What is a cross trainer good for?
- Cardio
- Calorie burning
- Upper body
- Lower body
- Low impact
What exactly is a cross trainer?
A cross trainer or elliptical trainer, as it is sometimes known, is a fantastic piece of equipment for an all round exercise routine. It is similiar to jogging on a treadmill but the combination of working your lower body, your arms and your shoulders provides a tougher, and lower impact workout session.
Many will contain a variable resistance and onboard computers to calculate speed, distance travelled and pulse readings.
Cross trainer workout techniques
The resistance built into cross trainers allows for a varied workout. A slow and easy warm-up period can completed before moving onto a more intensive work out. It is the ideal piece of equipment to allow for High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), increasing your speed and/or resistance for short periods of time and then slowing down to recover, but with out stopping.
A 30 minute training session can burn 500 calories or more so it can be more effective than an exercise bike or treadmill.
Cross trainer varieties
Stationary arm bars – cross trainers can come without the moving arm bars and are provided with a stationary bar for balance. Rather than a full all over workout the stationary arm bar cross trainer only provides a lower body workout.
Two-in-one – with a seat, this is both a cross trainer and also an exercise bike in one, ideal if you are short on space.