subject: Building Endurance On An Elliptical [print this page] Using home gym equipment regularly provides a slew of benefits to those that participate in the activity and have built a habit out of it. Benefits include improved health, lower body fat, higher energy levels, and a significant increase to overall endurance levels.
While any exercise machine has the ability to improve said functions, the aerobic workout that the elliptical machine provides, coupled with its ability to simultaneously work muscle groups to a greater end, means that it is an excellent option in increasing overall fitness levels. It is one of the best options, in fact.
The elliptical machine works by having the user step into a set of contoured pedals, while gripping a pair of swiveling handles that are directly linked to the pedals at their feet. The person moves almost as if skiing and the pedals move in an ovular motion so that the feeling of forward motion is achieved, while the user stays in place.
The difficulty of the workout is also adjustable, so that the user has to strain harder to physically move the appendages of the device, which helps strengthen and define their muscles. Doing so is a fairly passive process that ends up benefiting the individual with greater health.
The great strength of the elliptical machine, however, is the ability of the equipment to build endurance over time with regular use. The device provides a highly aerobic workout that challenges the body without negatively impacting it, allowing for positive results to be made present almost immediately.
Building endurance is not a complicated process, but it is an involved one that requires some examination. Critical concepts related to the subject are exercise efficiency and the effect that gym equipment can have over time.
The most important thing to remember about endurance building is that it is a gradual process. It requires the user to undergo a series of incremental increases in order to fully benefit, as well as regularity that cannot be displaced by trivial distraction.
As the elliptical machine is used, it fatigues and slows the body as it exercises it. To compensate, the body attempts to streamline its systems and become more efficient so that it can be on the move for extended periods of time while consuming reliable energy.
Understanding this process is key to endurance building, because the body needs to be worked and fatigues regularly enough and in high enough doses that it attempts to build itself up to meet future stressful stimuli. By keeping the body working, it will layer more strength and endurance upon itself to compensate.
Ideally, keeping the body at work should be a process that ends with the body building itself in direct proportion to the workout received. In order to ensure this, increasing difficulty and time of the exercise sessions will ensure that the need to build and be more efficient is a certainty.
Above all else, endurance building requires patience and fortitude. Because improving is a journey, physical change will not necessarily be an immediate thing, but overall efficiency will still be increased out of sight.
One of the most important things regarding endurance building is the issue of habit and how it plays into the overall dynamic. For users who irregularly use the equipment, or who use it at sporadic intervals, there will not be nearly as great a benefit as those who make a habit out of their routine.
This change toward habit does not come easily to everyone. Some will make a point of regularly exercise with the equipment, but may end up missing a session or two out of laziness or a lack of real desire.
Though it seems trivial at the time, breaking the overall habit pattern for personal reasons ends up detracting heavily from the process because if small variations are allowed, then others may crop up as a result. Essentially, people who break their habit paradigm enable themselves to not care as much about being regular with their treadmill as they could be, and this casual attitude may eventually turn them off to exercise itself, since it by extension is considered optional.
Using an elliptical machine is an excellent way to build overall endurance levels, due to the completeness of the workouts that the equipment provides. Said completeness includes strengthening the body and improving the cardiovascular system simultaneously.
