While you can burn fat and lose weight through other forms of working out, cardio exercises are the most effective for losing weight.
Five common machines that are used for losing weight include:Â
- Ellipticals
- Indoor Rowers
- Treadmills
- Steppers/Stair Climbers
- Stationary Exercise Bikes
EllipticalsÂ
The elliptical (also known as an elliptical trainer) is a stationary cardio machine that allows users to walk, run, or even stair climb on a low-impact workout.
These machines are a good option for weight loss but are particularly beneficial for those recovering from injuries as they don’t cause the same excessive pressure to your joints, muscles, and bones compared to running on a treadmill.
While these machines mostly provide a lower-body workout, they can also present the opportunity to work out your upper body by engaging with the mobile arm handles.
Many ellipticals also offer incline and resistance adjustments, and some may even feature high-end consoles that are compatible with virtual training software.
How to Maximize Your Elliptical for Weight Loss
If you plan to maximize your calorie burn on an elliptical, increase the elevation, resistance, and stride length rather than working out more leisurely.
Adjusting the elevation, resistance, and stride length will increase the demand on your muscles and heart, which in turn, will help you burn more calories during your workout.
Indoor Rowers
An indoor rower (also known as a rower machine or ergometer) is a type of cardio fitness equipment that is designed to emulate the action of watercraft rowing while providing a low-impact and full-body cardio workout.
Most modern rowers feature a flywheel that provides resistance. There are four main types of rowers that use the resistance mechanism:
- Magnetic rowers
- Air rowers
- Water rowers
- Hydraulic rowers
How to Maximize Your Indoor Rower for Weight Loss
To maximize your weight loss goals while working out on an indoor rower, consistency and duration are key.
Rowers provide more of a full-body workout involving your legs, glutes, core, shoulders, back, and arms. Since they engage multiple muscle groups, it is recommended to upkeep the duration in your workouts rather than tiring yourself out too early.
Another recommendation to maximize weight loss is to sit tall and not hunch over or round your back. This tall, up-right posture will help keep your airways open and make your workout more effective.
Treadmills
The treadmill may be the most common form of cardio equipment found in commercial and home gyms. This is because they provide many benefits and are easy to use while providing a high-impact workout, whereas many other cardio machines provide low-impact workouts.
Treadmills provide the user the ability to walk, jog, or run in place on a mobile belt that moves from the front to the back at a speed and incline the user is comfortable with.
When it comes to burning calories, the treadmill may be the most popular option because of the high-impact workout it presents, and the incline/speed adjustments while being relatively easy to use.
How to Maximize Your Treadmill for Weight Loss
If you want to utilize your treadmill for cutting weight and burning calories, it’s important to keep track of your heart rate to make sure you aren’t overworking yourself.
However, the most effective way to burn calories on a treadmill is to engage in interval running and sprints. Additionally, it is effective to run or walk on an incline.
Steppers/ Stair Climbers
A stepper machine (also known as a stair stepper or cardio climber), is another form of fitness equipment that can provide a quality low-impact cardio workout.
Depending on the type of stepper you purchase, these machines require the user to move their legs on either two separate platforms or on a moving staircase at a speed that is comfortable for them.
Exercising on a stepper machine forces the user to move their lower body on a strict incline during their cardio workout. This results in an aerobic-style step workout.
Many steppers will also provide handles on the side to help support and stabilize the user. However, in comparison to an elliptical, these handles don’t move, thus do not provide a full-body workout.
How to Maximize Your Stepper for Weight Loss
If you are looking to burn more calories and maximize your weight loss potential while working out on a stepper, there are a couple of things you can do.
While steppers are simple machines and only provide lower-body and low-impact workouts, you can still easily bump up the intensity of your exercises.
A fantastic option for losing weight (as long as it is safe to do so) is to increase the speed of the stair climber. However, make sure you can keep up without falling off.
Another option is to walk two steps at a time to promote a stronger burn in your quads and glutes.
Stationary Exercise Bikes
A stationary exercise bike is a type of cardio fitness equipment that allows the user to mimic the motion of cycling conveniently and comfortably in an indoor setting.
There are multiple styles of exercise bikes with varying purposes, including:
- Spin Bikes
- Upright Bikes
- Recumbent Bikes
- Dual Action Bikes
While these bikes mostly provide a low-impact and lower-body workout, you can engage some areas of your upper body based on posture and the type of exercise bike you engage with.
How to Maximize Your Exercise Bike for Weight Loss
Ultimately, losing weight using an exercise bike depends on the type of bike you choose and how you use it.
If you exercise on a spin or upright bike, lift yourself up from the seat every once in a while or turn up the resistance to promote weight loss. If you use a recumbent bike, you can turn up the resistance but standing is not an option.
A fantastic bike to engage with for weight loss is the dual-action bike (also known as an air bike or assault bike). These bikes often feature longer handles which can allow the user to incorporate more upper-body movements into their workout.
These bikes also feature a fan to create wind for resistance. While these resistance levels can be adjusted, the harder you pedal, the more wind resistance is generated.
