Elliptical Calories - Burning Calories

When deciding between an elliptical trainer and other types of exercise equipment such as exercise bikes or treadmills, one thing people commonly weigh up is how many calories will the elliptical help me burn off. After all for that kind of money you want to get the most out of it. This article gives you some estimates on calorie burning based on weight and other factors, and also how to burn more off when you workout on an elliptical.

First of all there are several factors that determine how many calories are burned such as elliptical tension settings, length of workout, interval training, your cardiovascular system (i.e. if you are a beginner or a frequent exerciser) muscle to fat ratio, weight, upper body arm use and gender. According to manufacturers of elliptical machines you can burn up to 720 calories an hour during a workout. Some estimates based on weight and genders are: Female, 150lbs, 30 minute elliptical workout = 387 elliptical calories burnt. Male, 180lbs, 30 minute elliptical workout = 500 calories burnt. Female, 120lbs, 30 minute workout = 310 calories burnt.

The key is to make sure you do your best to maximize how many calories you burn each time. There are several things you can do to increase that amount. Firstly workout your upper body by using your arms. Many trainers have arm bars that can work on arm muscles. The more muscles you work on at once, the more calories you are burning too. If your trainer does not have those arm bars use 2-5 pound hand weights and while you stride swing your arms.

Many elliptical trainers have the ability to incline or offer tension settings. Try integrating 30 second incline intervals every few minutes into the workout. You are pushing yourself harder and therefore burning more calories, not just during the workout, but also for 24 hours after!

Some experts are saying rather than one long workout, more calories are burnt if you make it into two mini workouts. This is because exercise is speeding up your metabolism so if you do 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the afternoon you are charging up your metabolism for longer. However if you can’t do that, it is still true obviously that a half hour workout will burn more than a 15 minute one.

Some trainers have forward and backward motions so use them. As said, the more muscles you work on the more calories you burn then and after the workout. Every few minutes switch up your routine.