I was wondering something. Anyone ever go backwards on the elliptical? Would that do anything for me? Tone my butt perhaps, and hams and such? Or am I kidding myself?

The elliptical does not stimulate the muscle enough to tone it or to make it grow all that much. Leg movements such as squats, deads, presses...etc...will help "tone" your legs.

Ok. Thanks LV.

I've seen people do it every so often at the gym, but I've not tried it myself. If I wanted something different I'd try another piece of cardio gear like the rower.

about 1/3 of the Precor machines at my gym have "Pedal Backwards" instructions that pop up on some of the courses. Like you'll go forward for 4 mins, then it'll incline, increase resistance and have you pedal backwards for 3 mins.

it does feel a little different, but like LV said, you cannot spot reduce fat, adn the elliptical isn't enough resistance to induce hypertrophy, which is what you'd need to induce to make the glutes grow and appear more 'toned'.

I echo the above. It's always helpful for me to look at each machine and define its purpose. The elliptical is meant as a cardio workout. So my goal is to do the most efficient cardio workout on that machine, right?

That would involve going at a higher intensity or doing intervals. Pedaling backwards will do nothing but slow you down... defeating the purpose of the elliptical workout.

Can you go backwards? Yes. Will you "feel" it somewhere differnet? Possibly. But overall... just move at the motion most comfortable for you.

"They" say that going backwards on an elliptical, all else being equal, will burn more calories as it is a new postion , and will confuse your body by being somewhat more intense than going forward. Once you get used to it and can do it as easily as going forward, there would no longer be any added value other than it using some of the muscle that you don't use going forward. Mixing it up like that , however, may keep it more interesting just like using different programs on the machine. So the short answer is, go ahead and do it. It can't hurt and might be of some benefit.

Thanks guys!

Hi--

I read in the last issue of fitness (or shape) the one with fergie on the front that fergie walks backwards on teh treadmill at like 2.5-3mph at an 8-15 incline and she says it works her bottom more...i notice bottom when i walk at 4-4.5 on 15% incline frontwards on the treadmill and i did try walking backwards its a new experience and quads yuou can tell more.

I have done the cross trainer and you can go backwards and forward. it kills my legs when I do it though. I usually just do the treadmill now (with the incline). I did it at 7.0 today with a 3.0 incline and then I walked fast using a 7.5 incline. Incline is like running uphill and it kills the legs. I like it better than all the other cardio machines

Yeah, I did it on a treadmill years ago and could definitely feel it. Thanks again for your thoughts guys!