ellipticals

Mister Bean wrote:
> For my first time on the elliptical, I put the resistance at its
> lowest - and after the first 2 minutes I thought I was going to die!
> I toughed it out for another 3 minutes because I promised myself I'd
> do 5 minutes my first time (not realizing how difficult it would be),
> and I was exhausted when I crawled off! Will it get better??

You do not say why you thought you were "going to die". Using the
lowest resistance might not be the right thing for you. First, you
might be "spinning" too fast, causing cardio exhaustion. Second, it is
often harder to "pedal" at too low a resistance due to overall
inefficiency; the same is true for cycling.

Also, there seems to be two ways to "pedal" on an elliptical. Some
people "ride the pedal", letting their body rise and fall as the pedals
do. Some people minimize vertical body movement, which uses their legs
more to "pedal" and which relies more on core muscles for stablility.
I prefer the latter myself. But if that is what you are doing, you
might try the former (letting your body rise and fall). I believe it
is easier.

Finally, you do not say anything about the features of your elliptical.
There is a wide variety. If your elliptical has moving arms, you
might try not using them initially until you are acclimated to the
basic movement. If your elliptical has a "crossramp", you might try
not using it until you can do the basic movement without "dying".
 >> Stay informed about: ellipticals