Elliptical gliders are not the most common fitness equipment options. You may wonder what the benefits of these machines are and whether you should consider them.
These elliptical gliders, also known as glider exercise machines or simply gliders are different from elliptical machines in that the pedals go back and forth, not in rotations.
While these machines definitely offer benefits, something to note is that more experienced exercisers may want more challenging workouts. These can offer the benefits of exercise to a larger extent.
1. You may like them more
While there will definitely be benefits of elliptical gliders related to more physical processes, the first reason to use one of these machines is that you simply like the movements.
Enjoying your workouts is not just something that is nice to have. It could also help you stay more consistent with your exercise routine.
Since this is needed to get the other benefits and more general positive health effects, this can be an important detail.
2. Low-impact workout
Some exercises and sports like running, volleyball, and tennis involve small jumps. This is not always bad and can actually lead to more strengthening but some people want to avoid them.
Individuals who are relatively new to exercising and possibly have a few extra pounds to lose can benefit from starting with low-impact workouts like using an elliptical glider.
Low-impact exercise basically means you won’t have the small jumps mentioned. On the elliptical glider, your feet normally stay on the pedals and these pedals simply swing back and forth.
At the same time, you can still get fitter and prepare your body for more challenging forms of exercise.
3. Works lower and upper body muscles
Using elliptical gliders will generally be a cardiovascular workout but you still work a few muscles to a certain extent.
You should not really expect any actual muscle growth but using your muscles can still offer benefits. Some of these include slowing down degradation, making the muscles healthier, and improving muscle endurance.
The main muscles you work with an elliptical glider include:
- Glutes (butt)
- Hamstrings (back thighs)
- Triceps (back part upper arms)
- Deltoids (shoulders)
- Potentially pectoralis major (chest, depending on cycling technique)
- Biceps
- Latissimus dorsi (middle/upper back)
And to a smaller extent quadriceps, calves, and core muscles.
The glider is not the same as an elliptical machine in terms of the muscles worked. A regular elliptical machine works your quadriceps and calves to a larger extent.
Additionally, elliptical machines typically have more resistance options. These can be helpful if you want to work your muscles to a larger extent.
One thing to keep in mind with both of these machines is that people who really want to grow and strengthen the muscles mentioned typically want to turn to weight lifting exercises instead.
4. Can help you lose weight
Excess body fat has a lot of negative effects on your health. It is possible to overdo it but most people would benefit from losing some weight in the form of body fat.
A popular way to try and achieve this doing workouts like elliptical glider sessions. By moving your body more intensely you use up more energy measured in calories.
Since elliptical gliders are not that popular, there are not many precise estimations available about how intense using this machine is.
Even if there were, it would still be really difficult to estimate the precise amounts since people vary in terms of body weights, body compositions, hormone levels, etc.
That being said, a rough estimation is that a 155-pound individual burns around 165 calories while using a regular elliptical machine at a moderate effort for 15 minutes.
You should likely expect the elliptical glider to burn fewer calories since it is generally less intensive.
Additionally, you want to remember that other lifestyle areas like nutrition play a big role in weight loss. You can work out and gain weight if these other habits are suboptimal.
5. Relatively silent
Some people have relatively thin walls, ceilings, and/or floors.
In a situation like that, any family members, roommates, or apartment neighbors may not be happy if you get a loud fitness machine.
Additionally, many people like listening to music, watching movies, or watching TV shows during their workout sessions. Again, a loud fitness machine would be suboptimal for these things.
That being said, you don’t have to worry about these challenges with elliptical gliders. One of the benefits of these machines is that they are relatively silent.
6. Offers a full-body warm-up
Warming up your muscles and joints before the main part of your workout is typically a good idea. Especially if the workout will be intense, you are injury sensitive, and/or you are not the youngest.
Besides helping you avoid injuries, warm-ups can also benefit your performance in the workout.
Since elliptical gliders work a variety of upper and lower body muscles and move many joints, they can be used to do an (almost) full-body warm-up.
One important thing to note is that the elliptical glider may be somewhat lacking in terms of engaging your quadriceps, hamstrings, and knee joints.
If these will be a big part of your workout, you may need to do other or extra warm-up exercises.
7. Easy to move around
After looking at an elliptical glider it becomes clear that these machines tend to be light. Especially compared to their bigger brother the elliptical machine.
Some people like to move their fitness machines around. For example, to put the machine in front of the TV right before the workout and out of the way when the exercise session is done.
Additionally, you may want to use your workout room for other exercises or activities. In that case, having a piece of fitness equipment like an elliptical glider that can be put aside easily can be a benefit.
Some elliptical gliders are even foldable which makes them even easier to store and carry.
