Wellness Wednesday With Intern Gail
Elliptical machines give you a great low-impact cardio workout. The movement is similar to running, without the impact, so the elliptical is an excellent cross-training workout machine for runners.
For a fun and effective workout, try doing a elliptical interval workout. Intervals work by having you do short bursts of higher-intensity activity alternating with more moderate-intensity activity. See the sample elliptical interval routine below – the higher intensity levels are achieved by adding resistance, speed, and backward intervals.
To get the most out of your elliptical workout, make sure to get your heart rate up into the moderate zone. See last week’s post for how to figure out your moderate-intensity heart rate. Another way to gauge your intensity is to use RPE. RPE stands for Rating of Perceived Exertion. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 laying in bed, and 10 being working out as hard as you possibly can, you want to feel like you’re working at a 4-6 for the warm-up and recovery periods, and increase to a 7-8 for the intervals.
Have fun trying the workout below, and as always, let a trainer know if you need help learning to use the machine or if you have any questions.
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Elliptical Interval Routine |
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| Time | Activity | Resistance | Incline | Strides per minute | RPE* |
| 0-5:00 | Warmup | 4 to 6 | |||
| 5:00-6:00 | Hill | ↑ | ↑ | 7 to 8 | |
| 6:00-8:00 | Recover | 4 to 6 | |||
| 8:00-9:00 | Speed | ↑ | 7 to 8 | ||
| 9:00-11:00 | Recover | 4 to 6 | |||
| 11:00-12:00 | Backward/speed | ↑ | 7 to 8 | ||
| 12:00-14:00 | Recover | 4 to 6 | |||
| 14:00-15:00 | Hill | ↑ | ↑ | 7 to 8 | |
| 15:00-17:00 | Recover | 4 to 6 | |||
| 17:00-18:00 | Speed | ↑ | 7 to 8 | ||
| 18:00-20:00 | Recover | 4 to 6 | |||
| 20:00-21:00 | Backward | ↑ | 7 to 8 | ||
| 21:00-23:00 | Recover | 4 to 6 | |||
| 23:00-24:00 | Hill | ↑ | ↑ | 7 to 8 | |
| 24:00-26:00 | Recover | 4 to 6 | |||
| 26:00-27:00 | Speed | ↑ | 7 to 8 | ||
| 27:00-29:00 | Recover | 4 to 6 | |||
| 29:00-30:00 | Backward/speed | ↑ | 7 to 9 | ||
| 30:00-35:00 | Cool down | 4 to 5 | |||
