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Gazelle Gliders are economical exercise machines. They offer an effective way to burn your calories and work your cardiovascular system. The Gazelle workout is low-impact and offers six to ten different exercises in one fitness session.
It claims to help you lose pounds and improve muscle tone and cardio function. The best thing about Gazelle workout is that it?s easy on the joints and has no damaging effects on the body.
All three Gazelle models have a basic design of two handlebars and two foot-pedals. The foot pedals glide opposite to the handlebars, and you get the characteristic stride of a Gazelle, hence the name.
Let?s discuss in detail how effective Gazelle workout is and how you can get the most benefits out of your gliders.
Exercise Moves Possible on Gazelle Gliders
Gazelle exercise machines offer a perfect opportunity to work out your core as well as your lower and upper body together or individually. You can change the impact of your workout by altering the range of motion and intensity of your exercise.
Although you can perform various exercises on these gliders, they all come down to three glide variations.
Basic Glide
Best for beginners, basic glide exercise allows you to start your fitness regime safely and effectively.
Hold the front bar firmly at the side of the glider?s computer. With a steady grip, step on the foot pedals. Tighten your core and straighten your shoulders for the best workout and to avoid any injury. Now glide your feet backward and forward alternatively.
Make sure your arms move in the opposite direction to your legs. Unlock your knees by bending them a little as if you?re surfing to avoid. This way, you?ll avoid any injury or undue pressure on your knees. Move onto the handlebars when you feel ready to increase the intensity of your workout.
High Glide
This high glide is similar to the basic glide, but it increases the impact of your workout. Move just as you would move in a basic glide and gradually lift your heels. Keep heels high at least for one-minute before coming back to the basic stride for rest and recovery.
With these two glides, you can increase the intensity and pace of your glide to prevent muscle fatigue. The high glide works out your calf muscles and can fit nicely into your interval training session.
Wide Glide
Wide glide is more or less similar to a high stride because you lift your heels to increase the intensity. But in wide glide, you also increase the length of your stride and push your body backward to work the major muscle groups in your legs and core.
When your legs move forward, push down your feet firmly. You can choose to keep your arm movements the same, or you can use the bar to move your arm muscles as well.
Note: Always start with a basic glide to warm up your body. After about 5 minutes, move onto to other glides and their variations till you feel comfortable. Once you?re done, come back to the basic glide to cool down.
Is Gazelle Workout Effective
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Contrary to the claim made by the manufacturers, most consumers agree that Gazelle Gliders are more useful for those who are new to exercise. If you?re out of shape and only want to shed some calories, Gazelle workout will do the job for you.
These gliders are specifically designed for those who can?t bear the pounding effect of running or high-impact exercises on their joints. The Gazelle exercises are the best to build stamina and endurance for beginners.
However, if you are a fitness enthusiast or a bodybuilder looking to build your muscle mass further, it may prove to be ineffective for you.
Most Gazelle gliders don?t offer any resistance other than the body?s weight itself. It means you won?t need to stop your workout due to muscle fatigue. But, in the absence of any resistance, you?ll most likely outgrow it in about six months of regular use.
Only Gazelle Power Plus (Supreme) has pistons that allow you to change the resistance levels. You can also challenge your body in many other ways by altering the way you workout on the glider.
You can lean forward or backward, adjust the position where you grip it, bend the knees, or twist sideways to work different muscle groups in your body. This way you can get the benefits of walking, running, stretching and aerobics as well as resistance training all at the same time.
Training for Weight Loss and Body Shaping
The weight loss results with the Gazelle workout depend on the intensity and pace of your exercise and the glider model you use. For instance, if you use Gazelle Power Plus with adjustable resistance, you can expect to burn around 250 calories in half an hour on the lowest resistance setting. These stats are similar to a brisk walk.
But if you buy the Gazelles without resistance, you may need to increase the duration of your fitness session or include other exercises to lose more weight. You can also use a weight loss nutrition guide to complement your gazelle workout to the results you want.
High-Intensity Interval Training
You can increase the aerobics workout you get from your gliders by varying three factors:
- Pace
- Position
- Glider?s resistance level
You can increase your heart rate by increasing your speed, but this way, you won?t get enough muscle workout. Muscle conditioning needs movement against resistance. So, a higher resistance level on glider means more muscle workout for you.
But, exercise against resistance may tire you down too quickly. Therefore, a combination of both resistance and speed is an excellent way to get some high-level interval training. Go slow, build up your stamina, and increase the speed and the resistance gradually.
So if you?re a fitness enthusiast, you can use these gliders for interval training. According to fitness expert Tony Little, a Gazelle Workout promoter, the best way to get the most out of your gliders is to add ?Power Sprints? of 30?90 seconds throughout your workout.
Gazelle Endurance Training
Endurance training is crucial for athletes as well as fitness freaks. It increases your body?s ability to perform consistently for a prolonged duration. Gazelles gliders, especially the Gazelle Power Plus, offer you an excellent opportunity to improve your muscular endurance.
Start off with basic glide and then move onto the high glide. Build up your pace gradually and increase the intensity of your workout by leaning backward or lowering in a squat position. Come up on your toes and exercise your shoulders by tucking your elbows in.
Fix the duration for each variation and keep your strides from medium to long. Continue with each variation until the last reps are just barely doable. Once you build up stamina for a specific resistance, move it up a notch and continue with the same sequence. After each variation, go back to the basic glide for short recovery sessions.
Muscle Toning Workout With Gazelle
The Gazelle Gliders work on momentum, one that you control with your muscles. Using them for a long time increases your stamina, and by altering the resistance, you can use these gliders to build muscle mass as well. You can apply different techniques to target different muscle groups. For instance:
- Lean forward to work out biceps and chest muscles
- Lift heels to work out calf muscles
- Crouch down to involve quadriceps more
- Lean backward to bring more effort from hamstrings and buttocks
- Move the elbows out and rely less on legs to work up your shoulders.
You can find many other Gazelle exercises in this video
Comparison of Gazelle Models
The workout you get varies for different Gazelle Glider models. Gazelle comes in three models, Power Plus (aka Supreme), 360 Total Body (aka Freestyle) and Fitness Trainer (aka Edge). Of all these, only Gazelle Power Plus offers additional resistance levels for getting more benefits out of your exercise. Let?s see how other models stand in comparison with Power Plus.
Gazelle Total Body Vs Power Plus
Gazelle Power Plus with adjustable resistance is a better choice for those looking for serious muscle buildup and aerobic conditioning. Since Gazelle Gliders use momentum to move the machine, your calorie burn is minimal if there is no resistance.
These air walkers pick up momentum pretty quickly and effortlessly. After that, you don?t have to apply any real force. But, this is not the case when you increase the resistance level of the machine. In that case, you have to put in more energy to move the pedals and maintain the glide.
Gazelle Total Body Vs Fitness Trainer
Gazelle Total Body and Fitness Trainer both have fixed resistance that you cannot change. The only difference is that the Total Body is sturdier and can handle up to 275 pounds of weight. In comparison, Fitness Trainer has a maximum limit of 250 pounds. The other significant difference is that you can configure Gazelle Total Body for ten different types of exercises compared to six for the Fitness Trainer.
Gazelle Workout DVDs
With each Gazelle Glider, you get workout DVDs that guide you through a full training session. Other than that, there are additional workout DVDs that you can buy separately. Some DVDs focus on total body workout, whereas others target a select group of muscles such as Tony Little?s Lower Body Solution Workout DVD.
Our most favorite one is ?Tony Little?s Advanced Total Body Buttkickin? Workout DVD.? It is fun and enthusiastic with its upbeat music and Tony Little?s high-intensity motivation.
The Gazelle machines are low impact cardio equipment, much like the Ellipticals and for much less price. On the other hand, stair climbers and treadmills are high impact exercises. High impact exercises offer powerful cardio workout and help you lose weight and get fit quickly.
However, if you?re a beginner or your joints ache, it?s better to choose a glider instead, build up some stamina and then move on to other workout choices.
