Cross trainers are big on trend. Also this year they are the must-have for all who like to train at home and want to lose a few pounds. Here's the most important info for you if you want to lose weight with cross trainers and a free training plan!
If there is one piece of fitness equipment that many people underestimate or use at most for warming up, it is the cross trainer.
Many do not attribute it a great effect on fitness. In the studio, many use it only for warm up.
Too bad. Because used correctly, this training device is a real fat burner. It boosts fat burning and makes the pounds fall quickly.
You will not only improve fat burning, but also increase your endurance, train your sense of balance and coordination.
If you want to lose weight with the cross trainer and are wondering how to do it best, then you've come to the right place.
If you want to lose weight with a cross trainer, you can improve your overall fitness level and train wonderfully at home. Away from crowded gyms.
If you want to lose those pounds, it's definitely worth buying one. But as well as exercising, you should also pay attention to your diet - more on this later.
Table of contents
- That's why sport alone is not enough to lose weight
- 4 reasons why a cross trainer is suitable for weight loss
- Our recommendation for a cross trainer
- How many calories does cross trainer workout burn?
- Effectively lose weight with cross trainer - The 5 best tips
- Can I lose weight on my stomach with the cross trainer?
- The ultimate cross trainer slimming workout plan
- Attention for beginners: The most common mistakes during a crosstrainer workout
- Crosstrainer and elliptical trainer - what is the difference?
That's why sport alone is not enough to lose weight
Exercise alone is not enough to lose weight, because the influence of diet on weight loss is much greater. Although you can burn calories through intensive training, the amount of calories you consume through food is usually much higher.
So to lose weight, you need to achieve a calorie deficit, and this is best achieved through a combination of dietary changes and exercise. Exercise can also stimulate your appetite, which can make it difficult to control your calorie intake.
Metabolism also plays an important role in losing weight. Depending on how well the metabolism works, the body burns more or fewer calories. Sport can boost the metabolism, but the effect is usually relatively small.
Similarly, although you can lose fat through exercise, you can also build up muscle mass at the same time. Muscle mass weighs more than fat, so you can't see any difference on the scales despite losing weight.
Very important: adjust your diet
Did you know that 85 % of your weight loss success is not directly related to exercise, but to your diet? A healthy, balanced and adapted diet helps you to lose weight. Sport has a supporting effect, stimulates your metabolism and gets your body working at full speed.
In other words: Without a change in diet you will hardly see any success.
Our customized nutrition plan can help you with this We Go Fit.
Together with nutritionists, we have designed a plan that can be flexibly adapted to your goal (losing weight or clean eating). In this program, you can click together a plan that helps you lose weight without starving yourself.
You simply enter key data such as your weight, goal and age as well as preferences or allergies and the nutrition plan is adapted to your individual requirements.
Take a look and give it a try!
4 reasons why a cross trainer is suitable for weight loss
Let's first clarify why losing weight with the cross trainer is so healthy. Because that's what it is. Training on this device is particularly gentle and therefore suitable even for absolute beginners.
With the exercises you address many different muscle groups and thus ensure that your whole body is trained. But let's look at the positive aspects in detail.
1. cross trainer improve the condition
If you want to lose weight with the cross trainer, you will also improve your fitness at the same time.
It's mostly to do with the relatively long workouts you do on the machine.
While this won't make you sweat much, it will boost your body's oxygen intake and improve circulation.
So the condition becomes better and the training is more fun.
If you quickly run out of breath, you should try to work on your fitness first. Long and low-intensity sessions are ideal for this. You can also check here: "How to improve your endurance!"
2. you train arms and legs at the same time
When you jog, you're primarily getting your legs in shape. Running also burns calories. But the cross trainer requires more physical effort.
While your legs are toned, your arms are still flabby. You can't build muscle in your arms by jogging.
It's completely different when you want to lose weight with the cross trainer. Because you train both parts of the body equally.
The workout requires your entire body. You need your legs for the running movement. The arms support you. The torso is used because it helps you stabilize.
And then there's the added bonus that because you're targeting multiple muscle groups, you're burning more calories.
The bottom line is that the pounds will fall off more easily, even if you only exercise moderately.
3. crosstrainer training is easy on the joints
If you want to lose weight with the cross trainer, you will benefit from the flowing movements.
These movements put only moderate stress on the joints and the body. Especially if you are overweight, this will bring you many advantages.
After all, there are no vibrations caused by steps on the floor. In this respect, losing weight with a cross trainer is very gentle on your joints - and also an option for severely overweight people.
For all those who want to Tension in the neck the cross trainer is a good way to loosen up really well.
4. train endurance without having to go outside in winter.
It's good that you can lose weight with a cross trainer. Effective cardio workout we have already mentioned. But isn't there another way?
After all, the crosstrainer essentially mimics the movements of jogging. That may be true.
But think about the cold season. Do you really want to struggle through the park in sub-zero temperatures? Probably not.
Better you decide to lose weight on the cross trainer and do your exercises in the warm. This will increase your motivation immensely, you'll see.
Weight gain despite exercise? That's what's behind it!
Our recommendation for a cross trainer
We've done our research. If you don't have a cross trainer yet and want to buy one, we recommend this model.
Why? Well, you get a top product with very good price-performance ratio when you buy. The Miweba MC400 has 10 predefined programs and 32 intensity levels. It is whisper-quiet in use and has a 27 kg flywheel mass for particularly effective training in the living room.
Especially great: it's compatible with iConsole and Kinomap. So you can walk real routes and see them on your tablet or smart TV. How about a walk past lavender fields in France or along the coast of Italy? For us it's quite clear: 5 out of 5 points for the Miweba MC300 Crosstrainer*.
How many calories does cross trainer workout burn?
It is not possible to say in general how many calories you burn during a cross trainer workout. It depends on how much you exert yourself and your fitness level.
Calorie consumption also depends on your height and weight.
But we understand that you ask yourself this question, after all, you want to lose weight with the cross trainer.
That's why we take the average German woman Lena as an example:
Lena is 28 years old, 1.70 meters tall, weighs 68 kilograms and is moderately well trained. At an average load, she will be about 500 calories per hour burn.
Since Lena is moderately trained and is more of a sports beginner, she benefits from losing weight on the cross trainer in particular.
The workout builds fitness slowly but steadily while being easy on the joints.
When the temperatures drop outside, cross-trainer training is a good alternative even for experienced runners. With most machines, you can adjust the resistance individually, so that the cardio workout is still quite strenuous.
Look here: "How useful is exercising twice a day?“
How fast do I need to train and how long does a session need to last?
The fact that fat burning starts only after a certain training time has already been disproved in studies. You burn energy from the first minute of training.
As an amateur athlete, the ratio of burned carbohydrates to stored body fat is not so important. Your main concern must be the calorie deficit. You have to burn more calories than you consume. Then you are guaranteed to lose weight.
Therefore, it's not so much how fast you train, but how you adapt your diet to the training.
But you should not completely disregard the pace and duration of the workout. If you train at a decent pace and keep it up for longer, you'll burn more calories than a 5-minute session.
Listen to your body and start to slowly approach your perfect workout. Find the pace that works for you, that challenges you but doesn't overwhelm you. Then slowly increase the duration and later the intensity. Most people need to build up endurance first.
Alternate between long endurance workouts and short, very crisp interval sessions to get the best effect.
How long do I have to exercise to lose weight with a cross trainer?
You can't expect your favorite pants to fit you again after the first session. But if you Three times a week do a cross-trainer workout that requires at least one half hour you should see the first results after only three weeks.
However, it is always important that you eat healthy. If you want to lose weight with the cross trainer, you have to eat fewer calories than your body needs. Through this calorie deficit, the fat pads go to the collar.
For more info check here: "Here's how you can change your diet today“
What heart rate do I need to train at to lose body fat?
The cross trainer is so well suited to beginners and advanced users because it can be adapted to the respective fitness level. Anyone who has ever Training effects and heart rates knows that the Fat burning starts at around 60 to 70 percent of the maximum heart rate.
To stay with Lena, this would mean: 220-28= 192 of which 70 (60) percent = 134 (115)
Theoretically, Lena's body starts at a Pulse between 115 and 134 with the Fat burning.
That is at least a point of reference. In practice, however, it often looks a little different. Every body is a little different and reacts differently to stress. This calculation also does not take into account how fit Lena is.
Someone who does a lot of endurance sports, for example, has a lower pulse than a couch potato.
Basically, you should be able to work up a sweat while exercising, but you should still be able to entertain yourself. Listen to your body and shift down a gear rather than overexerting yourself.
Effectively lose weight with cross trainer - The 5 best tips
Pedaling alone does little to help you lose weight with a cross trainer. You have to follow a few rules - and above all set up your machine correctly. This is the only way to guarantee that you can train your endurance and lose weight.
1. adjust the device
People are different - and everyone needs their own setting on the cross trainer. If you do not adjust the device to your size, even the most gentle cross trainer slimming will quickly go on the joints.
If you're getting a cross trainer for home use, be sure to follow the instructions carefully before your first cardio workout.
Here's how to set up the machine. At the gym, you should ask the trainers for advice. They will be happy to help you.
2. pack properly
The handles on the cross trainer are not just decoration. They serve a purpose: they ensure that you put a proper load on the upper half of your body.
That's half the battle when it comes to losing weight on the cross trainer. You certainly don't want calves like the winner of the Tour de France, do you? :)
So, get to the grips. Support the movement of your legs with your upper body. This is how you get the most out of your cardio workout.
3. power up
You want to lose weight with cross trainer? Then get started. But please don't just sit there for half an hour.
You'll be moving, but you won't burn any more calories than you would on a walk.
So power up and turn up the resistance if your workout feels too easy. You should break a light sweat, but still be able to entertain yourself while exercising.
4. set new stimuli
Yes, we know that cross-trainer workouts can get pretty boring. Especially if you're always staring at the wall.
When losing weight with cross trainer, the key is to prevent this boredom.
So you need to create new stimuli that challenge your brain. Why don't you walk backwards on the cross trainer for a short while?
This also trains your coordination.
It is normal that you will slow down a bit. But after a while you will get used to the new movement and can start at full speed.
Music or a TV with your favorite series can also help you stay tuned.
5. watch your diet
We're sorry, but if you want to lose weight with the cross trainer, you can't avoid changing your diet as well.
It's true that you burn a lot of calories by exercising. But that's no use if you hop off the pedals and grab a burger right away.
The basis of weight reduction is still the so-called calorie deficit.
So the simple rule applies: consume more calories than you take in.
You can get help from our We Go Fit nutrition plan. Here you will find healthy recipes that will get you to your goal with expert knowledge!
And one more word on the subject of nutrition: You will also lose weight if you only eat dry bread. But that is not particularly healthy. Use your diet to get used to a new eating style.
Eat lots of vegetables, little fat and few carbohydrates. You will see that this way not only your pounds melt away.
Plus, you'll feel much better in your skin - and lose the weight permanently, most importantly.
Also check here: "Step by step to a successful change of diet“
Can I lose weight on my stomach with the cross trainer?
Yes, but it is not possible to target the belly fat. Nevertheless, losing weight on the cross trainer will also shrink your stomach. Through diligent training, you will lose weight all over your body - including your stomach. This works if you burn more calories than you consume. The body then works on the fat deposits, which usually accumulate on the stomach, thighs and bottom.
With endurance sports (like cross trainer workouts), you're right on the money. The fitness equipment will help you lose weight quickly because it provides a gentle yet effective entry into the sport.
You can control and increase the level of difficulty yourself.
So the belly fat is guaranteed to melt away, but a little stamina is required.
The ultimate cross trainer slimming workout plan
If you want to lose weight with the cross trainer, it means: Train endurance.
Because through this cardio workout the pounds melt away. But not all workouts are the same. You can increase the calorie consumption.
Up to 700 calories per hour are possible. However, you should not immediately start at full speed. Increase the intensity slowly, so the successes are greater in the end.
It is important that you start each session with a warm-up. As gentle as the movements are, they demand a lot from your body.
We have put together a training plan for you. It's designed to get a beginner to full performance on the machine - in just six weeks.
If you follow it, the pounds will fall off pretty quickly. However, there is one thing you need for your workout: a heart rate monitor.
Week 1 & 2
Start training slowly, especially if you haven't done much exercise before.
The first two weeks are for you to get used to the routine and build up a certain level of fitness.
- Warm up for 5 minutes before each session.
- Train at 60 percent of your maximum heart rate. This value averages 200 for most people.
- Exercise 3x a week for half an hour.
Please do not overdo it in this phase and always make sure that you still feel comfortable.
Week 3 & 4
Now it's time to step up your performance on the cross trainer a bit.
- Warm up for 5 minutes before each session.
- Train at 60 percent of your maximum heart rate. This is where you burn the most body fat.
- Exercise 4 times a week for 45 minutes.
Week 5 & 6
If you've been following our crosstrainer training plan so far, you're already pretty fit :) So it's time to pick up the pace a bit more.
- Warm up for 5 minutes.
- Exercise 4 times a week for 45 minutes.
- But now the big difference: train in intervals.
Keep your heart rate at 60 percent of maximum for three minutes and 70 to 80 percent of maximum for two minutes.
Alternate these phases constantly.
You'll see, this will make you sweat - and you can literally watch the pounds tumble.
If you stay on the ball now, you will soon have achieved your dream figure.
Attention for beginners: The most common mistakes during a crosstrainer workout
As with any workout, if you don't do it right, you'll miss your fitness goals. Even with the cross trainer, there are classic sources of error that are often observed, especially with beginners.
Be careful not to make these mistakes:
Lifting heels
Make sure that your heels remain firmly on the ground at all times. They must not lift off, the soles of your feet are on the pedals at all times. If you lift your heels, the training effect on the buttocks and thighs will be less.
It also causes many beginners to lose their balance more quickly.
Swinging hips
If you stand on the cross trainer with wobbling and strongly swinging hips, you are doing something seriously wrong! Keep your hips straight and don't move to the sides. So that succeeds better, you slightly tighten the abdomen.
You need tension in your buttocks. Shoulders and hips form a straight line. If you tighten the muscles, you are guaranteed to have found the right starting position - the muscles will be challenged more and you are already a big step closer to your training goal.
Hollow back
Beginners who have done little or no training so far tend to have a hollow back. It occurs when you stick your butt out far back and push your stomach forward. This can increase back pain.
Tighten the abdomen and buttocks, and this problem will solve itself.
Crosstrainer and elliptical trainer - what is the difference?
There are two machines on the market that look confusingly similar: the cross trainer and the elliptical trainer. Both have one thing in common: you can train your endurance on them. But otherwise, the devices are very different from each other.
The crosstrainer imitates the motion sequence as you know it from jogging. The flywheel mass is usually located in the rear area. You perform a high-low movement on the tread surface, whereby the heels usually remain "on the ground".
The elliptical trainer simulates the motion sequence of Nordic walking. The flywheel mass is mostly mounted in the front area.
That's why your heels automatically lift off the tread - and move in an elliptical shape. This reduces the load on knees and intervertebral discs a little more.
Our conclusion
If you want to lose weight with the cross trainer, this is a very good decision. Because the training addresses the entire body and is gentle on the joints. In this respect, these machines offer a good introduction for the untrained. If you change your diet at the same time, you can look forward to long-term success.
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