Elliptical trainers are quite a popular exercise machine nowadays because they can help you to improve your fitness and tone up your legs without placing undue stress on your joints, unlike an exercise bike or a treadmill, for instance.
Furthermore, because you can burn up to 400 calories in just 30 minutes using one of these machines, they can also be really beneficial if you are looking to lose some weight.
The problem is that these elliptical trainers can take up a lot of space in your home, and can be fairly expensive, which is why companies are now developing some mini elliptical trainers, such as the Stamina In-Motion Elliptical Trainer pictured above, that can fit under your desk and take up a lot less space.
It is these under desk ellipticals that I want to discuss in this article because these machines can offer a number of benefits, all of which are listed below:
Cheaper Than A Full-Sized Elliptical
One of the most obvious benefits of a mini elliptical is that they are substantially cheaper than a full-sized elliptical. That’s because you are just getting the pedal mechanism and not the full-size frame. There are one or two exceptions because this advanced Cubii elliptical is similar in price to an entry-level elliptical, but most of these machines are generally fairly cheap to buy.
Work And Exercise At The Same Time
The main selling point of these under desk elliptical machines is that they enable you to work and exercise at the same time. The pedal motion is light enough to ensure that the only movement is in your legs, leaving you free to work on your laptop or complete work tasks at the same time.
Suitable For The Home Or The Office
Following on from the last point, you will find that you can use one of these machines either at home or in the office. That’s because they are small and compact enough to fit under most standard-sized desks, and light enough to carry around with you, should you wish to take it to work with you. Plus they are generally exceptionally quiet in operation, which means that you won’t disturb anyone else around you.
Ideal For Fitness, Toning And Weight Loss
Just like a standard elliptical machine, these mini ellipticals will help improve your fitness and promote fat burning because you can easily burn hundreds of calories each day without even realizing it, particularly if you pedal away for several hours. In addition, they will also help to tone up your legs, which is an added bonus.
Will Help To Increase Your Activity Level
The long-term health effects of sitting down for long periods of the day are now well documented, but the reality is that many of us have to work on a computer all day in order to earn a living. So these under desk ellipticals provide you with an easy and unobtrusive way of increasing your activity level to reduce these risks and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Easy On The Joints
There are of course mini exercise bikes and treadmills that you can use to keep fit and increase your activity level, but as with the full-sized versions, these can cause pain in your joints in many cases. However the good thing about a mini elliptical trainer is that the pedal motion is smooth and natural, and very easy on the joints.
Strong And Durable
The under desk elliptical machines are obviously small and compact, but they are generally designed to be strong and very stable to ensure that they don’t move at all when you are working out. Therefore you should find that one of these machines will last a long time without developing any kind of problems.
Very Easy To Assemble
In addition to the previous point, you will find that unlike many of the full-sized ellipticals that are available, these miniature versions are extremely easy to assemble. So rather than taking upwards of 1-3 hours to assemble, you should be able to start using your machine in as little as 5 minutes because you generally just need to attach the pedals to the mainframe.
Can Be Used In A Seated Or Standing Position
The full-sized machines are obviously designed to be used in a standing position, but another positive feature of many of the smaller versions is that you can use them in both a seated and a standing position. Of course most people just want to exercise whilst working at their desk or watching TV, for example, but it is nice to have the option to use it standing up if you want to.
Multiple Levels Of Resistance
One final benefit of these under desk ellipticals is that you can actually get quite an intense workout in most cases because a lot of these machines will have multiple levels of resistance, should you wish to push yourself even harder and burn a lot more calories.