A recumbent cross trainer is designed to provide you with a low-impact workout that is gentler on the body than high-impact exercise while still helping you reach your fitness goals.

The doctors at Piedmont Orthopedics in Atlanta even recommend recumbent machines over treadmills and traditional exercise bikes to help prevent injuring the ankles, feet, and more.

Treadmills, like recumbent cross trainers, also provide a good way to engage in low-impact cardio to strengthen the lower body and core.

However, they pose many opportunities for ankle, shin, and feet issues due to their flat surface, balance requirements, and repetitive stepping motions that can lead to sprains, overuse injuries, and more.

Meanwhile, traditional stationary bikes also provide a great low-impact lower body workout, but the pressure of the up and down pedaling motion can place strain on your feet and ankles, which can also result in pain and injury in those areas.

A recumbent cross trainer, on the other hand, uses a zero impact motion, thus decreasing the chance for injuries, sprains, and more, which provides a good reason to own one.

In fact, there are many reasons to own a recumbent cross trainer, which we will look at next.

Why Own a Recumbent Cross Trainer

9 Reasons to Own a Recumbent Cross Trainer

• It Enables You to Get a Total Boy Workout At Home Using Versatile Equipment
• It Enables You to Rehab At Home
• It Also Helps Take Pressure Off the Knees, His, and Back
• It Helps Strengthen the Knees
• It Helps Strengthen Bone Density
• It Increases Flexibility and Decreases the Risk of Injuries
• It Enables You To Burn More Calories Than a Recumbent Bike, Aerobic Class, and More
• It Can Help You Burn More Fat When Combined With Weight Training
• It’s Low Maintenance

It Enables You to Get a Total Body Workout At Home Using Versatile Exercise Equipment

A recumbent cross trainer provides many of the same benefits of a cross trainer, which includes the ability to target your legs, arms, and torso, thus enabling you to burn maximum calories than with a lower-body-only-machine or without the need to jump or jar around.

However, it also includes a seat, which enables you to engage in the smooth, gliding, elliptical motion from a more comfortable position for added support, which makes it suitable for anyone seeking a less weight-bearing yet effective exercise to traditional high impact exercise.

Many are also comparable to the same professional equipment found in fitness centers, physical rehab centers, and more but smaller and more portable to fit snuggly in your home.

They also typically include an electronic display and heart monitor to help track your stats, so you know when you are hitting your mark.

You can also increase the machine’s resistance as well as the intensity of your workout to burn more calories during your session. It can also be used to circuit train for a more intense workout.

The machine also enables you to solely exercise your legs for a targeted lower body workout by letting go of the handlebars. In doing so, you must utilize your core more for balance, which also enables you to get a deeper ab workout.

Because it enables you to work both your upper and lower body via one machine, it also helps eliminate the need to purchase different pieces of fitness equipment separately, which helps save costs.

It Enables You to Rehab At Home

Those recovering from surgery or an injury may also find a recumbent cross trainer beneficial for strengthening their damaged tissues while also getting in a low-impact cardio workout that won’t exert too much stress on the weakened areas.

In fact, many physical therapists and athletic trainers also utilize them to help their patients and clients regain control of their physical health and self-sufficiency.

One study published by Pub Med shows that they may even be used to help improve balance, endurance, and functional mobility in stroke patients when used 2 to 3 times a week for just 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, another study published by the US Department of Veterans Affairs shows that after just 15 training sessions on the elliptical machine, MS patients experienced significant improvements in fatigue and thus quality of life, suggesting that ellipticals may also be used as part of outpatient MS rehabilitation.

However, another study concluded that use of the elliptical machine for rehabilitative training would have to consider the user’s muscle strength and joint function to avoid injuries, so if you are recovering from an injury and are considering using an elliptical as part of your rehabilitation, be sure to get your doctors clearance before doing so to avoid reinjuring the area.

It Also Helps Take Pressure Off the Knees, Hips, and Back

Recumbent cross trainer machine’s low-impact elliptical motion also helps eliminate

strain and stress on your knees and hips because it enables your legs to mimic the natural walking stride but without causing your joints to bear your body’s weight.

Your feet also never leave the pedals, so there’s no impact or jolting, which is also beneficial for the joints, especially for those with arthritis.

In fact, an article published by the Arthritis Foundation hails elliptical trainers as the best workout equipment for individuals with knee and hip arthritis due to their low impact on the joints.

Meanwhile, the seat on the recumbent cross trainer is also another main benefit of the machine because it helps take pressure off the lower back, hips, and legs while you exercise, thus also enabling you to workout with less risk of pain or injury to the joints.

The seat and pedals on most machines also adjust to your measurements to prevent overextending the joints during your workout, which can also cause you to strain or reinjure them.

It Helps Strengthen the Knees

Various studies show that elliptical exercises and other low-impact exercises help strengthen the hamstrings, quads, ankles, and other muscles that support the knees, which also helps strengthen the knees.

It also helps increase blood flow to the knee cartilage and surrounding tissues, thus also helping to promote healthy knees, which is especially useful if you suffer from arthritic knees.

It Helps Increase Bone Density

According to information published by Everyday Health, weight-bearing exercise is one of the best ways to improve bone mass due to the pressure it puts on the skeletal system during the movements, which stimulates bone-building cells, thus increasing bone mineral density.

Though elliptical exercises are not necessarily considered weight-bearing, they do force the legs to bear some weight, but without putting stress on the joints, which helps strengthen the bones.

One study suggests that elliptical trainers, when combined with calcium and vitamin D supplementation, may also improve bone mineral density and bone mineral content in osteoporosis patients, especially in the hips and spine region, when used long term.

In turn, making it easier for them to continue to carry out everyday activities, as well as also helps to prevent falls that can lead to bone fractures.

The same study further concludes that the longer and more intense the exercise, the greater the improvement in overall bone mass, which, over time, may even be enough to reverse the osteoporosis process in patients no matter the severity of the condition.

It Increases Flexibility and Decreases the Risk of Injuries

The smooth, elongated stride that ellipticals provide causes the muscles in the lower legs to become fully extended during the push move, which helps increase flexibility in the hips, calves, hamstrings, quads, and more for improved range of movement during walking, sports activities, and more, thus helping to prevent in injuries.

Meanwhile, the moving handles bars on the machine also cause your arms to become fully extended during the push motion, which also helps increase flexibility in the upper body muscles, thus also supporting full range of motion in the chest, shoulders, and arms for decreased risk of injuries during physical activities.

Briefly warming up your body with light exercises before using the recumbent cross trainer helps get the blow flowing to the muscles, which also helps improve flexibility while using the machine for maximum results.

It Enables You to Burn More Calories Than a Recumbent Bike, Aerobic Class, and More

Because a recumbent cross trainer allows you to work both your upper and lower body simultaneously, it enables you to burn more calories than with a recumbent bike that only works your lower body.

Meanwhile, you can also increase the speed and intensity of the machine to burn even more calories than with high-calorie-burning aerobic exercise.

You can also participate in longer, high-intensity recumbent cross-training sessions-to increase the calorie burn over other low-impact machines and exercises.

Recumbent cross training machines also enable you to alternate between a slow and a fast pace, which enables you to perform interval training for maximum calorie burn in just a 20-minute session.

It is also important while using the cross trainer that you maintain the proper posture, which engages all the right muscles.

Furthermore, the more muscles you use during your activity, the more calories it burns. You should also remember to keep your core engaged to also work the abs.

Lastly, be sure that your arms and legs are actually doing the pushing and pulling and not simply the machine’s inertia, which can cause you to burn fewer calories.

It Can Help You Burn More Fat When Combined With Weight Training

Though a recumbent trainer can enable you to burn more calories by working your entire body, which is effective for weight loss, it can also be used to help burn more fat, which is also necessary for weight loss.

To do so, experts suggest starting your workout with a weight lifting session, which will enable your muscles to use up their glycogen stores for energy.

This way, once you get onto the recumbent cross trainer, your body will be forced to burn adipose stores for energy to get you through your workout, thus enabling you to benefit from maximum calorie and fat burn.

Some machines also have a fat-burning setting you can choose that automatically sets the machine to the right resistance and length to burn more fat.

It’s Low Maintenance

Recumbent cross trainers utilize a low impact elliptical motion; hence, they don’t rely on belts, motors, or other moving parts like other machines.

Therefore, you don’t have to worry about rollers, belts, or bearings burning out, so they are less likely to require service, which makes them low maintenance.

Best Recumbent Cross Trainers

XTERRA Fitness RSX1500	Teeter FreeStep LT3 Recumbent Cross Trainer	HCI Fitness PhysioStep LXT-700
The  XTERRA Fitness RSX1500 is a great option for those who may need extra cushioning support when using a recumbent cross trainer machine.	The Teeter FreeStep LT3 Recumbent Cross Trainer is our favorite Recumbent Cross Trainer to recommend simply because we think it’s Stride Technology that reduces knee strain is second to none and at an affordable price.	The HCI Fitness PhysioStep LXT-700 is as close as you’ll get to an actual PT machine in your home and is definitely worth considering for those with higher budgets for a recumbent cross trainer.

Final Thoughts

A recumbent cross trainer is a very versatile machine, which, alone, makes it a good reason to own one.

This way, you can work both your arms and legs for a total body workout or simply work your legs to solely target your lower and core, as well as also switch up the resistance and pace to control your calorie burn and prevent from becoming bored with your workouts.

And the fact that it exerts little to zero impact on the joints makes it a suitable choice for anyone looking to preserve their knees while working out or who is suffering from a knee injury or knee pain to help prevent worsening the issue with exercise.

In fact, the machine’s smooth, gliding elliptical motion is likened to walking on air for utmost comfort while using it.

It also requires little to no maintenance, so it lasts longer than traditional exercise machines that utilize belts, bearings, and other moving parts to operate, which enables it to more than pay for itself in the long run.

They also range in price, size, and features for added convenience, so be sure to research the different recumbent cross trainer models to determine the best one for you.

Finally, remember, as with any fitness or rehab equipment, if you have a preexisting condition, be sure to consult your doctor before use to ensure it is safe for you.