Elliptical skiing workouts burn major calories and have little to no impact on your joints and knees. This makes it an ideal workout for those who want to burn calories, but who don’t want to injure or reinjure themselves with high-impact exercising. Keeping yourself from getting bored of the same old elliptical skiing routine can prove challenging. To keep yourself from hitting the snooze button and skipping your workout, spice things up with a different elliptical skiing routine.
Interval
Interval training on the elliptical machine is an excellent way to burn calories and break through any boredom that might be associated with a regular-paced workout. When performing interval training you engage in alternating short bursts of intense activity and follow it with a less-intense form of the original activity, according to the American Council on Exercise. Get a 30-minute elliptical skiing workout in and burn approximately 212 calories with this workout from "Fitness Magazine." Warm up with a lower resistance on the elliptical ski machine, such as a resistance level of three or four. Stay at this resistance for five minutes. For the next five minutes, increase the level to five or six. Follow this interval with another five-minute interval, but at a resistance of six or seven. Your next interval will be for 10 minutes and bring the resistance level up to eight or nine. Work your way back down and bring your resistance to six or seven for five minutes and finish with a five-minute cool-down at a resistance of three or four.
Incline
Most elliptical ski machines have an incline option as a feature. Adding incline to your elliptical skiing workout will increase the work required for the glutes and the legs, thus increasing the amount of calories you burn during a sweat session. If you’re new to incline, start slow. Begin with a five-minute warm-up and increase the incline by 1 percent. Stay at this incline for two to three minutes and increase the incline again by 1 percent. Keep increasing the incline every two to three minutes until your leg muscles are fatigued. Then work your way back down to your starting incline and cool down for three to five minutes.
Reverse
Pedaling and skiing the same way, even with intervals and incline training, can be monotonous, but alternating between forward and reverse motions can spice things up. Reversing your direction targets opposing muscles of the muscles used during the forward motion on the elliptical ski machine. The more muscles you work during your workout, the more efficient the routine will be. You’ll burn additional calories, build more muscle and improve your fitness level. If you’ve never used the reverse motion on the elliptical ski machine, start slow. Keep your resistance and incline at an easy level and incorporate five minutes of reverse motion after every 10 minutes of forward motion. As you become accustomed to the reverse motion, integrate it more into your elliptical workout.
Resistance
Adjust your elliptical ski machine’s resistance to get a killer workout. Adding resistance to your routine will not only burn more calories and fat, but it’ll also strengthen your leg muscles. "Fitness Magazine" offers a cheat sheet for those who want to get the most out of their elliptical skiing workout. For the first three minutes, keep the resistance at a level three. For the next four minutes, increase the resistance to a level five. Increase the resistance for one minute at a level seven. For the next three minutes, bring the resistance down to level five. Push yourself at a level eight resistance for one minute. Take a breather for two minutes at a level five resistance. Your next minute will be killer as you increase to a level nine resistance. The next two minutes will be at level five, followed by one minute at level nine. Bring the resistance back down to five for three minutes and follow this with another minute at level nine resistances again. Take four minutes to catch your breath at level five and follow this with one more minute at level nine. Take three minutes to cool down at level three resistance.
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Writer Bio
Danielle Clark has been a writer since 2009, specializing in environmental and health and fitness topics. She has contributed to magazines and several online publications. Clark holds a Bachelor of Science in ecology and environmental science.