Think about this first.
Engage your core
Many people have asked me how to get the most out of our Cardio Core upper body motion which is featured on the Yowza Sanibel and Captiva elliptical models. First, let me say to you that this Core abdominal motion works just great, but you must put some effort into using your core and upper body muscles. Resist the temptation to let the legs do all the work. Also, you should understand that since you will be doing roughly 1500 repetitions of the movement at a relatively low resistance level, the machine is not designed to make you sore.
Unlike conventional weight training, Cardio Core is designed to target your core muscles effectively without having to tear the muscle fibers in order to make the muscles leaner and stronger. So you will feel the muscles working (if you do it right), but you wont be excessively sore the next day.
Here is the workout!
Start by doing a few minutes of regular elliptical motion to warm up at a medium speed roughly around 30rpm. Experiment with the various grip positions and make sure you begin to accentuate the body motion. Try to do more work with the core muscles and upper body than you normally would with a straight handled elliptical. Click here to watch the Cardio Core Workout video – New!
Now put your palms facing up to the sky and under the bottom of the lower handles and aggressively push upward with each motion trying to make you arms and abs do 80% of the work with you legs doing only 20%. You should see your heart rate really spike up quickly and that is how you can tell it is working. I recommend doing this motion in 30-90 second intervals depending on your physical condition.
Return to a normal movement for a few minutes and then cup your hands on the top of the handlebars with your palms facing down. Pull downward aggressively while twisting at the waist and you will really feel it in your upper abs and obliques. Again this movement is fairly intense and your heart-rate will spike upward so do it in short intervals always returning back to the standard movement when your heart rate begins to exceed it’s upper limit.
Lastly the most intense Core interval motion involves criss-crossing your arms by grabbing the right handle with your left arm and visa verse. You should grab the middle of the upper grip position and aggressively pull across your body and down with each movement. Be Careful because your heart rate can shoot up to over 200 beats per minute and this is not the motion for novices or deconditioned folks.
Repeat these intervals as you see fit and remember that you need to activate your abs by accentuating the twisting movement.
Good luck. Your on your way to a stronger leaner core!
Click here to watch the Cardio Core Workout video – New!
Joe Alter
CEO Yowza Fitness
