This article originally appeared in Shape.
What do you get when you cross a treadmill with a bike? An elliptical, that ungainly machine that seems easy until you try to coordinate your pushing and pulling. While the elliptical is a gym-floor staple and solid cardio option, it's probably not the first machine you think of when it comes to high-intensity interval training (HIIT).
But what makes the elliptical a good cardio machine also makes it great for HIIT workouts—if you do them right. Here's how.
The Pros of Doing Elliptical HIIT Workouts
One of the major perks of the elliptical is that it's very low-impact and non-weight bearing. That's a huge plus "for people who have limitations that don't allow them to run or do a high-impact HIIT workout," says Jonathan Higashi, a NASM-certified personal trainer at Life Time Laguna Niguel in California.