How to Avoid Knee Pain When Using an Elliptical Trainer?

As we all know, aerobic exercise is an excellent way to keep healthy, lose weight and strengthen muscles. However, in order to better keep healthy and achieve better weight loss and muscle gain through aerobic exercise, it is essential to use a piece of good fitness equipment. Nowadays, whether in a commercial gym or a home gym, you may find that the elliptical machine is one of the most popular and common aerobic fitness equipment. It is a cardiovascular machine that can replicate the lower and upper body motions of running, jogging or walking. It can bring you excellent whole-body exercise and amazing exercise effect.

Elliptical trainer provides a wide range of benefits and is a piece of excellent aerobic exercise equipment, but many people who use it for exercise also complain of recurring knees pain. Although it has less impact on the knees than running, when you exercise on it, your knees are still doing a lot of work, so it is also easy to cause your knees pain or even injury. I believe that no one including you wants to experience knee pain when using the elliptical exercise machine, so you definitely want to avoid knee pain at all costs. In the following article, I will tell you how to avoid knee pain when using the elliptical exercise machine. But before that, let's take a look at some common causes of knee pain, because knowing them can help you avoid knee pain more effectively.

What are the causes of knee pain?
Although the elliptical exercise machine is low impact, it can also cause your knees pain for some reasons. Here are some common causes of knee pain.

1. Poor posture
If you are just starting to exercise with the elliptical exercise machine, poor posture may be the main cause of your knee pain. Like all fitness equipment, correct posture is the key to make full use of the elliptical exercise machine. In the process of exercising on the elliptical exercise machine, your legs need to do a lot of pedaling work. If your legs don't move in the right posture, you may inadvertently put pressure on your knees, causing them to become painful.

2. Excessive exercise
No matter what kind of exercise you do, excessive exercise will make your body feel overworked or even strain your muscles, so will exercise on the elliptical cross trainer. Any sudden change or increase in exercise frequency may cause your knees pain.

3. Aging or overweight
When exercising on the elliptical exercise machine, the elderly are more likely to suffer from knee pain because of the long working hours of the knees and the wear of cartilage over time. In addition, an overweight or obese person is more likely to suffer from knee pain when exercising on the elliptical exercise machine, because his or her knees are under greater pressure.

4. Previous knee injury
A more obvious cause of knee pain when using the elliptical exercise machine may be a previous knee injury. Although these usually heal over time, they never really disappear. Therefore, if you have experienced knee injuries before, you are more likely to feel knee pain when using the elliptical exercise machine.

How to avoid knee pain?
I have introduced you to some reasons why you may cause knee pain when using the elliptical exercise machine. Whatever the cause of your knee pain, I will tell you some effective solutions.

1. Warm up
Before you start exercising on the elliptical exercise machine, the first thing you should do is warm up. A good choice to avoid knee pain is to do knee lifting. To lift your knees, please stand up straight and lift your knees one at a time. Touch it with your other hand and repeat on the other side. Make sure your torso and back stay straight throughout the exercise. After warming up your knees, you can effectively avoid knee pain when exercising on the elliptical exercise machine.

2. Keep the correct posture
As mentioned earlier, correct posture is crucial in exercise. It can not only ensure that muscles are fully exercised, but also reduce the risk of knee pain. So, what does correct posture look like when using the elliptical trainer? Most importantly, keep your back and torso straight during the whole exercise, and don't twist and turn around. Next, distribute your weight evenly on your feet instead of concentrating all your weight on your knees. Keep your feet flat and try to focus your weight on your heels rather than your toes, which will also prevent your feet from stinging. As long as you keep the correct posture when exercising on the elliptical exercise machine, you can well avoid knee pain.

3. Use a knee brace
One of the most effective ways to avoid knee pain when exercising on an elliptical machine may be to wear a knee brace. They are usually made of neoprene and very comfortable. Wearing a knee brace can stabilize your knees during exercise and help reduce the pressure and weight of your knees.

4. Don't exercise excessively
Not surprisingly, not using the elliptical exercise machine excessively for exercise is a good way to avoid knee pain and injury. You should combine exercise with proper rest, and remember not to exercise too much or too long on the elliptical exercise machine in pursuit of better exercise results.

I believe that by reading this article, you have now got enough information to avoid knee pain when using an elliptical trainer. I hope you can benefit from this article.