Can the intensity and energy cost of exercise on an ElliptiGO elliptical bicycle fall within accepted fitness-industry guidelines for improving cardiorespiratory fitness and body composition? That was the purpose for an ACE-commissioned study conducted by John Porcari, Ph.D., and his team of researchers at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse.
American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) guidelines recommend that adults engage in a minimum of 150 minutes of aerobic activity per week (ACSM, 2014). This can be divided up into 30-minute bouts of moderate-intensity activity five days per week or 20-minute bouts of vigorous activity on three days of the week. According to a self-report study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2014), only one in five adults are meeting these recommendations for aerobic exercise.
Dr. Porcari and his team affiliated with the American Council on Exercise put 16 healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 45 through a battery of tests to determine the efficacy of ElliptiGO bikes in achieving the fitness standard. According to the ACE report, ElliptiGO riding aced the tests.
Even more impressive, according to Dr. Porcari and Nicole Rendler, the lead author of the study, was how much fun the participants reported having on the ElliptiGO bike. As this article states in Prosource, a magazine published by ACE, “Clients tend to be intrinsically motivated to be physically active when they truly enjoy their workouts—which is associated with positive attitudes and emotions (such as happiness, freedom and relaxation), as well as maximal effort and persistence when faced with barriers. What more could you want from a piece of exercise equipment?”
