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Elliptical machines are a popular choice for cardio and muscle engagement, offering a full-body workout that targets a variety of muscle groups. They are zero-impact, total-body fitness tools that work up your entire posterior chain with major elliptical target areas encompassing your legs, core, abs, back, chest, shoulders, and arms. The upper body muscles worked during your time on the elliptical are dictated by how you choose to use the handles at the front of the machine. You can also adjust the resistance and incline to target different muscles.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Legs | Quads, Hamstrings, Calves, Hip Flexors, Anterior Tibialis |
| Glutes | Glute Maximus, Glute Medius, Glute Minimus |
| Core | Rectus Abdominis, Obliques, Transverse Abdominis, Erector Spinae |
| Upper Body | Chest, Shoulders, Arms, Back |
| Chest | Pectorals, Anterior Deltoid, Serratus Anterior |
| Shoulders | Deltoids |
| Arms | Triceps, Biceps |
| Back | Rhomboids, Latissimus Dorsi (Lats), Trapezius (Traps) |
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What You'll Learn
Glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves
The elliptical machine is a popular piece of fitness equipment that offers a low-impact, total-body workout. It is particularly effective at targeting the leg muscles, including the glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves.
Glutes
The glutes are a group of three superficial hip muscles: the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus. During the elliptical pedal stroke, the gluteus maximus experiences concentric contraction, creating a hip extension and a little hip hyperextension. To target the glutes more effectively, focus on pushing down with your heels. Additionally, increasing the resistance and incline on the elliptical will engage the glutes more.
Hamstrings
The hamstrings are a group of three muscles on the back of the thigh: the biceps femoris (long and short head), semitendinosus, and semimembranosus. During the elliptical stroke, the hamstrings are used eccentrically to push down the pedal and assist the glutes with hip extension. When the pedal moves upward, the hamstrings contract concentrically during knee flexion. To focus more on the hamstrings, adjust the elliptical to a reverse stride.
Quads
The quads, or quadriceps, consist of four muscles on the front of the thigh: rectus femoris, vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, and vastus intermedius. During the elliptical stroke, the quads work concentrically with the hips to provide downward power. As the pedal moves upward, the quads lengthen slightly during the eccentric phase. To target the quads more, adjust the foot pedals to a lower position.
Calves
The calf muscles consist of two main muscles: the gastrocnemius and the soleus. The gastrocnemius is the larger and more visible muscle, while the soleus lies underneath it. The calves assist the quads in generating downward power during the elliptical stroke through plantar flexion, which is the movement of the foot downward and away from the body. Both forward and backward pedaling on the elliptical engages the calf muscles.
Overall, the elliptical machine is an excellent tool for strengthening the glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves, providing a low-impact and customizable workout experience.
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Chest, shoulders, arms, and back
The elliptical machine is a popular choice for a workout as it offers a full-body workout that targets a variety of muscle groups. It is especially beneficial for targeting the chest, shoulders, arms, and back.
Chest
The chest muscles are activated when you push the elliptical handles forward, engaging the pectorals and providing a workout for the front of your upper body.
Shoulders
The shoulder muscles, including the deltoids, are targeted when using the elliptical handles. This helps to tone and strengthen the shoulders. Maintaining proper form ensures that your shoulders remain engaged throughout the workout.
Arms
The elliptical targets both the triceps and biceps in the arms. When you pull the handles towards you, your biceps are engaged, and when you push the handles away, you work your triceps.
Back
The back muscles worked during an elliptical workout include the rhomboids and latissimus dorsi. These muscles are engaged when you pull the handles towards you.
It is important to maintain proper form during elliptical workouts to ensure the right muscles are targeted and to reduce the risk of injury. This includes keeping your back straight, shoulders relaxed, and avoiding leaning on the handles. Additionally, adjusting the resistance and incline settings can maximize muscle engagement by targeting different muscle groups and increasing the challenge for your muscles.
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Core muscles
The elliptical machine is an excellent tool for a full-body workout, engaging both the upper and lower body muscles, including the core. The core muscles that are targeted include the rectus abdominis, obliques, and erector spinae.
To effectively target the core, it is important to maintain proper posture and form during the elliptical workout. This involves keeping your back straight, shoulders relaxed, and core engaged. With an upright posture, your core muscles work to stabilize your trunk, maintain good posture, and power your arms and legs.
Additionally, you can further engage your core muscles by letting go of the elliptical handles. This challenges your balance and forces your core to work harder to maintain stability.
By adjusting the resistance and incline settings, you can also maximize muscle engagement. Increasing the resistance makes your muscles work harder, while adjusting the incline can target different muscle groups. For example, a higher incline will engage the glutes and hamstrings more, which are part of the posterior chain that includes the core.
Overall, the elliptical machine provides an effective way to target and strengthen your core muscles as part of a comprehensive full-body workout.
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Upper body muscles
The elliptical machine is a full-body workout, and its impact on upper body muscles depends on the type of workout and the user's technique. The upper body pushing muscles consist of the chest, anterior deltoid, serratus anterior, and triceps. The chest muscles, or pectorals, are activated when the handles are pushed forward. The triceps are engaged when the handles are pushed away from the body and the biceps when the handles are pulled towards the body. The biceps originate from the shoulder blades and insert into the elbows, and the stronger they are, the easier forearm pulls become and the heavier the load capacity.
The upper body pull muscles include the traps, rhomboids, lats, and biceps. The traps are a large trapezoid-shaped muscle that begins at the base of the skull and continues down to the lower thoracic spine. The rhomboids and traps retract and depress the scapula during the pulling portion of the elliptical motion. The rhomboids are also responsible for improving posture and alleviating upper back pain. The lats are the broadest upper body muscle, originating in the thoracic vertebrae, iliac crest, costal ribs, and scapula.
The elliptical machine is a great option for upper body and core training. The core muscles, including the rectus abdominis, obliques, and erector spinae, are activated during an elliptical workout. The rectus abdominis is the abdominal muscle most commonly referred to as the "six-pack." Obliques are the internal and external muscles that run from the hips to the rib cage and are responsible for torso rotation.
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Lower body muscles
The elliptical machine is a great way to work the muscles in your lower body. The glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves are all targeted during elliptical training.
The glutes are a group of three superficial hip muscles: the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus. During the elliptical pedal stroke, the glute max contracts to create a hip extension and a little hip hyperextension. The hamstrings, meanwhile, are a group of three muscles on the back of your thigh: the biceps femoris (long and short head), semitendinosus, and semimembranosus. The hamstrings help push down the elliptical pedal to assist the glutes with hip extension, and they are used concentrically (knee flexion) during the upward phase of the elliptical stroke.
The quads consist of four muscles on the front of the thigh: the rectus femoris, vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, and vastus intermedius. During the elliptical stroke, the quads work concentrically along with the hips to provide downward power during the pedal stroke. The quads also lengthen slightly during the upward phase of the elliptical stroke.
The calves are made up of two main muscles: the gastrocnemius and the soleus. The gastrocnemius is the larger and most visible of the two, and the soleus lies underneath it. The calves assist the quads in the downward power of the elliptical stroke via plantar flexion, which is the foot moving down and away from the body.
The incline of the elliptical machine can be adjusted to target different muscles in the lower body. A lower incline will trigger greater quadriceps engagement, while a higher incline will call on the posterior chain more intensely, engaging the hamstrings and glutes more.
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Frequently asked questions
Ellipticals target the glutes, hamstrings, quads, calves, hip flexors, and adductors.
Ellipticals target the chest, shoulders, arms, back, and triceps.
Ellipticals target the rectus abdominis, obliques, transverse abdominals, erector spinae, and lower back.
Adjusting the incline and resistance settings on an elliptical can target different muscle groups in the lower body. For example, a higher incline will engage the glutes and hamstrings more, while a lower incline will trigger greater quadriceps engagement. Increasing the resistance makes the muscles work harder.
