Elliptical Trainers for Home Rate Well
Elliptical trainers--those workout machines in the cardio area of health clubs that look something like stair climbers--have been attracting lines for more than three years.
The lines got longer after exercise experts found that a workout on the elliptical trainers compares favorably to a treadmill run, but with less impact on the joints.
Now there are a slew of home models. So, can these new home machines save you time standing in line plus deliver a workout as effective as the health club models?
Yes, according to a study released today by the American Council on Exercise (ACE), a San Diego-based nonprofit organization devoted to promoting healthy lifestyles. Each of the four home models evaluated got good marks, although subjects preferred some models over others.
The two most expensive machines, the Ellipse by NordicTrack (about $600 at the time of study in March) and the HealthRider Elliptical Crosstrainer by ICON Health and Fitness Inc. ($500) got the highest marks from subjects. The NordicTrack Ellipse e-7 model earned high marks from both subjects and researchers. Less preferred were the Power Train by Guthy-Renker ($200) and the Cyclone Crosstrainer by Quantum Television ($400).
In the study, commissioned by ACE and led by Len Kravitz, a University of Mississippi exercise scientist, 14 university students (seven men, seven women), average age about 23, tested each model.
Users move on wide foot pedals in a smooth ellipse; some models have stationary handlebars while others have movable handlebars designed to provide a simultaneous upper-body workout.
As subjects worked out at a self-selected intensity for five minutes, researchers measured oxygen consumption, heart rate, subjects’ own rating of perceived exertion, stride speed and calorie expenditure.
A five-minute test seems brief but gives an accurate evaluation, Kravitz says. “A subject easily attains a steady rate within the first few minutes of exercise,” he says. “The data would have been very similar if we had gone on for 30 minutes on each trial because the subject was exercising at a very steady rate.”
The four machines “proved surprisingly similar across all measurements,” according to a report on the Kravitz study published in the May/June issue of the organization’s newsletter, ACE Fitness Matters, in the mail this week to subscribers.
“Subjects averaged about 8.2 calories burned per minute,” Kravitz says. That compares well, he adds, to moderate-intensity skiing, a crawl-stroke swim, intense aerobic dancing or running at an 11.5-minute mile pace.
“That’s far superior to walking, in terms of caloric burn, at 5.4 calories per minute,” Kravitz says. The elliptical trainer primarily offers cardiovascular conditioning, Kravitz says, with toning effects minimal, about what you could expect from walking or running.
The downsides: Among subjects’ complaints about various models were knees hitting the front of the machine, feet sliding off foot pedals and too much forward lean.
“You really have to try before you buy,” says Richard Cotton, an exercise physiologist at ACE. “Each one has its own feel. Don’t go to the club and try one. The home models are different.”
