Should I use the elliptical before I exercise?

I have a friend who had pain in both of her knees and she had pain going down her shin, maybe it was shin splints, she wasn’t sure. Her doctor told her to just rest her shins, stay off her legs as much as she could to let her shins heal. He insisted that in order for her shins to feel better she just needed to rest. I’ve written a post about the best way to heal shin splints and you can check it out by clicking the link.

Once she was getting back into her exercise routine she asked me if the elliptical was good to use. This is a great question and the elliptical is a great way to exercise.

You can use the elliptical to warm up before other exercise, improve your cardiovascular fitness and to build up strength.

Using an elliptical to warm up before exercise

She also asked me if she should use the elliptical before her strength and other exercises. And really, yes you can use the elliptical before exercises, or you can use it as your exercise. When you use it as a warm up you may end up changing the settings just a little bit.

How to use an elliptical to warm up

When using the elliptical for a warm up it’s a little different than if you’re using it for cardiovascular exercise or strength. 

1. Use the lowest settings

2. Use it for 5-10 minutes

3. Use your arms and legs equally and making sure the joints are going through as full of range of motion as possible on the elliptical

How to use an elliptical for cardiovascular fitness

When using the elliptical for cardio you’ll want to use it at a higher level or use it faster than when you’re using it for a warm up or for strength.

1. Warm up (either with the elliptical, walking, marching in place, other body exercises)

2. Use a setting that challenges you and it increases your heart rate to 50-70% of your maximum heart rate.

3. Or go fast enough on a low setting so that it increases your heart rate to 50-70% of your maximum heart rate

   1. High RPM (revolutions per minute)

4. Cool down by changing the setting you used for warm up

5. Stretch after elliptical

6. Incorporate strength training in other ways through the week

   1. Strength machines at the gym

   2. Dumbbells and barbells

   3. Resistance bands

7. Use the elliptical for moderate intensity exercise 150 minutes a week (30 minutes, 5 days per week)

How to use an elliptical for strength training

1. Warm up (either with the elliptical, walking, marching in place, other body exercises)

2. Use a high intensity setting so that you go slow and it challenges the mucsles in your legs and arms to push

   1. This setting will be high intensity and you will have to move slow because the resistance is so challenging

   2. Low RPM (revolutions per minute)

3. Cooldown by changing the setting you used for warm up

4. Stretch after elliptical

5. Incorporate cardiovascular training in other ways through the week

   1. Walking

   2. Biking

   3. Running

   4. Swimming

6. Use the elliptical for moderate intensity exercise 150 minutes a week (30 minutes, 5 days per week)

Example week using the elliptical for warm up, cardio and strength

Sunday

1. Rest from elliptical

2. Stretching routine

Monday

1. Warm up on elliptical 5 minutes - lowest setting

2. Cardio training on elliptical x30 minutes - 

3. Cool down on elliptical 5 minutes - lowest setting

4. Stretching routine

Tuesday

1. Warm up on elliptical 5 minutes - lowest setting

2. Strength training on elliptical x20 minutes - high resistance, low RPM

3. Cool down on elliptical 5 minutes - lowest setting

4. Stretching routine

Wednesday

1. Warm up on elliptical 5 minutes - lowest setting

2. Cardio training on elliptical x30 minutes - 

3. Cool down on elliptical 5 minutes - lowest setting

4. Stretching routine

Thursday

1. Warm up on elliptical 5 minutes - lowest setting

2. Strength training on elliptical x20 minutes - high resistance, low RPM

3. Cool down on elliptical 5 minutes - lowest setting

4. Stretching routine

Friday

1. Warm up on elliptical 5 minutes - lowest setting

2. Cardio training on elliptical x30 minutes - 

3. Cool down on elliptical 5 minutes - lowest setting

4. Stretching routine

Saturday

1. Warm up on elliptical 5 minutes - lowest setting

2. Strength training on elliptical x20 minutes - high resistance, low RPM

3. Cool down on elliptical 5 minutes - lowest setting

4. Stretching routine

How to decide if you should use the elliptical before exercise as a warm up or as the exercise itself?

To use the elliptical as a warm up think about these things:

1. Do your knees (or other joints) feel good using the elliptical?

2. Do your knees (or other joints) feel like they need more of a warm up before you get on the elliptical

3. Is the elliptical a fun way to exercise for you?

So let’s talk about the first one: do your knees feel good using an elliptical?

If your knees don’t really like the elliptical and feel like they are stuck and in pain when using the elliptical you may want to consider using something else to warm up before the elliptical. You may consider walking, marching in place or doing some mobility exercises to warm up before the elliptical and the elliptical would not be your warm up.

The second question is related to the first question and if it feels like your knees are really tight before getting on the elliptical and the elliptical doesn’t loosen them up then consider walking, marching in place or mobility exercises for a warm up. Sometimes the elliptical doesn’t warm up your knees because your knees don’t go through a lot of range of motion to get the lubrication lining the whole joint, so you may do the marching or some mobility ham curls laying down, or heel slides before hopping on the elliptical.

The 3rd question: if the elliptical is a fun way for you to exercise and you plan to stay on it for more than 5-10 minutes then you can use the elliptical for a warm up and then change the settings and use it as your exercise program. So this way the elliptical would be both the warm up and the exercise for that day. (Don’t forget to stretch that day, too and incorporate other strength or cardio the rest of the week)

Ok so let’s recap: The elliptical is a great way to exercise. It can be used to warm up, cool down and for the days exercise for cardio or leg strength. To use the elliptical in different ways you would change the resistance level on the elliptical to make it easier and gentle for a warm up and cool down, you would have low to moderate resistance and go fast for cardio and you would ramp up the resistance and go slow.

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