How to I get more endurance on the elliptical?

924 rep

MemberHamilton, NJ

I started out 3.5 months ago at AF barely able to walk 15 minutes on a treadmill - now I last 30 'jogging' on the elliptical. I now stretch my legs a bit before starting, but is there anything I should be doing to gain more distance / speed / time on the machine? I don't do any other leg exercises with the exception of the hip abduction machines. I'd eventually like to work my way up to actually running - either on the treadmill or outside. TIA

147 rep

MemberSevierville, TN

Do you maintain a steady pace the entire time you are on the elliptical?
If so I would try adding some intervals in there. Go 1 minute for as hard as you can go and then 2 minutes at a slower pace.
This has helped me tremendously in making cardio gains.

Is there a reason you aren't doing other leg exercise?
Walking lunges are really great for gaining strength and boosting cardio.

924 rep

MemberHamilton, NJ

Steady pace the entire 30 minutes! Thanks I'm going to give the intervals a try! I am not doing any other leg exercises - yet. If I started with a big complicated routine I would feel discouraged so I started out making small improvements every week. To be honest I have not done one 'belly' exercise yet although that of course is the one area I need to loose! I figure cardio is the best way to burn the fat, and the better I can get on the elliptical the more fat I'll burn. I do biceps, triceps and chest machines as well.

147 rep

MemberSevierville, TN

I would definitely try the intervals. And I would incorporate some strength training on your larger muscle groups. Legs, chest, back.....working these will work the smaller muscles. Working the chest will work the triceps, working the back will work the biceps etc. Working with weights will burn more calories overall. You burn calories for 24 hours after weights.

( I am not a trainer, this is just my personal experience)

My motto is one day at a time. I try to improve something everyday. I will eventually get there.

Good Luck, and know that you can do it.

27k rep

Trainer

Hi Lynette-

It sounds like you are on your way and making lots of improvements over the past few months. You should be proud of your accomplishments thus far, but I'm sure you are ready for more. I would recommend the interval training like was mentioned above, but more importantly I would recommend you perform regular total body strength training exercises working all of the major muscle groups in the body. You mentioned that you wish to burn fat, well if all you are doing is the elliptical for 30 minutes than you are missing the boat. To burn fat, you need to perform strength training exercises pushing yourself to temporary muscle failure at the end of each set(s) AND perform cardio exercises within the higher end of your target heart rate zone most days of the week for 30-60 minutes, AND watching your diet closely.

If you need some help creating a personal strength training plan try checking out some of the great features on this website such as the activity tracker, diet tracker, exercise videos, etc. It may seem like a lot to take in, but work on 1 goal at a time, trying 1 new exercise at a time until 1 becomes 2, 2 becomes 3, etc.

Most of all, have fun with it!

31k rep

MemberPort Washington, WI

I will just chime in and agree with the others on the intervals- here's what I do- I set the program on manual, then I warm up for about 3-5 minutes on resistance of 5, after I warm up I crank the resistance up to 10 or 12 and go all out for 30 seconds, then slower for a minute (I usually go backwards for this too, just to work out different muscles), I do this for 20 minutes, then I cool down for 5 minutes. I generally do this 1-2 times a week just to mix things up. I am also doing the Couch to 5K program on my ipod outside because I want to start running 5ks. Starting this up, helping me bust through a stubborn plateau. A week after doing the elliptical intervals in the morning and the outside intervals in the evenings my weight dropped 5 pounds after being at a stand still for almost a month.

The full body workout with weights is great too, I do that 2-3 times a week. In addition to tracking all of my calories.

Good luck!

797 rep

AlumniAmmon, ID

Break up your routine.Instead of once a day increase it to twice a day,30min in the morning,30min at night.After you finish do some crunches.

1.9k rep

MemberAngola, IN

For me I used the incline to increase my endurance on the eliptical. I would do the same as journeytostrong said and work at the interval for a min or two then back to a lighter pace. It really helped me! I found by the end of the week I went from only being able to do it for 10 min to 40min.

26 rep

You should be strength training and building muscle in your legs is a good way to boost endurance.