Share Your Favorite Work-Out Routines

My fav. is 45 minutes of moderate intensity intervals (I think that's what they are...): 10% incline, w/resistance levels oscilating from 3 to 9 for 1 minute each, 1/2 forwards, 1/2 backwards--I use a Precor EFX. I've found that going backwards gets my heart-rate up quite high even though my rotations/min are lower than when I go forwards... so I'm able to keep my hr in the 70-80% range for a lot longer than if I just went forward the whole time.

What are your favorite elliptical work-out routines? What gives you the greatest results? I'd love to hear from others and maybe try something new to jazz up my standard 45 min elliptical work-out.

what does going backward do for you? is it better than going forward? does it work different muscles?

usually i do the elliptical for 30 minutes at level 15.  I try to keep my speed up in the 9 mph...and during certain time intervals i speed up into the 10 mphs..

I usually do intervals on the elliptical at the gym, at resistance level 8. I try to aim for at least 30 minutes six days a week.

As far as going backwards, I have heard that it works muscles differenently...but I am not sure. I have tried doing it but it feels weird.

I strive to walk on the elliptical 4 days a week. Each walk is a minimum of 45 minutes and a maximum of 60 minutes, usually on level 1 resistance. To keep myself entertained, I do an upper body weight routine while my feet move on the elliptical. I usually do 4-5 sets of 10 reps with a 5lb weight of these exercises: bicep curls, tricep extensions, overhead tricep press, shoulder press, and finish with shoulder shrugs. All of these moves are performed with one hand then the other. In between the sets, I walk at a slower pace (heart rate 80%) for a minute followed by a 3 minute vigorous walk (heart rate between 87-92%) followed by another slow walk (to catch my breath) for a minute or more if it takes to get my heart rate back down to 80%. Then I start with the next set of my weights.

To keep my body from getting use to the routine: I vary the length of the vigorous walk and time I allow for recovery as long as my heart rate has recovered to 80-83%. I also started with 2lb wrist weights. Therefore, I continue to add weight to increase the challenge.

*words of caution....this is NOT for everyone. You cannot bounce much when you are working with weight on the elliptical because you can pull a muscle with a bounce. It would be easy to get hurt so if you decide to try this..PLEASE BE CAREFUL!

*words of wisdom*...this is not a weight lifting routine, I am using the weights to increase the aerobic challenge not to build muscle.

I've started going to my university's gym every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I used to run the elliptical and then do weight machines but due to time constraints I've just cut it down to the elliptical. I've been running 4 miles in about 40 minutes, give or take how I'm feeling, without stopping. My heart rate normally peaks at like 180, but for the most part I'm at a steady jog-run. I want to move it up to 5 miles but I'm not sure if I have enough time. I love the elliptical, it's so much less stress on the knees and it enables you to do a whole lot more than if you were on a flat track. :)

I like to do the 30 minute "weight loss" program on one day - gives alternating cross-ramp and resistance automatically - and a 60 minute "variety" the next - also changes cross-ramp and resistance but adds backwards time.  Going backwards works a different part of the muscle and REALLY works the glutes (mine are screaming today).  Really helps that my gym has individual TVs on each machine - if a good episode of Law and Order is on I am game to an extra 20-30 minutes (or more) to see the whole episode.  Easier than trying to read on the elliptical and makes time pass quickly.  I am in my late 40s so don't get as energetic with the heart rate - keep it between 65% and 80% for fat-burning and cardio.

The elliptical trainers at my gym do not measure how mph-I just figure it out myself not is there an incline/decline offering.

I usually start off at resistance 8 and do HIIT to 20, about every 8 minutes or so.  If I do one mile in 12 minutes I know I'm working at a rate of 5 miles per hour.  Also some thoughts are to have a lighter resistance and work faster and others are a higher resistance and work harder for less time. 

I really find too much information I get from the internet confusing.  So, I decided the best for me  was to mix it up.  Sometimes I do a level of 12-15 for a shorter period of time.  AND, do any of you see more definition in your legs, whether it be calfs or thighs or tush?

I am a member at Snap Fitness and I use their ellipticals every day.  I just started using them recently, so I am still working myself up to a longer workout.  I use the "Fat Burn" setting for 15 minutes.  I keep my pace up VERY high as I am consistently at 16-17 mph.  This allows my heart rate to stay at about 175-185 the entire time.  After that 15 minutes, I get back on and do the same exact thing for 10 minutes.  Now I am hoping to have enough energy to where I can do it for 5 minutes after that, but so far it's killing me...lol!