- Begin your workout by slowly ramping up your speed on the elliptical. At this point, you can keep the resistance and/or incline on a low setting. Use the arm handles in order to get both an upper body and lower body workout. Your warmup period should last for one to two minutes.
- Once you are warmed up, either choose a program or use the manual setting. A great way to get an intense workout is to take advantage of an interval program or make up your own interval workout. Intervals consist of periods of high intensity followed by periods of recovery. Your interval length can vary depending on the length of your workout. A good option is to do two minutes of high intensity work followed by one minute of recovery. To increase your intensity, increase the resistance level on your machine. At your highest intensity, your breathing rate should increase, but you should still be able to hold a conversation. Ideally, your heart rate should be at about 70 to 80 percent of your maximum heart rate value. After completing a high-intensity interval, decrease the resistance to a lower setting and slow your pace for a recovery period. Repeat this high-low cycle for the duration of your workout. During your workout, you may also want to change the incline settings, if available, to target different muscle groups in your legs.
- End your workout with a cool down period. Reduce the resistance to zero and slow down your pace. Allow your heart rate to reduce as you reduce the intensity of your workout. Ideally, your cool down should last for about two to three minutes. Following the cool down period, step off the elliptical machine and stretch your muscles. In addition to stretching your calves, hamstrings and quadriceps, stretch your shoulders and triceps.
