Elliptical for HIIT

Ok, I just read on some website that the elliptical isnt the best machine for HIIT. However, an elliptical is all I have. I dont have the money for a gym membership and dont particularly trust sprinting in my neighborhood, seeing as Id have to go really early or late in the evening so I dont faint from the 104 degree weather. Anyway...has anyone lost any weight doing HIIT on an elliptical? Or atleast had any success at all? I dont understand why it wouldn't be a good machine to use

I have actually heard the same thing myself and never used an eliptical machine for HIIT. The best cardio machine for HIIT is the stationary bike IMO. Pedaling as hard as you can for 30 seconds, really kicks your butt.

However, I would say that HIIT on the eliptical, is better than doing no HIIT at all. You can still get a good workout as long as you put 100% into your sprint intervals and go all out @ 100%. If you switch between 30 second intervals of going that hard with 60-90 seconds of slower recovery, you should be good to go. The key is making sure you put everything you have into the sprint intervals.

I find that hard to believe. When I used the elliptical at my old job's gym, it kicked my butt everytime. My legs were screaming at me after 10 minutes on the thing. I couldn't understand how people could do it for 30+ minutes, yet I could go on the treadmill at the same intensity, for hours! - at the time I was using it though, I wasn't in nearly as good a shape as I'm in now.

I use my elliptial for HIIT with great success.  I keep the resistance at a challenging level, warm up for 5 minutes, alternate 30 seconds of sprinting (as fast as I can run) with 30 seconds of slower pace for as many rounds as my body allows (currently up to 12) then cool down for 5 min.  The elliptical speed is controlled by the user allowing split second changes.  I am totally wiped when I'm done- as you should be after doing HIIT.  Go for it!

Yep I agree, I get great HIIT workouts on the elliptical. I do 1 minute high intensity (level 12 incline, level 12 reistance at about 170 strides per minute), and then 2 minutes at a more comfortable resistance. About 35 minutes in total with warm up and cool down. I tend to do this about twice a week, and the other 2 days I do 45-60 minutes of a more steady pace.

Thanks. I was going to go ahead and try it anyway because you cant trust everything you read on the internet. Thanks for the great replies

It's what I used, when I had access to one. I can see it not being a good idea if you have a gazelle type elliptical, since you'd probably shake the poor thing apart, but if you are using a heavier duty gym machine (life fitness, for example), I think you are fine.

 You can do HIIT with just about any aerobic training equipment.  The eliptical that you have is fine.  I like the eliptical because it's low impact and burns a lot of calories in a shorter amount of time.