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12 Elliptical Mistakes That Can Sabotage Your Workout

The elliptical gets a bad rap for being an ineffective workout tool, but thatโ€™s only because most people use it wrong. Tweak these bad habits to get the most out of your workout.

You only ever use the elliptical

Using the same equipment at the gym in the same way every single time is not only monotonous, it can also hinder your ability to meet your fitness goals in the long run. โ€œWorking out your body the same way every day can lead to overuse of certain body parts that may result in injuries,โ€ says Ryan Halvorson, a personal trainer in San Diego, California. โ€œYouโ€™re making yourself good at one thing. Eventually, your body will adapt to that specific movement and youโ€™ll plateau.โ€

If you donโ€™t want to give up the elliptical, fitness experts suggest incorporating it into a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) routine. This means you alternate between high-intensity exercise for 30 to 60 seconds and low-intensity exercise for 1 to 2 minutes. Instead of an hour straight on the machine, try doing as many burpees or mountain climbers as you can in 30 seconds, then hop on the elliptical for a minute or two to let your muscles recover. But bear in mind that the length of a HIIT session varies from person to person depending on their fitness levels and goals. If youโ€™re unsure how to do HIIT, take advantage of the free personal training sessions that most gyms offer. โ€œYou can up the ante, cut your time in half, and burn twice as much,โ€ says Chris Ryan, a certified personal trainer and strength and conditioning specialist in New York, New York. Check out these 9 treadmill mistakes that make trainers cringe.

Elliptical dashboard at a gym.Hamik/Shutterstock

You always use the โ€˜Fat Burnโ€™ button

Donโ€™t let that โ€œfat burnโ€ button fool you into thinking that the weight will melt off quicker. The fat burn option helps you burn more fat at a lower intensity, but the problem is that youโ€™re not burning nearly as many overall calories. โ€œIf you want to lose weight, you want to burn calories,โ€ says Dani Singer, fitness director of Fit2Go Personal Training in Baltimore, Maryland. โ€œWhether youโ€™re burning carbs or fat is irrelevant, weight loss is about the calories that youโ€™re burning.โ€

High-intensity workouts are most efficient for fat burning and weight loss because you burn more calories and get that added benefit of the afterburn effect. After a physically intense workout, your body breaks down fat and continues to burn more calories to repair your muscles and replenish your energy sources. Make sure to avoid these 13 post-gym mistakesย that can ruin your workout.

Elliptical screen at the gym.Ai Photo/Shutterstock

You pay too much attention to the numbers on the machine

You canโ€™t help but feel victorious when the โ€œcalories burnedโ€ window on your elliptical dash hits triple digits. But thereโ€™s a catch. Those numbers may be skewed. Most cardio machines can only detect weight and age, and thatโ€™s only if you plug in your own information. But overall, they canโ€™t detect who is using it in terms of body type, fitness level, height, or body fat percentage, which means the numbers on the machine may not be accurate to you. โ€œDonโ€™t pay attention to the numbers on the machine. Pay attention to how hard youโ€™re working, because thatโ€™s correlated with calorie burn more than the machine,โ€ says Singer.

Woman using an elliptical.Phoenixns/Shutterstock

You lean on the static handles

Leaning on the static handles in the center console is one of the most common mistakes trainers see at the gym. If youโ€™re slouched over the handrails constantly, your body doesnโ€™t work as hard because the handles act as your support throughout the workout instead of your body. โ€œWe already spend a lot of time slouched, so why reinforce it while you exercise,โ€ says Halvorson. โ€œElliptical machines allow you to stand nice and upright to help improve posture, promote better circulation, and work muscles more efficiently.โ€

To maintain good posture, engage your abs. Think of it like getting punched in the stomachโ€”your natural response would beย to draw in and flex your abs, which helps protect and stabilize your spine. That’s the kind of core engagement you want. Also, pretend thereโ€™s a string attached to the crown of your head and the ceiling, pulling you up straight and tall. For an additional burn, take advantage of those swinging handlebars (if your machine has them) to work out your arms and shoulders, too. Make sure you still use your legs and not just your arms to keep up the momentum.

Woman in pink sneakers using the elliptical.RAYBON/Shutterstock

You never change the resistance

Once your body starts to get comfortable with a workout routine, thatโ€™s when you know itโ€™s time to kick it up a notch. Increasing your resistance is the best way to ensure you keep progressing. When you do increase the effort, you might feel the burn again, but that’s how you increase the challenge and decrease your risk of plateauing. โ€œIf youโ€™re keeping the same pace and distance, your body will adapt and reduce the overall calorie burn and physical improvement,โ€ says Halvorson. โ€œItโ€™s not the best bang for your buck.โ€ As you build up the resistance, just make sure you can actually keep your body moving. It should feel hard but not impossible. Here are 8 reasons you’ve hit an exercise plateau.

Woman in blue shoes using the elliptical.leungchopan/Shutterstock

You donโ€™t distribute your weight evenly on the pedals

Ellipticals were built to mimic a run, except one thatโ€™s easier on your joints. That means you should move your lower body the way you would while running. As you pedal, start at the balls of your feet and roll through the entire length of your foot, ending at the heels. Evenly distributing the weight on your feet is key so you donโ€™t risk placing all your weight on the balls of your feet, which puts major stress on your knees and may cause potential injuries.

Man working out on an elliptical at the gym. nd3000/Shutterstock

You donโ€™t maintain your speed

The difference between an elliptical and a treadmill is that you control your speed versus the machine doing it for you. On the elliptical, you should be able to keep a steady pace, even once you increase the resistance. โ€œItโ€™s a balance between speed and resistance. If you cannot maintain both those things past a certain amount of time, donโ€™t work past that time,โ€ says Jessica Sander, a group fitness instructor at Chelsea Piers Fitness in New York, New York. Read more about theย benefits of HIIT workouts.

Two women talking on an elliptical at the gym.Nestor Rizhniak/Shutterstock

Youโ€™re distracted

Distractions, like reading a book or ogling your gym crush, wonโ€™t help you stay focused on your fitness. โ€œIf youโ€™re reading on an elliptical, chances are youโ€™re not working out hard enough,โ€ says Halvorson. โ€œIf youโ€™re looking to make physical improvements and get in better shape, you should be focused on what youโ€™re doing as opposed to a book.โ€ Try listening to music or an audiobook instead. And don’t even think about talking on your cell phone; it’s one the 12 most annoying habits at the gym.

Woman working out on an elliptical at the gym.wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock

You forget to breathe

Breathing is an essential component to your fitness regime that many people forget to focus on. โ€œDonโ€™t just breathe into your chest. Breathe into your lungsโ€”thatโ€™s how you build lung capacity and stamina,โ€ says Sander.

Woman in a blue tank top working out on an elliptical.Simone van den Berg/Shutterstock

You talk down to yourself

Fitness is a total mind-body experience. If youโ€™re not in the zone, your body slows down. So, donโ€™t let your negative inner dialogue beat you down. โ€œIf your mind is saying youโ€™re tired, slow down and ask yourself why,โ€ says Sander. Donโ€™t beat yourself up if you have to stop early because youโ€™re exhausted. Everyone has an off day and itโ€™s better to listen to your body rather than risk hurting yourself over a couple of pounds on the scale. Keep a positive outlookโ€”no matter how you feel or what you see in the mirror. Take the night to refresh your mind, body, and spirit and return to the gym the next day ready to work harder than before. Creating an upbeat workout playlist or setting short-term workout goals are other ways to motivated at the gym.

Man working out at the gym on an elliptical. Nejron Photo/Shutterstock

You donโ€™t use your time wisely

Quantity doesnโ€™t always mean quality. Running on the elliptical for two hours without any resistance or speed may accomplish less than you think. Instead, opt for a workout that challenges your body. Start out with weighted exercises and finish with a cardio session that incorporates both resistance and speed. โ€œThink like Goldilocks: not too fast, not too slow, not too difficult, not too easy,โ€ says Rebecca Kennedy, founder of RKsolid and a master instructor at Barryโ€™s Bootcamp in New York, NY. Avoid these 15 weight-lifting mistakes the next time you hit the gym.

Woman adjusting a screen on the elliptical.fotoinfot/Shutterstock

You never enter your personal information on the machine

Despite the ellipticalโ€™s limited ability to accurately calculate your calorie burn, you should still enter your information so both you and the machine can gauge how your body is progressing throughout your workoutโ€”even if itโ€™s only a guesstimate. Just remember: โ€œUse it as a guide, not a gospel,โ€ says Ryan.

Sources
  • Ryan Halvorson, personal trainer, San Diego, CA.
  • Chris Ryan,ย certified personal trainer and strength and conditioning specialist, New York, NY.
  • Dani Singer, fitness director of Fit2Go Personal Training, Baltimore, MD.
  • Jessica Sander, group fitness instructor at Chelsea Piers Fitness, New York, NY.
  • Rebecca Kennedy, founder of RKsolid and a master instructor at Barryโ€™s Bootcamp, New York, NY.

Ashley Lewis
Ashley Lewis received her Masterโ€™s Degree from CUNY Graduate School of Journalism in 2015. She was a Jason Sheftell Fellow at the New York Daily News. and interned at Seventeen and FOX News before joining Readerโ€™s Digest as an assistant editor. When Ashley is not diligently fact-checking the magazine or writing for rd.com, she enjoys cooking (butternut squash pizza is her signature dish), binge-watching teen rom-coms on Netflix that sheโ€™s way too old for, and hiking (and falling down) mountains.