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Best Cross Trainer 2022: Top Ellipticals For Home Gyms

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When looking for the best cross trainers, it can be hard to determine exactly how much you should spend and whether it is the most effective exercise machine to meet your fitness needs.

Although not too , cross trainers, also known as ellipticals, target your upper body muscles as well as your lower body by mimicking a motion best described as cross-country skiing.

If this sounds like the right machine for you and your fitness goals, then we can help you pick out the perfect cross trainer to take your home setup to the next level.

Whether you’re searching for something relatively inexpensive, like this XS Sports Luna Pro, or you’re after something packed with technology, like this Life Fitness E1, we’ve got you covered right here.

We’ve also answered some of the most commonly asked questions surrounding cross trainers to help you come to an educated decision on whether an elliptical is right for you.

Best Cross Trainer

Best All-Round Cross Trainer – JLL CT300

Brand: JLL Fitness | Material: Steel | Dimensions: 120 x 61 x 167cm | Resistance: Magnetic | Max. Weight: 100kg

JLL Fitness is a Birmingham-based fitness manufacturer that focuses on creating quality products, like the CT300, but for great value.

In terms of what the CT300 has to offer, it comes with a 5.5kg, two-way flywheel which should provide a challenging yet smooth workout, and 8 levels of magnetic resistance to up the difficulty when you feel the time is right to progress.

It also comes with an LCD display with 8 readouts including time, speed, distance, and more, which are all crucial for tracking how hard you’re working and to help you improve.

All in all, the CT300 is a great option for home gyms, especially because it comes with built-in wheels which will likely make it easier to transport and store away once you’ve nailed your cardio session.

Best Cross Trainer On A Budget – XS Sports Luna Pro

Brand: XS Sports | Material: Steel | Dimensions: 122 x 60 x 154cm | Resistance: Unspecified | Max. Weight: 110kg

The Luna Pro is not just one of the top budget cross trainers, but it also doubles as an exercise bike which makes it, arguably, excellent value for money.

It comes with a front-mounted flywheel designed to improve the machine’s stability, and adjustable resistance levels for both high and low-intensity sessions to suit both beginners and more advanced athletes.

The Luna Pro also has a multi-function LCD display that records your pulse, time, speed, distance, and calories burned, as well as an additional scan function to cycle through them all to keep you up to date during your workout.

Being a 2-in-1 machine, the Luna Pro should definitely be considered a top elliptical as well as fighting a case for featuring in our list as well.

Best Gym-Standard Cross Trainer – Life Fitness E1

Brand: Life Fitness | Material: Unspecified | Dimensions: 209 x 77 cm x 150cm | Resistance: Friction | Max. Weight: 181kg

If you’re searching for something akin to the cross trainers you get in a commercial gym and have the budget for it, then the Life Fitness E1 might be for you.

Although the Life Fitness E1 is a premium product, it comes with a few smart features that make it slightly more advanced like the contact heart rate sensors, something normally found on , to help you keep track of which exercise zones you’re working in.

Moreover, this elliptical offers 20 levels of resistance which should mean there is plenty of room for progression, regardless of your experience and fitness level.

On the whole, if you’re looking for something similar to what you’d find in the gym then the E1 is definitely one to consider.

Best Compact Cross Trainer – Schwinn Fitness 411

Brand: Schwinn Fitness | Material: Unspecified | Dimensions: 53.8 x 24 x 62.5″ | Resistance: Unspecifed | Max. Weight: 300lbs

We’ve previously featured this Schwinn Fitness 411 cross trainer in our list of the , but we’re including it again as we think it should make for a top pick if you’re limited to space.

Even though it features a space-saving design, you still get an 18” stride length which should be more than suitable even if you’re tall.

Also, it comes with 16 levels of adjustable resistance so you can dial up or down depending on how challenging you want your workout to be, which is great as it allows for heaps of progression.

It’s also worth noting that you get what Schwinn calls a built-in media rack to hold your tablet, so you can watch your favourite TV shows whilst you exercise, thus making it, in our opinion, well worth considering.

Best Cross Trainer For Work – Sunny Health & Fitness Under Desk Elliptical

Brand: Sunny Health & Fitness | Material: Steel | Dimensions: 20.5 x 16 x 10.5″ | Resistance: Magnetic | Max. Weight: Unspecified

We’ve featured Sunny Health & Fitness before in our list, so it’s probably no surprise we’ve featured them again.

Although this may not be your conventional cross trainer, the Sunny Health & Fitness Under Desk Elliptical will likely be a great way of incorporating lower body movement into your working day.

Measuring in at just 20.5″ long and 10.5″ tall, this machine should easily fit under your desk and it comes with an integrated handgrip so you can pick it up and store it more easily.

In terms of the difficulty, the Sunny Health & Fitness Elliptical has 8 levels of magnetic resistance to make things progressively harder if you feel like it, and a 3.52lbs flywheel which will likely be heavy enough for low-intensity exercise whilst working.

Ultimately, this may not include all the features of a standard cross trainer, but it does tick a lot of boxes in terms of the perfect machine for office workouts.

Best Cross Trainer For Beginners – Gazelle GEDGECAT Edge Glider

Brand: Gazelle | Material: Unspecified | Dimensions: Unspecified | Resistance: Manual | Max. Weight: < /strong>250lbs

If you’re just starting your fitness journey or perhaps recovering from injury, then a low-impact machine like this Gazelle GEDGECAT Edge Glider could be the way to go.

It works using a dual-action suspension system that moves with your body through a complete range of motion, allowing you to increase or decrease the intensity at your own pace.

Moreover, it comes with a display that will keep track of your speed, distance, time, and calories burnt, helping you follow your progression through informed statistics.

Overall, we feel the Gazelle GEDGECAT Edge Glider could be a great option to consider if you’re after something low-stress and impact to kick off your workout journey.

Frequently Asked Questions About Cross Trainers

People often have a tonne of questions about ellipticals, but we’re here to clear up a few common queries to help you make your purchase.

Is A Cross Trainer Worth It?

Ultimately, this depends on your budget and what you’re looking for in a piece of cardio equipment.

Generally speaking, using an elliptical is a good way of incorporating your whole body into one workout which is ideal for burning calories and for improving mobility.

If you’re looking for a way to build muscle, then even the most intense elliptical workout won’t compare to weight training with a , but, for improving cardio, the cross trainer is up there as one of the best and is sometimes even compared to the .

Can You Lose Weight Using A Cross Trainer?

According to Havard Medical School, a 155lbs person will burn 334 calories in 30 minutes on an elliptical, therefore suggesting you can lose weight whilst using an elliptical.

However, it is important to pair your training with the right nutritious diet.

The key here is to be in a calorie deficit, i.e. burning more calories than you consume throughout the day.

A handy way to track this is by picking up a which should give you a general estimate as to how many calories you burn during your day, which you can then compare to the calories you consume.

Should You Use A Cross Trainer Every Day?

Even though you can use a cross-trainer every day, it is normally advised, like with any form of exercise, that you have a least one rest day a week for recovery purposes.

Also, undergoing the same exercise every day can become repetitive and your muscles will likely adapt to the elliptical motion, so a smart choice would be to incorporate other forms of exercise like walking, running, or swimming to workout different muscle groups and avoid repetition.

Is A Cross Trainer Better Than A Treadmill?

We have previously covered and, in the said guide, we state that both can offer an effective cardio-based workout.

However, a cross trainer has an advantage over running in that it’s a much lower impact activity which is ideal if you’re a beginner, you’re recovering from an injury, or you’re looking to complete longer sessions regularly.

With that being said, you may be able to burn more calories more efficiently on a treadmill compared to an elliptical.

For example, a 2017 study into the effects of HIIT training found a treadmill to be effective for burning calories, reducing body fat, and improving cardiovascular fitness in a short period of time.

Also, if you’re training for a specific goal like a marathon, for example, then regularly running on a treadmill will likely be a better tool to help in your preparation.

Ultimately, we feel both treadmills and cross trainers are great for their own specific purposes, and choosing which is right for you will come down to personal preference and your fitness goals.

How Long Should You Use A Cross Trainer For?

There’s no one definitive answer to this question as it will vary depending on your type of training.

However, research suggests that at least 15 minutes a day on a cross-trainer can have major health benefits, most notably improving your cardiovascular fitness.

If 15 minutes is all the time you have to use your elliptical, then the American Council on Exercise recommends you use that time as efficiently as possible by doing High-Intensity Interval Training to maximise your benefits.

Can You Use A Cross Trainer Without Plugging It In?

Despite the moving parts still operating when a cross trainer is unplugged, all programmes and workout analysis tools require electricity to work.

With the included workout metrics and analysis, you can track your progress while also monitoring your current session.

As a result, we’d advise always plugging in and turning on your machine before each workout in order to obtain the maximum benefits of your device.

Are All Cross Trainers Electric?

Not all cross trainers are powered by electricity; however, most of the ones you’ll likely find on the market are, particularly if they come with an onboard computer to analyse fitness metrics.

Having said that, there are some manually powered machines, similar to the Gazelle GEDGECAT Edge Glider, which come with no electronic components.

Manual ellipticals tend to be most beneficial for beginners, but we recommend an electric piece of equipment if you’re looking to continue to progress towards your fitness goals.

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