The monitor on Gazelle machines keeps track of your effort and results.
The Gazelle Edge is the most basic version of the Gazelle line of elliptical-like exercise machines. Promoted on television infomercials and shopping networks by fitness guru Tony Little, the Gazelle creates resistance and cardiovascular exercise through the use of a pedal and hand lever system that works most muscles from the shoulders to the feet. A digital monitor on the machine displays your heart rate, calories burned, time spent exercising and distance traveled if you were walking.
Instructions
1. Begin moving the arm levels and pedals to exercise. Perform a warm-up by exercising at a moderate intensity for three to four minutes, slowly raising your heart rate to your desired target for the workout you wish to create. This will better coordinate your heart rate, muscle flexibility and blood circulation.
2. Press your thumb on the digital monitor's thumb button to allow the machine to read the number of beats per minute your heart is beating. Increase or decrease your effort to get, and stay, in the target heart rate you desire.
3. Begin to determine your target heart rate for a particular exercise by subtracting your age from 220 to get your maximum heart rate.
4. Create a beginner's workout by exercising at 50 to 65 percent of your maximum heart rate. This will help you build cardiovascular stamina for improved workouts. The American Heart Association recommends that adults exercise at this level of intensity for 30 minutes, five times per week. Multiply your maximum heart rate by .50 and .65 to stay in this target heart rate by using the Gazelle monitor to keep track of your workout intensity and its effect on your heart rate.
5. Create an aerobic workout by exercising at 70 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate. The AHA recommends adults exercise at this level of intensity three times per week for 20 minutes or longer as an alternative to the workout described in the previous step. Use your digital monitor every few minutes to keep track of your workout.
6. Read the speed report on your digital monitor to see at what speed you are working when you are in either of your target heart rates. If you find that a particular speed consistently keeps you in your target heart rate, you will need to check the heart rate reading less frequently during your workouts, allowing you to keep both hands on the handles of the Gazelle and continue your workout.
7. Track the number of calories burned during your workout to meet your weight loss goals for exercise. You'll need to burn 500 calories more than you take in each day for seven days to lose one pound of weight per week, according to the Mayo Clinic.
8. Reduce the intensity of your heart during a three- to four-minute cool-down by gradually lowering your heart rate to below 100 beats per minute.
Tags: heart rate, your heart, target heart, your heart rate, digital monitor, maximum heart
