We all know that if you want to lose weight or tone up you need to exercise. Well, aerobics requires a trip to the local YMCA or gym and can be quite inconvenient not to mention some people do not want to be on display at a crowded gym. running is great, but it has two major downfalls.

One, obviously, is that you probably will not do it in the rain or any extremely adverse weather. The other is that running does cause impact injuries from the constant jarring. An elliptical trainer is the answer. It is the quintessential perfect workout machine and offers the ideal way burn mega calories safely and lose weight fast.

The elliptical trainer was designed to follow the natural leg movement and range of motion while also including your upper body. It is a very low impact machine that will utilize more muscles through a wider range of motion (which makes it far superior to even a treadmill as most do not offer any upper body workout). Exercising on an elliptical machine is aerobic and similar to cross country skiing, but different in that it is akin to cross country skiing up a steep and continuous incline (like a stair climber).

The elliptical machines give a much more intense and more rounded workout that places more emphasis and burn on the hip and thigh areas. It also uses the wider range of motion and resistance which only an elliptical trainer can do in its leg movements further intensifying the workout which the cross country machines can not do.

Generally it is stated by most exercise experts that with these machines the more you weigh the more the calories you will burn. It all depends on your weight, the difficulty setting chosen and proper use and motion.

With an elliptical trainer many people have the tendency to use it wrongly and not get the optimum results. Just go to any gym with elliptical machines and watch the people using them. Many tend to bounce way too much and use their body weight to ride down each side. This is incorrect.

The goal is to try and hold your hips as stationary as possible instead of letting them bounce all over the place. By holding the hips in place you take in a much greater range of motion and greatly intensify the workout and it now becomes a mega calorie burning machine and an ultimate method for fast weight loss.

Proper motion on an elliptical trainer is akin to isometric exercises. Try and hold your motion so that your legs and arms do all the work and movement and that your hips stay parallel without bobbing up and down. If you bob up and down, its like riding a bike where the only exercise you get is on the down stroke and if you stand up and use your body weight it becomes almost effortless. The same is true for the elliptical training machine.

Now try this on the elliptical trainer and let your legs and arms go through their fuller range of motion while your core stays stationary. This will be hard to do at first, but you will burn 10 times the calories of someone not doing this and greatly increase your metabolism over time. You can also make it even harder by using the arm attachments like an isometric exercise by pushing and pulling on them at the same time. This goes to show that going fast does not necessarily mean you are getting the most from your workout.

Going slow while using the kinesthetics of the elliptical trainer while also using isometrics to further pump your muscles will give the optimum results and help you lose weight faster than ever. If you do not believe me on this, just try it and you will be a believer! If its too hard, do not be afraid to lessen the tension or difficulty level and work your way up.

The best part of working out on an elliptical trainer, besides the great caloric burn and intense workouts (when used correctly) is that it is very low and almost non existent impact. You can also roll the machine in front of a TV and watch the news, a movie, or even reality TV. This will help take your mind off the workout (just do not forget to hold your hips level throughout the workout and use isometrics with your arms to up the resistance and workout intensity like never before).

When used properly, the elliptical trainer is difficult to beat for its wide range of motion, mega caloric burn, weight loss properties, low to moderate cost (a good home unit can be had for under $500) and convenience.