The elliptical machine is currently one of the most accessible and efficient pieces of gym equipment you can use to achieve your fitness goals.
It is easy on the body, considering it’s a low-impact exercise. Even so, it targets almost all critical muscle groups you want to develop.
However, there is one question a lot of people ask.
Aside from muscle toning and improving cardiovascular health, does elliptical machine burn belly fat? Let’s find out.
Does Elliptical Machine Burn Belly Fat?
An elliptical trainer is designed to imitate movement patterns when we walk, run, or climb stairs. The only difference is that it does not put too much pressure on the joints.
Does walking, running, or climbing up the stairs help you lose belly fat?
Of course, it does!
Elliptical workouts burn calories and tone your body, leading to a decrease in belly fat.
In elliptical training, you get to engage your lower and upper body, but most importantly, you also target your core muscles.
Even though this elliptical device is most often used for cardiovascular exercises, no one can deny the fact that it can also be beneficial to your physical appearance.
In fact, a 30-minute elliptical session burns about 300 calories.
If part of your fitness ambitions is to burn 1,200 calories per day, an hour on the elliptical machine gets you halfway there already!
Tips When Burning Belly Fat With Elliptical Machine
If you are trying to burn belly fat with an elliptical machine, the actual process is pretty straightforward.
Just step on the machine and start exercising, right? Right?
In truth, your current diet habits also play a significant role in the success of your elliptical exercises.
Here are some tips on how to have a healthy diet to enhance the results of your elliptical training:
1. Boost Your Metabolism
The first thing you want to do is to ensure you have a healthy metabolism to improve your body’s ability to flush out toxins.
Moreover, a good metabolic rate will increase the calories you burn every minute of your exercise. As a result, you will have more energy to face a challenging workout.
Before you head to the gym or step onto your elliptical trainer, have a meal that includes coffee, almonds, beans, berries, turmeric, or apple cider vinegar.
That said, ensure you don’t consume any of these 60 minutes before your workout session.
2. Increase Your Protein Intake
If you are unaware, your muscle fibers tear apart when you exercise, which is why you experience pain after a day in the gym.
Your body will then fix this by fusing the fibers together, and that’s how muscles are developed.
To grow your muscles, you want to make sure your body has enough resources to fix these tears. You can do that by introducing a lot of protein into your diet.
About 30 to 60 minutes after a body workout, have a meal that includes eggs, yogurt, avocado, coconut oil, meat, or fish.
Through this, you boost your body’s restorative properties while increasing the rate at which it burns excess body fat.
3. Remember to Hydrate
When you exercise, you sweat. Sweat is part water, and we all know that we need water to survive.
Therefore, you must replace the liquids that your body flushes out. This keeps you from getting dehydrated.
The amount of water a person should consume within the day depends on a number of factors, including height, weight, the intensity of perspiration, and a lot more.
In general, you will want to drink at least 1.5 liters of water every day to stay hydrated.
However, if you’re quite bigger compared to an average person, try to increase your water intake.
4. Reduce Alcohol Consumption
Unlike some common drinks, alcohol goes straight into your belly, contributing to your stomach fat.
As such, it would be counterproductive if you give it your all on your elliptical sessions and then drink alcohol after a few days.
It doesn’t matter what type of alcohol you drink. Limit it to the bare minimum, or stop consuming it altogether.
Besides, you certainly do not want to feel hungover the following day and engage in all types of workouts, do you?
5. Stick to Fresh Food
Lastly, you should try and keep your diet as healthy as possible, which means you must only eat fresh food.
Try to avoid fast food, anything pre-packed, or factory-made food products when trying to lose belly fat with an elliptical trainer.
Most of these products include food additives to preserve their freshness for as long as possible.
The problem is that these food additives are certain types of fat that will not in any way help you achieve a flat stomach.
Other Exercises That Will Help You Burn Belly Fat
Are you really dedicated to burning belly fat? If so, you might be interested to learn that there are more exercises that might help you achieve it, such as:
HIIT
HIIT stands for high-intensity interval training and is arguably one of the most effective ways to get rid of belly fat. As such, it is an extremely popular workout.
HIIT includes high-intensity exercises performed in short sessions.
These are then followed by a minute of recovery, hence why it’s an “interval,” before getting back on the exercise regime.
This type of training usually does not exceed half an hour. However, it varies widely, depending on the person’s current fitness level.
Some beginners often do HIIT for only 15 minutes, as it can be too difficult for the body.
It is also why it requires a lot of motivation to get started and even more dedication to stay consistent.
Strength Training
Strength training is a holistic exercise program to burn calories and tone the body. Aside from toning your cuts and muscles, it also burns your belly fat.
One of the best fitness benefits of strength training is that it boosts your body’s metabolic rate.
So, even after you’ve finished your entire strength training workout, the body continues to burn fat.
Weight training is often the most prominent type of exercise under this category. It includes weightlifting activities, such as deadlifts, barbells, and the like.
If you want to pursue this type of training, you have to make sure you combine it with an effective cardio workout.
You will need a high level of endurance to undergo this exercise regime. Therefore, you must also do exercises like swimming, cycling, running, and elliptical training.
Cycling
Cycling is another efficient method of burning belly fat. The best part is that it is a low-impact exercise, which means it is easy on the joints.
You can invest in a bicycle and cycle outdoors for more adventurous training.
On the other hand, there are also stationary bicycles you can purchase or use in gyms if you prefer staying indoors.
Depending on the intensity, a 30-minute cycling session can burn anywhere from 300 to 500 calories.
Bicycle Crunches
If you don’t have a bicycle or there’s none you can use at the gym, you can try bicycle crunches instead.
It mimics the body movements involved in cycling but with a bit more intensity.
To do this, lie on your back and place your hands behind your head.
Then, lift your knees all the way to your chest while also lifting your head and shoulders, bringing them closer together.
Once you’re in this position, start to alternately pedal with your legs while touching one of your knees with one of your elbows.
If you pedal with your left leg, your right knee stays on your chest, so you must move your arms and touch this knee with your left elbow.
Doing this a dozen times per set and repeating it around three times can quickly burn your belly fat.
Russian Twists
If bicycle crunches are too challenging for you, an exercise called Russian Twists might be more helpful.
It engages your core, and it can also be useful in toning your upper body.
To do this, you need to sit on the floor. You can either keep your legs straight, rested on the floor, or bend your knees so that your body forms a V shape.
Then, twist your body from one side to the other for 30 repetitions. Doing this in sets of five should help you burn calories, reducing your belly fat in the process.
If you want to tone your upper body at the same time, grab a dumbbell and hold it with both hands in front of your chest.
Twist your body from left to right while holding the dumbbell to increase the intensity of the exercise.
Burn, Belly, Burn!
We all know how belly fat can be very difficult to get rid of.
There are numerous intense exercises that specifically target this. The only problem is that it can be too hard on the body.
Thankfully, we now have the resources to make all of this easier.
If you ever find yourself asking the question, does elliptical machine burn belly fat? Just go ahead and step on the machine, and you’ll see the results quickly.
