The elliptical machine has become a favorite in gym and home workouts for its smooth, low-impact motion and versatility. It’s a great option to improve your fitness levels without the strain of high-impact exercise, making it a smart choice for beginners and long-time athletes alike.
In this guide, we’ll cover 12 benefits of the elliptical trainer and how you can leverage them to reach your fitness goals. Click on a section below to jump to it or keep scrolling to read the full list of benefits.
- Ease of Use
- Selection of Workout Types
- Reduces Stress on Joints vs. Other Cardio
- Increases Stamina and Endurance
- Burns Calories Quickly
- Can Help Burn Fat
- Provides a Good Full Body Workout
- Strengthens Leg Muscles
- Good for Training After an Injury
- Great Active Recovery Workout
- Retro (Backward) Training
- Improves Your Running Form
Ease of Use
One of the best advantages of elliptical trainers over other workout equipment is how easy they are to use. Most machines have simple controls for adjusting resistance and incline, allowing you to easily tailor your workout to your goals.
With a natural motion that mimics walking or running, they’re easy to step onto and start using without much instruction. The sturdy handles and foot pedals also provide support, helping you stay confident and stable throughout your workout.
Selection of Workout Types
Ellipticals are also versatile. Many models come with built-in workout programs that simulate everything from steady-state cardio to high-intensity interval training. Adjusting resistance and incline can shift the focus from endurance to strength, or from lower-body emphasis to a more full-body challenge. The added variety can help keep you engaged and prevent your workouts from feeling repetitive.
Reduces Stress on Joints vs. Other Cardio
Unlike running on pavement or a treadmill, ellipticals provide a smooth, gliding motion that significantly reduces the impact on your joints. Since the pedals move in a continuous path, your feet never leave the surface. This eliminates the jarring forces that can strain your ankle, knee, and hip joints during traditional high-impact cardio.
This also makes the elliptical a great option for anyone with arthritis, since low-impact exercise can help relieve joint pain and stiffness.
Increases Stamina and Endurance
Stamina is tied to your peak performance at high intensity while endurance is tied to your ability to sustain performance at low intensity. Elliptical machines help improve both by keeping your heart and lungs working over an extended period, challenging them to deliver oxygen more efficiently. By slowly increasing your resistance and incline over several sessions, you can push your limit in a controlled way. This should gradually help you sustain longer, more intense workouts.
Burns Calories Quickly
Ellipticals are highly effective for burning calories quickly because they engage multiple muscle groups at once while keeping your heart rate elevated. The added sustained movement compared with other exercises increases energy expenditure.
According to MDApp, you can burn an average of 175-225 calories per 30 minutes on the elliptical. The exact number will depend on your weight and workout intensity/duration.
Can Help Burn Fat
Research has shown that ellipticals are good for weight loss, specifically through burning fat. A 2021 study by the British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine compared 12 weeks of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) with moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) in obese adults. Both regimens resulted in similar reductions in body weight and fat mass, although HIIT achieved those outcomes in a shorter duration and with fewer training sessions. Additionally, HIIT participants experienced a greater increase in cardiorespiratory fitness vs. those in the MICT group.
Incorporating HIIT into your elliptical workouts can maximize fat-burning potential. Try alternating between 3 minutes of high-intensity effort and 1.5 minutes of recovery.
Provides a Good Full Body Workout
So what does an elliptical workout do to engage different muscle groups? The pedals target your legs, glutes, and core, while moving the handlebars works your arms, shoulders, and chest. Engaging all these areas at once makes each session more efficient than exercises that focus on just one part of your body.
To maximize the full-body impact, focus on actively using both your arms and legs evenly. Push and pull the handles rather than simply holding them and allowing the motion driven by your legs to move them. Engage your core as well by keeping your abs tight and posture upright. Don’t lean on the handles for support.
Strengthens Leg Muscles
The continuous peddling motion of elliptical trainers targets the quads, hamstrings, and calves on every stride. Additionally, the ability to adjust resistance and incline allows you to target specific muscle groups based on your fitness goals. Increasing resistance will work your quads and glutes, while increasing incline will work your hamstrings and calves. The latter is a great option for runners trying to increase hill climbing strength.
Good for Training After an Injury
As mentioned, ellipticals offer low-impact, joint-friendly workouts. That’s a great option if you’re recovering from an injury and need to keep stress off your ankles, knees, and hips, or if you have an upper body injury preventing you from resuming your normal workout routine.
Depending on what you’re recovering from, the resistance and incline can also be adjusted to ease you back into moving the affected area and help you gradually rebuild muscle endurance and joint stability. Overall, it’s a great way to stay in shape while you’re on the mend.
Great Active Recovery Workout
Their low impact also makes elliptical workouts ideal for active recovery. The smooth motion promotes blood flow, which helps deliver nutrients to fatigued muscles and speeds up the removal of metabolic waste, aiding in recovery.
By keeping intensity low to moderate, ellipticals help maintain your cardiovascular fitness on rest days while preventing stiffness and soreness.
Retro (Backward) Training
Retro elliptical training (peddling backward) is highly effective for strengthening the opposing muscle groups used in forward motion. Moving backward challenges your hamstrings, glutes, and calves, building strength and keeping your leg muscles balanced. Additionally, it can improve overall joint stability and flexibility.
Incorporate it into your routine like this:
- 5 minutes of forward motion
- 6-8 intervals of 2 minutes retro then 3 minutes forward
- 5 minutes of forward motion
Improves Your Running Form
Ellipticals help with running by strengthening the same muscle groups used when you run. The smooth, controlled motion encourages proper stride mechanics and an upright posture, which can translate into more efficient and stable running on the road or treadmill.
Using the handlebars also promotes a coordinated arm swing, essential for balance and momentum when you run.
Choosing a Great Home Elliptical
The benefits of elliptical machines are clear, and they’re a great option to incorporate into your fitness routine. At Johnson Fitness, we have a wide range of elliptical machines for home use from all the best brands, including models for every budget. If you have questions about any of our products or need help choosing the right one for you, reach out to our home fitness experts and we’ll be happy to help.
Resources
- Arthritis Foundation. “Elliptical Machines Go Easy on Your Joints.” Accessed 21 August, 2025.
- MDApp. “Elliptical Calorie Calculator.” Accessed 21 August, 2025.
- National Library of Medicine. “Effectiveness of High-Intensity Interval Training for Weight Loss in Adults with Obesity.” Accessed 21 August, 2025.
