How to use an elliptical machine to lose weight and strengthen your body

Ellipticals look straightforward — until the pedals start gliding and your arms are doing their own thing. My first go was chaos. The footplates took off, my stride went choppy, and for a second I was convinced I’d ride that thing like a runaway shopping cart. One pause, a couple deep breaths, and a quick look at the settings later, I found my rhythm. The difference was instant: smooth motion, steady breathing, and a legit sweat without feeling tossed around.

If the elliptical isn’t your favorite yet, that’s usually a settings-and-form problem, not a you problem. Before you swap it for a treadmill — yes, treadmills can be great too — remember that with a little tuning, the elliptical can enhance your cardiovascular fitness, support weight loss goals and boost muscular endurance, all while being kind to your joints.

Related: Do you need a pricey treadmill, or will a budget option suffice?

To help you get results without the awkward shuffle, I spoke with biomechanists and exercise physiologists to get the most important tips for using an elliptical trainer the right way. Prefer to move at home? We’ve also put the best elliptical machines through their paces if you want to bring one into your space.

Elliptical vs. treadmill: which fits your goals?

Your best pick between ellipticals vs treadmills comes down to goals, comfort, and any cranky joints you’re managing. “Ellipticals work your arms in addition to your legs, making them a great option for anyone who wants a workout that targets their upper and lower body,” says Kaleigh Ray, MS, a certified exercise physiologist, biomechanist and running coach. “Ellipticals are also low-impact, which makes them ideal for exercisers who want to increase their exercise intensity without increasing the [load on their joints during exercise].” She adds that because most models offer a range of resistance levels, you can keep increasing the challenge of your routine as your fitness improves.

From the clinical side, Dr. Mikel Daniels, DPM and lead practitioner at We Treat Feet & Ankles Podiatry sees the elliptical as a joint-friendly workhorse: “An elliptical makes more sense than a treadmill when you care just as much about saving your joints as you do about burning calories and building conditioning.” This is especially true if you’ve got cranky knees, hips or back, he says. “I believe ellipticals are often the ‘keep you moving without flaring everything up’ tool.”

Above all, if running bothers your joints — or you want full-body cardio with less impact — an elliptical may be the smarter play today. It blends the forward motion of a treadmill with the up-down feel of a stair climber, and the moving handles featured on most models add an upper body workout into the mix.

It’s also a good choice for newer exercisers. Because the motion is guided, once you get a feel for the movement, you don’t have to worry about the coordination required to walk or jog on a treadmill’s surface. As you grow more comfortable, you can boost the resistance or incline to ensure you’re challenged rather than just clocking minutes.

Lauren Matthews-Ide

If you’re looking to bring this workout home, the Horizon EX-59 Elliptical is our editors’ number one choice. It offers a great workout experience without many bells and whistles, providing a high-value purchase that won’t break the bank. It’s ultra-quiet design is also great for use in shared-living settings.

The most common mistake on the elliptical

If you’re not seeing results, the simplest explanation is that your workouts have slipped into cruise control.

Ellipticals are low-impact, which is a benefit, but that low-impact feel can make it easy for users to zone out instead of challenging themselves, says Ray. “The biggest mistake I see people make on the elliptical is not cranking up the resistance,” she says. “Many traditional ellipticals don’t handle high speeds very well, so the best way to increase your intensity is to up the resistance.”

Katie Lawton, MEd and exercise physiologist at the Cleveland Clinic, concurs, noting that such mindless gliding never reaches a true moderate-intensity effort, which is what you need if you’re going to see ongoing results.

Daniels has even come up with his own term for this phenomena — “ghost riding” — where a person just sort of leans on the console and coasts at a comfy resistance until they’ve met their pre-determined time limit. “Then they tell me, ‘Doc, I do 45 minutes on the elliptical and nothing changes,’” he says. He agrees that putting in more effort is what will move the needle.

A good rule of thumb to follow is if you can chat easily in full sentences the whole time you’re using the elliptical machine, you’re likely under-doing your effort. Add enough resistance to feel the push and pull of every stride, and stand tall with your hands only lightly gripping the handlebars to ensure you’re not letting the machine do all the work.

The right way to use an elliptical with good form

Form depends a bit on the elliptical machine you’re using (some have stationary handles, others have moving arms), but regardless, it’s important to keep your posture tall, your grip light and your weight centered over the pedals.

Here are our experts’ go-to cues for how to use an elliptical machine correctly:

• Stand tall with eyes forward and ribs stacked over hips with good posture.

• Keep a light grip on the handles — no hanging your bodyweight on the bars.

• Relax your shoulders; if your upper traps are burning, you’re too tense.

• Don’t lean on the console; engage your core and maintain your own balance.

• Keep your whole foot on the pedal with your weight spread evenly from the heel through the mid-foot.

• Maintain “soft” knees — avoid locking out at the bottom of the stroke.

• Choose a hand position that feels comfortable and allows you to maintain a natural stride.

• Keep your heels down; if your heels lift and your feet go numb, try using shoes with a higher heel lift.

Elliptical settings that match your goals

Now that your form is dialed in, make the machine work for what you want — performance, calorie burn, or steady cardio — by choosing your settings wisely.

If you’re looking to improve your cardiovascular conditioning, increase calorie burn or simply enjoy a tougher session, intervals are your friend. “I recommend using the resistance levels to do HIIT workouts on the elliptical. This strategy will improve your fitness more efficiently,” says Ray. This means using repeatable work/rest blocks where you push hard, then recover, and use resistance (and speed if your machine handles it well) to set the effort. An example might be a 1:1 interval where you increase the intensity of your workout to a challenging resistance for a minute, then decrease it a lower resistance for another minute, continuing to alternate between the two levels for the duration of your routine. This type of interval helps keep your heart rate elevated while still giving you time to recover between the challenging bouts. Many ellipticals — like the Schwinn 411, our favorite budget pick during testing — include interval programs that automatically adjust intensity so you can focus on effort rather than button-mashing.

For days when you want pure cardiovascular fitness, opt for a steady pace. Keep a consistent effort across the workout using the same speed, resistance and incline, and make sure it’s at least moderate so your heart and lungs are doing real work. Ray suggests a short warm-up followed by a continuous block of work at a perceived resistance of 4-6 (on a scale of 1-10) before wrapping up with a lower-intensity cool-down.

As you play with settings, use our experts’ hierarchy to guide the feel:

• Start with resistance to set how hard your muscles have to push and pull each stroke.

• Use incline to shift emphasis. Ray says most inclines don’t add much intensity by themselves, but they do change which muscles you feel more (higher inclines often mean you’ll engage your glutes and hamstrings more aggressively).

• Add speed last to move from easy to moderate to hard without losing control of your stride.

What muscles an elliptical works (and how to target them)

Ellipticals deliver lower-body work that hits your quads, glutes, hamstrings and calves, while your core stabilizes your movement. If your machine has moveable arms, they’ll help bring your upper body into play.

“When using the moving handles, you also engage your biceps, triceps, pecs, and many muscles along the back involved in shoulder retraction, such as your traps,” says Ray.

Just keep in mind that an elliptical won’t replace the squat rack for building stronger muscles. A Sports Medicine review found that while cardio is great for improving stamina and muscular endurance (how long a muscle group can continue exerting itself at a given resistance level), it doesn’t provide the heavy load needed to build muscle size and strength. However, by gradually increasing the resistance of your elliptical workout, you can still improve muscular endurance and definition in your quads and glutes.

To target specific areas, rely on the incline. Lawton notes that higher inclines shift the emphasis toward the glutes and hamstrings, while a flat or lower ramp keeps your workout focused on your quads.

Weight loss and smarter intensity

The elliptical can absolutely support weight loss, but only if you use it correctly and put in enough effort. Low-impact workouts aren’t necessarily low-intensity — they just mean your joints get a break while your heart rate climbs.

To maximize calorie burn, lean into the intervals mentioned earlier. Short, high-effort bursts followed by recovery periods are generally more efficient for weight loss than steady-state cruising. To be sure you aren’t accidentally “ghost riding,” use these two tests to check your intensity:

• The talk test: If you can speak in full sentences, you’re in a warm-up zone. For weight loss and conditioning, aim for short phrases (moderate intensity) or just a few words at a time (hard intensity).

• RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion): On a scale of 1–10, aim for a steady 3–5 for endurance rides. During high-intensity intervals, push that effort to a 6–8, using the recovery periods to catch your breath.

Monitor your intensity and rely on resistance to turn your typical gentle glide into effective, joint-friendly, fat-burning work.

Explore more cardio options

If you decide the elliptical isn’t your perfect match, you might prefer the mechanics of a treadmill. We’ve rounded up the best treadmills, including the best incline treadmills and folding treadmills tested by experts. To take your training further, check out our guide on using heart rate zones to maximize fitness, or — if you’re ready to build a home gym —see how to cancel your membership at five popular gym chains.

FAQs

Is the elliptical a good workout?

Done right, the elliptical is a full-body, low-impact session that challenges your heart and muscles at the same time. Our experts note you can scale intensity with resistance and cadence, and moving handles bring the upper body into play while staying friendly to sore knees, hips, or backs.

Is the elliptical good for weight loss?

It can be, as long as the effort is there. Ray recommends resistance-based intervals for efficient fitness gains; use the talk test or RPE to ensure the “work” bouts feel notably harder than your recovery intervals.

What muscles does the elliptical work?

You’ll hit quads, glutes, hamstrings and calves with every workout. Your core muscles will also help keep you stable. If your machine has moving handles, you can also target your biceps, triceps, chest and back. Lawton points out that a higher incline shifts the emphasis of the exercise toward your glutes and hamstrings. Increasing your resistance increases total muscular demand.

Is the elliptical better than the treadmill? What’s the difference?

“Better” depends on your goals. The elliptical offers joint-friendly, full-body cardio with adjustable resistance and optional arm work, while treadmills suit those who want the impact and mechanics of walking or running — especially runners who want the most transferable cardio workout that helps maintain training specificity and bone-loading.

Meet our experts

• Kaleigh Ray, RunDNA Certified Run Coach, Biomechanist, Certified Exercise Physiologist (ACSM) at Treadmill Review Guru

• Mikel Daniels, DPM, President and Chief Medical Officer at WeTreatFeet Podiatry; board-certified podiatrist

• Katie Lawton, MEd, Exercise Physiologist at Cleveland Clinic

Our health content is for informational purposes only and is not intended as professional medical advice. Consult a medical professional on questions about your health.