Lots of ElliptiGO miles: Adam Goucher, Jorge Torres, and Lauren Fleshman discuss training on an ElliptiGO

 I have had my ElliptiGO for just over 2 weeks now and I can't wait to get outside each day and 'GO. I also can't begin to tell you how much fun I am having. No longer am I lumbering along trying to get my hip and the muscles around it to work or to get some semblance of symmetry and balance to my stride. There is something about the setup that allows me to push real hard without hurting my joints and muscles. Yeah, I have that good tired feeling after a ride ( I am told that 2 miles on the ElliptiGO is the equivalent of 1 mile of running). What I love about using it is that I get the long-lost feeling that I had in college when I could push as hard as I wanted in a workout and be drained that evening, but refreshed and ready to go the next day. Instead of just trying to get my running muscles to work, I can push this thing like I am doing intervals: the quads are tightening, my heart is racing, and my breathing is heavy. I can work hard on the uphills and I can do all this while going faster than the professional runners (on the hot humid days of the past weeks the breeze of riding this really helps keep you cool). Instead of feeling the slowing down process of aging and injuries, I feel like a kid again playing around with speed and hills and sprints!

Adam Goucher

After two weeks of riding, my quads are getting some great strengthening. If you like that full quad pumped feeling you get after cycling long and hard, that is exactly the same feeling I get on the ElliptiGO. The muscles in the front of both hips (hip flexors) are still somewhat tight and funky, but it doesn't impede my riding (they do interfere with running). I can feel the muscles around my hips and the glutes slowly loosening and balancing themselves better. This is where I think it will help me with my running later on. By the fact that my feet stay connected to the platforms, my feet stay positioned better which is allowing me to balance better over each ankle, knee, and hip and align my body better. Not only are my quads feeling strong, but I also notice how strong my lower back is getting as the muscles on either side of my spine work in balance.




July 1-July 7 Weekly ElliptiGO miles
Monday: 0 miles (rain and tornado warnings)
Tuesday: 21 miles (pushed the hills)
Wednesday: 32 miles
Thursday: 20 miles
Friday: 30 miles (a deer ran across the path about 30 feet in front of me, a porcupine was trying to cross the bike path as I was speeding by, and a bunch of Canadian Geese plopped themselves down in the middle of the bike path and looked like they wanted a fight!)
Saturday: 31 miles
Sunday: 0 miles (feeling a bit tired)
Total weekly mileage: 134 miles
Total ElliptiGO miles in just 16 days: 348 miles ( I think I have found something I really like to do)

Here is a video of three former American stand-out runners from high school to the professional and Olympic levels who train on the ElliptiGO. They talk about training on the ElliptiGO and doing intervals on one. The athletes are Adam Goucher, Jorge Torres, and Lauren Fleshman. They were all at the 2012 Footlocker National Championships for this discussion.



Here is a video of Adam Goucher and his ElliptiGO as he talks about training.

Elliptigo Adam Goucher Interview from David Hebble on Vimeo.