Elliptical Machine Advice needed

I have decided that the elliptical machines at my gym are not something I'm going to fear. Even though they repeatedly kick my ass - I'm determined to conquer them. I've been shown twice now how to use them and I'm still not convinced that I'm doing it right. I've watched other people on them and it looks like what I'm attempting to do. Maybe it's a mental thing but it just seems to kill me after about 5 minutes (which has improved from 1.5 minutes back in January). I get on it and press Quick Start and off I go. By the time I crawl off after 5 minutes - my legs are like jello.

Any advice ? 

- Iris

I originally hated them....  It made my hips feel weird, like I wasn't moving correctly
Now I love the elliptical machine.
Basically I just worked through it like you are doing.  I just kep increasing my time as my body would allow.  I alternate between using the moving hand arm portion and the fixed bars.  It's nice to be able to switch it up every few minutes.

I also noticed that some levels of incline feel better on my body than others.  It's not a soreness issue or a it's too hard, because I can go to a higher incline and it feels good, and so will a lower incline.  There are just a few angles that don't feel right.

Good luck with finding one that works for you.

Scott

Starting slow and increasing your time might work.  One thing I do is play upbeat music or read something interesting.  Do anything to take your mind off it. 

UGGGGG! I Hear ya!!!!!
after 3min my legs were super jelly and they were so sore the next day!
sorry I have no advice for you except try for .5 - 1min longer each time and don't try to do it every day.  I do the eliptical once a week because I don't want it to be the winner!

all the best,
Michelle

1 month ago I couldn't do 3 minutes on the eliptical either. I avoided them until last week when I decided if I can spend an hour on a treadmill I can do. Saturday I set it on Random, Level 8, and 10 min and trying to maintain it at 4.5+. At 8 min I decided I could go a bit more and I kept upping the time. I spent 30 min on it Tonight I did 45 minutes. Just be patient but push yourself a bit more each day! I burned almost 500 cal tonight just on the eliptical.

My advice would be if the quick start kills you too fast, If the machine has a manual setting try for a lower setting start slower and let your muscles warm up and then kick it up a notch. This has helped me alot when my muscles would cramp up or turn to jello.


The important part is that you are making progress and that you have taken the challenge to push your self.

Even a 4 minute improvement is an improvement and before you know it, you will kicking out 30 minutes and looking for more.

I personally don't like the ellipicals on the track(yet), I like the one that is a stepper also. I've been able to do 25 minutes on it so far doing a fairly wide gate. Switching between that and stepping.