Certified Trainers Are Using These These Ellipticals To Work Out At Home

There are a few forms of cardio to choose from when you want to work out at home. But if you're not the biggest fan of treadmills or jumping rope, you might want to consider hopping on an elliptical machine instead. Ellipticals are joint-friendly, which is why Kelly Collins, a NASM-certified personal trainer, says they're best for people who want a low-impact cardio workout. "Ellipticals glide, preventing pounding on the knees that happens during other cardiovascular activities like running on a treadmill, spinning, or jumping," she adds.

Ellipticals are also made with presets for interval training if you want to challenge yourself or just mix things up. “With an elliptical, you can perform both high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and low-intensity steady-state cardio workouts (LISS) with minimal joint impact,” says personal trainer Hayden Steele, CPT.

Take a sneak peek at a few of the best trainer-approved ellipticals:

Plus, you don't have to slog away for hours on an elliptical. Steele says you should actually cap your elliptical sessions at an hour. "If fat loss is your goal, typically you can burn more in less time by pushing the body harder and giving more effort," he says. "This also helps avoid overtraining, which can be caused by pushing the body too hard for too long."

Now that you've been convinced about the benefits of an elliptical, you'll be happy to know that our team's sifted out the best trainer-approved machines that you can use right at home, from affordable ones on Amazon to high-end NordicTrack and Schwinn options.

See below for the nine best ellipticals to level up your at-home cardio experience.