How To Maximize Your New Cross Trainer To Get The Body You Want

The cross trainers are now seeing a surge in popularity. This rise in popularity can be attributed to the fact that they’re perfect for all individuals regardless of fitness levels. They’re also referred to by others as elliptical trainers. These equipment are ideal for those who want to boost their cardio workout sessions. If you are new to using equipment, the following are some helpful tips on how you can maximize their use. 

Make Use of Intervals

Interval training is one of the best ways to accelerate your cardiovascular fitness. Cardiovascular fitness is so easy to achieve especially when you use cross trainers either at home or at the gym. Interval training would mean you have to repeatedly perform a set of short yet high-intensity bursts of speed. Do not forget to couple this with recovery phases that allow you to slow down. Keep in mind that your fitness will depend on your recovery rate. You will find that your body is recovering more efficiently when you incorporate a rotation of recovery and exercise in your training. The result would be a greater boost in your fitness levels. 

Simply incorporate faster pedaling into your cross trainer workout if you want to add intervals. For example, your warm-up exercise that lasts for 5 minutes should be followed with one minute pedaling. When you’re pedaling for one minute, make sure to do it as fast as you can. Then spend the next 2-3 minutes for your recovery phase. See to it that as you get fitter you also increase the length of time that you spend on speed pedaling while you also decrease your recovery periods. 

Let Go of the Handle

Letting go of the handles engages your core and abdominal muscles even more.  Your body will work even more to maintain your balance when your hands are off the handles. Doing this frequently will strengthen your lower back and your abdominals. The cervical and thoracic parts of the spine will also gain an improvement in terms of posture and stability. This leads to a leaner looking waistline. Not to mention eliminating pain in the lower back. 

Try Pedaling Backward

Backward pedaling does a great job of improving your agility and giving your quads a good workout. It is also a good way of challenging your body’s ability to balance.  You can immediately feel the huge difference as your muscles work harder to cope up with the backward motion once you start pedaling backward. You can also keep your hands off the handles while you are squatting down to your legs. But, continue pedaling backward. This exercise is a real thigh burner so don’t aim for more than 30 seconds otherwise you will lose your form and go out of balance. 

The cross trainer has been deemed by many fitness experts as better than treadmills because it provides great calorie-burning potential. It exercises the upper and lower parts of the body. It works wonders in helping to increase heart rate and eliminate excess weight among individuals.