Elliptical Machines: Great Exercise Without the Joint Pain
Using an elliptical machine guarantees a great workout, and one that is also great for your joints.
These machines embrace your feet and allow you to simulate walking or running with a fluid motion. It is the closest that you will probably ever get to exercising without gravity.
While running, jogging, and walking offer excellent health and weight loss benefits, they can also be extremely damaging to your joints. You are, in essence, choosing the benefits of cardiovascular health over joint health.
Cartilage depletion is a very serious problem and can cause severe pain. Shin splints are another type of damage acquired due to excessive wear and tear on your legs.
In some cases, it may become necessary to stop or severely modify your exercise regimen. Daily activities may also be affected because of pain. A common example of an impact-related injury is when you experience inflammation in the posterior peroneal tendon. You may notice a manageable amount of pain at first, but it often progresses until you can no longer function as you used to.
These same injuries can be provoked through the use of a treadmill. Although the surface of a treadmill is softer than cement, the act of jogging or walking heavily in conjunction with your body weight and gravity still damages joints.
Ideally, it is best to preserve these precious joints for as long as possible.
With life expectancy continually increasing well into the 60?s, 70?s and 80?s, it is vital that we protect our joints so that they will function well into later years of life.
How do you keep your body and heart healthy while protecting your joints?
You could take up exercising in water. This negates gravity's effects and allows for no impact activity. Another option, for those who like to stay on dry ground, is to use an elliptical machine.
Elliptical machines offer exceptional health and weight loss benefits, like walking or jogging. They do, however, eliminate the stress and impact placed on your joints.
Why would you work harder when you do not have to? The ski-like pedals of an elliptical machine provide a fluid and secure motion, and the dual action handles allow an upper body workout as well. This keeps your entire body in a suspended cardiovascular workout.
One reason why treadmills are so popular is that they offer an incline feature, so you can continually intensify your workouts. You can also do this with an elliptical machine. In addition, you can pedal in both forward and reverse with one of these versatile machines.
Overall, elliptical machines provide you with more options. Go forward for great muscle-strengthening exercise. Then, to work a different muscle group, simply go in reverse. It is easy and safe. Walking, jogging, and running is difficult, to say the least, to do backwards. Besides being impossible on a treadmill, it is unsafe on a track or trail.
When you exercise, you want the benefits of running or jogging, without the damaging impact. An elliptical machine gives you the best of both worlds and will keep your body and joints functioning properly.