What are Cross Trainers Good For?

Cross trainers have become a central part of most commercial gyms, and are becoming increasingly popular as the primary piece of cardio equipment in many people’s home gyms. In this article, we dive into some of the many benefits that cross-trainers offer and why they’ve become the gym’s best-kept secret.

Some of the advantages of a cross-trainer are obvious, considering that any sort of physical exercise is fantastic in a world where sedentarism has become so significant. But certain benefits must be thoroughly investigated so that you can see how a cross-trainer can truly assist your fitness goals.

It’s Easier on Your Joints

If you suffer from bad knees, ankles, or hips, then cross trainers are a great alternative to machines like treadmills. Treadmills are considered a “high-impact” workout, however, cross trainers are impact-free as your feet never leave the pedals that you’re standing on, which makes it excellent for elderly people and others who suffer from joint pain. 

As well as that, using a cross trainer means that you’re using more muscles at the same time, therefore you will be spreading the load which helps to strengthen bone and muscle density, which are transferable benefits.

Get a Full Body Workout

Cross trainers, unlike many other pieces of cardio equipment, target the entire body which increases the number of calories burned during a workout. You can actually target specific muscle groups depending on how you choose to use the machine such as:

• Arms –  Simply grasp the handles and push and pull as you pedal. This works your entire upper body, from the chest to the shoulders.
• Glutes – You can boost the resistance or add periods of pedalling backwards to target the glutes.
• Abdominal muscles – Release your grip on the handles and engage your core muscles to remain balanced. After you’ve released your hands, you must utilise your abdominal muscles instead of your arm muscles. This makes for an excellent core workout.
• Quads – By pedalling backwards, you can target your quads. If you are comfortable using cross trainers, you can even add squats whilst you pedal.

Healthier Heart and Lungs

Cross trainers are obviously pieces of cardio equipment, therefore they provide many benefits to your cardiovascular system. The benefits are plentiful, including: increasing lung capacity (letting you workout for longer), making your heart stronger, and lowering your blood pressure. Having a healthier heart means that it will pump blood around your body more efficiently, providing you with better workouts.

The benefits to your lungs, such as the aforementioned capacity increase, will also be beneficial if you suffer from asthma or even sleep apnea. So you can see why these pieces of equipment are becoming more universal.

Get Creative With Your Workouts

The ideal exercise regimens include a range of intensities that are used together to form an effective program. You can mimic a quick walk, a run, or even a difficult stair climb with a cross trainer. Changing the resistance of the machine and the speed at which you move is all it takes to alter the type of workout.

You can start by doing something easy and gradually work your way up to higher levels of intensity. Introduce some high-intensity interval training if you’re looking to improve your fitness. This entails combining short bursts of intense effort with extended periods of lower effort. Low intensity can be introduced first before gradually increasing the degree of difficulty over time.

Get Stronger

While resistance training is frequently regarded as the best method to build muscle, using a cross trainer as an additional exercise to enhance general strength is an excellent alternative. Increasing the machine’s resistance means that your body has to work harder to achieve the same speed, so increase it if this is one of your training goals.

The cross trainer has also been found to be beneficial for people who do a lot of resistance training. This has been found to speed up the recovery process and lead to greater overall strength increases. It’s critical to maintain a lower resistance and a low heart rate when using the cross trainer for recovery, as opposed to high-intensity exercises. These are just a few of the many benefits that cross trainers offer. They are extremely versatile pieces of cardio equipment that benefit many of the main muscle groups, allowing you to become more functional in everyday life and in other aspects of your training. We supply a wide range of excellent cross trainers here at UK Gym Equipment, so head on over to our cross trainer page to get started today.