Eliptical Machine

I just bought a new eliptical machine. I thought I would hop righton it and be going miles right away. Oh my GOD!!!! I have never been on an exercise machine that was so difficult. I can stay on for about 5 minutes and then my legs want to give out. I think I made it to about .2 of a mile. Should I even be considering this as exercise? I live in Norhern NY and pretty soon it is going to be -40. I know you need to get your heart rate up to a certain point and 5 minutes obviously is not doing it? Do I need to try something else? Christine

I have one also. It is a big sears machine cost me $799.00. I am up to 10 minutes. Yes it is hard. At first 5 minutes almost killed me. Your doing good if you made it to five so fast. do you have your step lowered to 10 percent. I had to lower mine. You need to do that at least 3 times a week. You will in time get to 20 minutes. I do that and my walking for now. I do some manual arm excerises. I am soon to hope to start working on my stomach. The best excercise for me is a good fast walk a couple of miles. Get that heart moving good Take Care Barb

what brand is yours? I love the elliptical, its hard work, but I think gives you the most bang for your buck. I'm hoping to get one with tax returns....

Mine is the nortictrack cx 990 it is all maxed out.. I have the fan I can down load programs from the computer to it. I have not got that far with it yet. It has all kinds of things I need to learn about it. It counts the calories I burn. Keeps heart rate miles minutes, Does so much. Really a nice machine. Also it is huge. Take Care Barb

lol - you did good. 5 minutes. the first time i went on i was only able to do 2 minutes. keep up the good up. you will increase. it is one of the better exercises.

When I started on the precor machine, which is an eliptical they have at my gym, my personal trainer had to push and prod me to get me to do 10 minutes. She was relentless. I was doing something like 50-75 strides a minute on the thing for most of it, which is barely moving really. Last night I kicked some major precor bootie! 35 minutes (including the 5 minute cool down period) with an average of 125 strides a minute. I felt like a freaking KING! Burned over 600 calories too, which is stunning to me! Oh... and on a significant incline (About 45 degrees) The Eliptical Machine will completely kick your ass. But it is the best, IMHO, cardio machine out there. And for us loosers, it is great because it works the thighs and the butts like no tomorrow. Also, if you're one of those with high blood sugar problems, your butt and your thighs burn blood sugar faster than anything else. Great for keeping your blood sugar levels lower. You're doing great. The eliptical is hard. I call it the Evil Satanic Torture Device. But keep going at it, building up as you go along. You'll get there. I promise.

My goodness you flat out tore it up. That is great. I am working on getting there. I did 12 minutes today. Keep up the great work Barb