Crosstrainers

During normal training with a cross trainer, all the major muscle groups are activated. The legs and arms, in particular, are worked, and so are the heart and lungs. When you want a higher load on the upper body, just use your arms more than your legs and vice versa.

Most people will benefit from working out on their cross trainer every day. But remember to listen to your body and proceed gently in the beginning. Usually the body gets used to the workout quickly, and then you can actually start exercising every day.

You burn about 600 calories in one hour of training at medium intensity on a cross trainer – but this can, of course, vary from person to person. The reason the cross trainer burns more calories than many other exercise machines, such as treadmills, exercise bikes and step machines, is that you activate several muscle groups at the same time whilst engaging in this form of exercise.

If you don’t want to spend too much money on your cross trainer, or if you are very tall, or if your ceiling is low, then it can be practical to have the flywheel at the back - these designs are often the cheapest and the shortest. Otherwise, it is usually an advantage to have the flywheel in front, because the movement becomes more natural, and lessens the load on the knees.