Exercise Stepper Benefits
There are numerous ways to burn calories, including running, walking, swimming, cycling and using exercise equipment. If exercise outside is not your preferred method, you're likely to be drawn to equipment such as a treadmill or elliptical trainer. An often overlooked piece of equipment is the stepper. The stepper offers many benefits such as a low-impact workout, portability, leg toning and a cardiovascular workout.
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Muscle Toning
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Many pieces of equipment like the treadmill and the bike target your quads and calves. The stepper will tone not only your calves but also your glutes and hamstring muscles. If you do not hold onto rails, you will also get a good core workout, especially on a mini-stepper, which provides little stability.
Portability
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Unlike with outdoor sports where the weather must cooperate and you have to find a pool to swim in or a park or safe place to exercise, the stepper can be used indoors. A mini-stepper is small and portable, so if you wanted to take it outside onto a patio, you could do that, too. Unlike a bulky treadmill or elliptical machine, the atepper can be slid under a bed or tucked away in a closet. You could even bring it to work and store it under a desk.
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Cardiovascular Benefits
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One of the reasons many people will avoid the steppers in gyms is because they are hard. Hard is good. The stepper will guarantee you will get a workout and burn calories. A treadmill or an exercise bike can easily be used without breaking a sweat, but most people will find a stepper a challenge and will be unable to cheat themselves out of a good workout.
Functional Strength
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Do you find yourself out of breath after walking up a flight of stairs? Do you groan when forgetting something upstairs and have to run back up to get it? Most people do. The stepper will allow your body to adapt to taking the stairs as it strengthens your leg muscles and the tendons around your knee and ankle joints. You may even start to enjoy it.
Types
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There are full-size steppers, like Stair Masters, and mini-steppers or home steppers. The full-size versions take up more space but offer more options for resistance or training programs. The mini-steppers are portable and much less expensive. Some even have displays with timers or handles for optional arm workouts. No matter which size you use, try to use a power-operated version so you can adjust the resistance.
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