• Elliptical trainers are overtaking standard treadmills as the popular choice for cardiovascular workouts.man exercising on treadmill 6 image by Ken Hurst from Fotolia.com
  
  Walking, jogging and running provide efficient methods of burning hundreds of excess calories. Taking a walk after dinner or before breakfast can give you a healthy workout to start or end your day--but what if you live in an area in which this isn't possible because of safety issues or other reasons? You don't have to cancel your workout plans; exercise machinery exists to provide you with the same workout you would receive from going out for a jog. You could use a treadmill, but elliptical trainers, also known as cross trainers, have begun to overtake the treadmill as the most popular cardiovascular exercise machine for three main reasons.
  
  

Reduced Joint Stress

• Although running is one of the most efficient cardiovascular exercises you can perform, it also places immense stress on your bones and joints, according to the National Institutes of Health. The NIH states that most running injuries occur because of repetitive contracting and stretching of a tendon--also known as tendonitis. Each time your foot hits the pavement, the shock of your entire body weight comes down on your ankles and knees. This causes your leg muscles to contract and your ankle to flex, pulling on your Achilles tendon and the tendons in your knees. Elliptical trainers, as suggested by their name, allow you to reduce the stress by moving in a full ellipse. Your legs can experience the full range of motion without the impact stresses of running on hard ground.
  
  

Full Range of Motion

• The full range of motion afforded by using elliptical trainers also increases your workout efficiency. When your muscles move through their full range of motion, each individual muscle fiber associated with the moving muscle has to send and receive an electrochemical signal through the brain and nervous system. Over time, the brain forms a stronger neural connection to the muscle and allows all the muscle fibers to contract at once, increasing the contractile strength and efficiency of the muscle. In addition, exercising with a full range of motion strengthens the ligaments and tendons of a joint, thereby increasing flexibility.
  
  

Versatility of Workout

• Elliptical training machines include handlebars that attach to the foot pedals and provide your upper body with a workout as well as your lower body. In addition, the motor can move the pedals and handlebars in reverse. If you're operating the machine in reverse, the muscles in your legs flex differently; for example, your quadriceps--the muscles on the front of your thighs-- receive more attention.