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I’ve been on holiday and rather than going for a run in the crowded strip, I’ve taken to the hotel gym and found a bit of a thing for the elliptical trainer.
I’m thinking of adding one to the garage as my wife likes them as well.
Are they good for developing climbing strength for running? I’ve been doing tempo sessions where I spin out at 140 rpm so can see some obvious benefits.
Are they a safe buy second hand? Or should I buy new? If so what’s a minimum budget to get something decent?
Bit of a niche thing, not many runners have elliptical feet.
Are they good for developing climbing strength for running?
Running up hills is good for developing climbing strength
I don’t know any runners that will use an indoor machine above going outside
I spend more time on letsrun.com than here and I've literally never heard of a runner using an elliptical trainer to improve their running.
I don’t know any runners that will use an indoor machine above going outside
I see quite a few on Strava who run on indoor machines as well as outside....
If you want a good ‘running’ workout try a stair climber - there was one in the naval base gym when I worked there, it was such a beast of a machine, no one used it - it got ‘harder’ as you reduced the resistance
Not sure about costs etc, I have a gym close by with an abundance of elliptical trainers.
I use one twice a week and find that it is good for overall fitness and conditioning. I would also say yes, it is improving my running. Before the naysayers arrive, obviously if you want to improve running then run more but the elliptical trainer just offers another dimension.
#edit - ooh, yes the stair climber! Awesome workout that has the power to reduce grown men to tears.
I don’t know any runners that will use an indoor machine above going outside
I have a mate who's run a sub-70min half and is currently in sub 1h12m30s shape, and he sometimes uses a treadmill if the weather is bad. He is a weirdo though 😀
I’m not really a full time runnerist.
I had one, but tbh after the initial honeymoon didn’t use it enough and ended up skipping it Years later.
Only machine I have other than a kickr is a concept 2 which is a nice piece of kit as a torture device.
I’d probably go for a running machine that works with zwift if I didn’t want to run outside as there would be some fun with it.
I'm not very good at gymming but I did use an elliptical for 30 to 40 minutes 3 times a week for a while. Doing a preprogrammed thing where the difficulty goes up and down.
It made a big difference to leg strength on the bike. I'm crap at climbing so any improvement is easy to notice. It also helped with pump track and jump stuff because I could ride a lot longer.
I'd love one at home but no idea what to buy.
I dont think they add much to your running fitness they are a bit too "unspecific" Sure you will get some benefit and if you cant run and need something non impact then then they are better than nothing.