Cardio machines : 5 tips to use them correctly

Cardio exercise is perfect for burning excess fat accumulated and achieving excellent muscle tone. Take advantage of the equipment available in your gym and take note of some tips to use cardio machines correctly , below.

The exercise bike or the spinning bike , the treadmill or the elliptical are some of the devices that can help you burn calories and stay in shape . They are easy to use and provide a multitude of benefits when exercising. With them, you start your heart improving blood circulation while achieving greater definition of the whole of your muscles. Losing weight and increasing your resistance is possible with the optimal aerobic exercise that these devices can provide you.

To take advantage of every minute you spend working on the cardio machines it is important to know them well and not to forget some guidelines to use the cardio equipment properly .

The keys to training on cardio machines

There are many advantages that cardio equipment offers when performing an aerobic workout , but sometimes we do not obtain their maximum performance due to errors when working with them. Check out some details that will make you use the basic cardiovascular training machines correctly.

1. Adapt the machine to your specific needs

The height of the seat and the handlebars of the bike , the resistance of the elliptical or the inclination of the treadmill ... It is a common mistake to get on a cardio machine and start training without checking these details, which are essential for you can use it properly and optimize your training. You must also control the resistance offered by the device so that the exercise you are going to perform has the right intensity that you need to improve . If, for example, it doesn't cost you anything to hit the pedals, or, on the contrary, each pedal is a huge effort… The cardio machine is not working as it should.

2. Your posture

How well you use a cardio machine depends largely on your starting posture and how you maintain your body throughout the exercise. If you keep your abdomen and glutes contracted on the elliptical, you will not only burn more calories but also strengthen the core area, thus doubling the effectiveness of the apparatus.

3. Change your routines

It is the key to get the most out of the gym cardio machines . If you always do the same training on them, with the same times and exercises, your body will get used to a constant level of effort and the machine will lose effectiveness. In the variation is success. Change your speed on the treadmill , include some high intensity interval or intersperse minutes of hill walking; try riding backwards on the elliptical or rowing “countercurrent” on the rowing machine… If you pedal the same minutes and at the same pace every day, you are not using the cardio machine correctly.

4. Increase effort progressively

Even if you go to work with gymnastic equipment, warming up is still essential for your effort to achieve the expected results. Also, when you start exercising on any cardio machine, always start at a slow pace and gradually increase the intensity. Control your heart rate starting with an effort that does not suppose more than 50% of your capacity and increase it until reaching 60% - 75% (always depending on your physical condition).

5. Constancy

The devices available in the gym are a help to design our weekly training but they do not work miracles. Using cardio machines well requires consistency when training. If your goal is to stay in good shape, you should exercise on them at least twice a week in sessions of 20 - 30 minutes. If you also want to lose a few kilos, the ideal is to do an aerobic workout, on machines such as the treadmill, the bicycle or the elliptical, that has a minimum duration of 40 minutes. You will notice the results of your effort in less time than you think.