Body
The elliptical engages your upper body in a way that bicycles don’t. With the pull of each move, you get to work your arms, shoulders, and back.
Your core works to keep you stabilized and upright because there is no seat in an outdoor elliptical. While your glutes and hips are working below, your upper body is at work pushing and pulling the handles to propel you from one place to the next.
Fresh Air
One benefit that would be a crime to omit is fresh air. You no longer have to share the same space as the other gym-goers, breathing the same air and listening to the same music. You can have quality alone time breathing fresh air and listening to your own music.
The fresh air benefits your health and can benefit your workout. Exposure to varying temperatures is a great way to improve the effectiveness of your cardio workout.
Being outdoors also gives you the chance for varied altitude and hilly terrain. Instead of staying at a set resistance level or incline, you can venture around the natural area where you live and get a more realistic workout without the joint pain of running around town.
For an outstanding workout with increased muscle activation and lowered joint impact, try one of the new outdoor elliptical bikes.
