How to Burn More Calories on the Elliptical?(8 Tips You should learn)

Ellipticals help burn more calories than some similar cardio exercise machines, like the recumbent bike. If you are looking to maximize your calorie-burning on the elliptical, you need to change or add some practices to your elliptical workout routine to get the most out of it. 

Burning calories means weight loss, and in order to lose weight, you will have to burn more calories than the ones you consume every day. 

These 8 tips will effectively help you to Burn More Calories on the Elliptical

Increase the resistance level and incline

Increasing your elliptical resistance level, your muscles will work harder, thus, burning more calories. As for increasing the incline, your body muscles will have to work harder.  As increasing the incline is very much like climbing a hill, you will have to put more effort into riding up that hill as opposed to a moderate incline. 

Increasing the incline is also beneficial for a more effective total-body workout, as it focuses on various muscle groups. 

By increasing the elliptical incline, you train the glutes and hamstrings a little harder, as well as your hip extension.

Here is what you need to do if you want to do this as a full workout to boost more calorie burn: 

• Warming up: begin with a 5 to 3 minutes warm-up, keeping an incline level between seven and eight.
• Changing the pace: increase the incline to between 10 and 15 and maintain a 120 to 130 RPM rate for one minute.
• Repeat: Lower it to the warm-up level, recover for a minute and a half. Repeat it 5 times.

Make sure you are working within your capacity, as increasing resistance levels beyond your maximum capacity will impact your efforts negatively. 

Reverse the motion 

Forward motion when working on the elliptical? Isn’t that what we all do! Well, if you are looking for burning more calories, you will have to do it differently. 

Reserving the motion during the workout is a great way to change up the muscles you are working. This way, you will burn more energy and as a result more calories.

To go for this workout, start pedaling backwards and go. 

You can do this only for your entire workout. If you find it too hard, you can switch between forward and backward in intervals.

Maintain a flat foot

While it is not something everybody pays attention to, it plays a major role when it comes to maximizing your calorie burn. 

When exercising on an elliptical, the majority of people do not press through their toes to the pedals. They let their heels raise, resulting in a significant reduction in caloric expenditure.

When doing it the right way, by pushing through your entire foot, including your heel, will activate more legs muscles. This will help boost both calorie burning and muscular growth.

Also, being not flat-footed, and your body is out of balance on the elliptical will cause you pain. Maintain a slight bend in your knees, avoid standing on your toes by keeping your feet flat against the pedals, maintain a straight back to keep your spine long. 

Incorporate interval training

Fitness experts say the most effective way to burn calories on the elliptical is by doing interval training. 

Interval training activates your fat-burning system to remain raised for 48 to 72 hours following your workout, which leads to increased calorie loss. 

IF you want to go big, then high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is your way to go. 

HIIT workout is a calorie killer that will help you grow your upper, core, and lower body muscles. It’s designed to burn more body fat and get you in shape in as little as a few weeks.

Here is a total-body elliptical-HIIT that will take you 20 minutes to finish:

Before starting the HIIT, warm with an easy incline and at a low resistance level for 3 to 5 minutes.

• Minutes 0-2: begin with a quite low resistance level of 5 and incline 5. 

• Minutes 2-3: raise your resistance level to 10 while maintaining the same incline of 5. 

• Minutes 3-5: Decrease the resistance level back to 5 to recover and raise the incline to 10.

• Minutes 5-6: Resistance level of 10 and an incline of 7.

• Minutes 6-8: Decrease the Resistance level to 7 and increase the incline to 9.

• Minutes 8-9: Raise the resistance level to 12 while maintaining the previous incline of 9.

• Minute 9-11: Decrease the resistance to 7 with the same incline of 9.

• Minutes 11-12: raise the resistance to 12 with the incline of 9.

• Minutes 12-14: Decrease the resistance level to 9 and increase the incline to 11.

• Minutes 14-15: Increase the resistance level to 14 while maintaining the same incline of 11. 

• Minutes 15-17: Decrease the resistance to 9 and the incline to 9. 

• Minutes 17-18: Increase the resistance level to 12 while keeping the same incline of 9. 

• Minutes 18-20: decrease the resistance to 7 with the same incline of 9. 

If a resistance level proves too challenging, simply repeat the level from the preceding period. Do not hesitate to alter a workout to make it more suitable for you.

If you are not a big fan of high-intensity training, then this interval training should work just fine for you: 

• Min 0-5: begin with a warm-up at a resistance of 7 or 8, maintain a heart rate between 50 and 60% of your maximum.

• Min 5-5:30: Increase your resistance level to anywhere between 10 and 15 while maintaining a rotation per minute of 165 (RPM) FOR 30 Sec. 

• Min 5:30-6:30: Decrease the resistance back to 7 or 8 the same as your warm-up resistance level for a minute. To recover. 

• Repeat the last two steps 8 times.  

Release your grip on the handlebars

Burning more calories requires more muscles engaged during your workout. Holding into the handrails actually prevents your core body muscles from being engaged 

In everyday tasks, your core body stabilizes you, while your nervous system is the one responsible for keeping you balanced by re-adjusting your muscle when any minor position change happens. You follow the same mechanism When you release your grip on the rails, you put your entire body muscles into the training at the same time instead of distributing the workload between your upper and lower body.

This way, you will burn more calories as you will be recruiting your body’s larger muscles.

Also results in reduced calorie burn as opposed to letting go of them. 

To let go of the handlebars, make sure you are maintaining a steady pace and that you are balanced enough to take your hands off them. 

Unless you have medical balance, or you are an elder, then start to let go of the rails to burn more calories.

Work your upper body muscles 

Many Elliptical trainer types focus on lower body motion more than the upper body. 

Incorporating both your arms and legs into the training will maximize your calorie burn.

Having your arms engaged in the activity will help tone up your shoulder, core, and back. This way, you work your entire body muscles in a more effective and challenging total-body workout. The more muscles you work, the higher the number of calories you burn. 

Make sure you are not just pressing your arm against the handrails for balance. To do it properly, maintain a forward and backward motion with your arms and at the same time work your leg muscles. You can also try interval training by alternating between pushing with your arms more and then more pushing with your legs.

Bend your knees and squat down

We are trying to find an effective way to make the most out of your elliptical training. One of the best ways to help burn more calories, keep a slight bend in your knees while maintaining your basic motion. This will give you a bit of an intense lower body workout, resulting in more calories burned. 

Begin with small periods of 10 to 30 seconds crouching down to prevent putting too much strain on your knees. Then go back to your original standing position.

Stick To a Workout program

Most elliptical machines come with built-in workout programs, and some of them support connecting to great fitness apps that give you access to global routes and interactive training classes. Sticking to one of these workout programs will help you stay on track, motivated and engaged. Which will help you achieve and exceed the calorie-burning goal you set.

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FAQs On Burn More Calories on the Elliptical

How many calories are burned on the elliptical in 30 minutes?

It depends on several factors like your body weight, your training intensity, age, gender, and body mass index. 

Here are some examples for a better explanation:

• Training of high intensity like the HIIT routine will help more calories as opposed to your basic workout routine. 
• Individuals with heavier muscle mass and weight will most likely burn more calories.

Here is the number of calories burned in 30 minutes based on the body weight: 

• A 125-pound individual can burn 270 calories. 
• A 155-pound individual can burn 325 calories. 
• A 186-pound individual can burn 375 to 380 calories. 

How to calculate the number of calories burned on the elliptical? 

There are many elliptical calculators online, like the Omni elliptical calories calculator or Calories burned HQ’s calories burned on the elliptical calculator. All you need to do is to input your weight, workout intensity, the duration of your workout, and it will do the mass for you.  

Do ellipticals work the stomach muscles?

The elliptical is a great exercise machine when it comes to low-impact cardio workouts that serve as both lower body and upper body workouts with zero stress on your joints. However, ellipticals don’t target the stomach directly. Although it helps burn more calories which are necessary to burn body fat. If you want to target your stomach as the main focus of your workout, use abdominal strengthening activities in conjunction with your elliptical training.

Final Words

Working smart on your elliptical will eventually pay off. Follow these pro-tips to maximize your calorie burn on the elliptical. We hope we helped you with your query. For any further questions, leave us a comment or contact us directly. Best of luck!