Depending on your level of fitness and which type of Gazelle you have, you can create beginner, intermediate and advanced cardio workouts that help you build cardio stamina, burn calories, improve muscular endurance and train anaerobic recovery.
Whichever type of workout you choose to use on a Gazelle, follow the same basic workout format each time. Before you begin using a Gazelle, read our article on how a Gazelle works and what it does so you can create the best fat-burning or muscle-building workouts for you.
To prevent boredom and increase your muscle use and calorie burn, use a variety of Gazelle moves to create patterns during your workouts.
Beginner Cardio Workouts
If you’re new to exercise, your goal should be to burn calories while you build cardio stamina and muscular endurance. Stamina and endurance help you exercise longer, rather than harder.
For example, a marathon runner can’t run as fast as a sprinter, but can run longer. As you begin to use your Gazelle to lose weight, you should also use it to get in shape.
To start to get in shape on a Gazelle, increase the number of minutes you exercise each workout or each week, rather than trying to work hard and fast from the beginning to get in shape. Overdoing it will cause you fatigue quicker and shorten your workouts. You can build cardiorespiratory strength exercising hard, but won’t build stamina and endurance if you have to quit soon.
Warmup by striding for two to three minutes at a moderate pace. Don’t start with stretching before you get on the Gazelle – save this for after your workout. Experiment with the amount of arm effort you use to pull and push the levers, and with the amount of leg effort you use to stride. Use both evenly, then try using mostly arms, then using mostly legs.
In addition to the workouts below, consider purchasing a Tony Little workout DVD. You’ll see the moves demonstrated and can exercise along at our own pace, following a workout led by a fitness instructor to music. When you get to the Amazon site, type, “Tony Little Workout DVD” into the search box to see a complete list of available Gazelle workout DVDs.
•Week One
After you have raised your heart rate with your warmup and are breathing harder, begin striding at the maximum speed you can maintain for at least 15 minutes. Your goal is to burn some calories while you strengthen your heart, lungs and muscles. If you aren’t breathing hard, speed it up. If you can’t talk while you’re exercising, you’re exercising too hard, so slow it down. Your pace should be similar to a power walk. If you can find a pace that lets you exercise for 30 minutes, go for it – just make sure it’s not so slow that you aren’t tired when you’re finished.
•Week Two
Add five minutes to your workouts if you exercised for 15 minutes the first week. Add 30-second power sprints every five minutes, consisting of 30 seconds of a jogging speed, followed by 60 seconds of a walking recovery.
•Week Three
Depending on how many times per week you’ve exercised, you should be able to maintain a power-walking pace without stopping for 30 minutes after you’ve been exercising for two weeks. You might not be at a jogging pace yet, but you should be able to exercise while breathing harder than normal. You don’t need to be panting and sweating profusely, but you should be breathing at a rhythmic pace. Continue exercising at this pace for two weeks before you decide to move to an intermediate aerobic pace, or similar to a quick jog. If you are exercise three to four times per week, you might be ready to move up to the next level after two weeks.
•Cool Down and Stretch
After you finish the main portion of your workout, spend two minutes slowing your speed until your breathing returns to normal. Your heart rate will still be elevated, but you don’t want to stop a fast workout on a dime. After your breathing is back to normal, get off the Gazelle and perform a thorough stretch.
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Intermediate Cardio Workouts
If you are in good enough shape to exercise at a jogging pace for 30 minutes, you can perform a more intense aerobic workout on a Gazelle. It’s still important to warm up for for a couple of minutes before you start exercising in your target heart rate zone. Start with a regular stride at a moderate intensity, varying how much arm and leg effort you use, leaning backwards slightly for 15 to 30 seconds, standing on your toes and moving your elbows in and out.
Once you have warmed up, begin exercise at the maximum pace you can maintain for the duration of your workout, which might be anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. Remember, even if you can move faster, if you exercise at a heart rate that’s near your maximum, you can’t maintain this for long and will have to keep taking breaks. This is fine if you’re doing sprint training, but those workouts usually last only 10 to 15 minutes.
Create your intermediate Gazelle workout using patterns. Perform one of the Gazelle moves for 8, 10 or 12 strides, then switch to a new move. Alternately, perform a move for two minutes, then switch moves. Alternate from leg, to ab to upper-body moves.
Add power sprints every 10 minutes, working at a high intensity for 60 seconds, then recovering with a slower walking stride for 60 seconds before going back to your regular cardio speed. Drink water during your power-sprint recovery periods.
If your Gazelle doesn’t have resistance, you’ll have to move at a fast pace to raise your heart rate. You main goal will be to use arm and leg effort to move the machine and to resist the temptation to use momentum to “coast” or “glide” as you get tired.
•Add specific muscle-targeting movements during your workout. Read our related article to learn how to target specific muscles on a Gazelle.
•Add sprints to your workout. If it’s OK with your physician, add two or three sprints every 30 minutes during your workout. Move at close to your maximum intensity for 30 to 90 seconds, then slow down and recover for up to two minutes.
•Increase the resistance setting to add more muscle benefit. Raising the resistance efforts requires you to use more muscle to move the Gazelle’s pedals and levels. Raise the resistance setting to a point that challenges you, but won’t cause muscle fatigue that makes you have to stop after 5 or 10 minutes.
Advanced Cardio Workouts
An advanced aerobic workout on a Gazelle will consist of a higher speed, closer to running than jogging, include more and longer power sprints, or use more resistance if you have a Gazelle model with resistance.
Once you have warmed up, begin exercising at the maximum pace you can maintain for the duration of your workout, which might be anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. Remember, even if you can move faster, if you exercise at a heart rate that’s near your maximum, you can’t maintain this for long and will have to keep taking breaks. This is fine if you’re doing sprint training, but those workouts usually last only 10 to 15 minutes.
Set the Gazelle to the highest resistance setting you can use without fatiguing to failure before you exercise for 30 minutes, or your desired time.
Create workout using patterns by performing one of the Gazelle moves for 10 to 12 strides, then switch to a new move. Alternately, perform a move for two minutes, then switch moves. Alternate from leg, to ab to upper-body moves.
Add power sprints every five minutes, working at a high intensity for 60 to 90 seconds, then recovering with a slower walking stride for one to two minutes before going back to your regular workout speed. Drink water during your power-sprint recovery periods. Check with your doctor to make sure this type of exercise is safe for you.
Where to buy a new Gazelle.
.Additional Resources
Mayo Clinic: Are Elliptical Machines Better than Treadmills for Basic Eerobic Workouts?