Beginning Exercise
Because the lateral thigh trainer does not have the handrails of more typical cardio machines like elliptical trainers, it is good to begin slowly to establish your balance. This is also a good way to begin any routine on the lateral thigh trainer, so that you are sufficiently warmed up. Carefully step onto the trainer one foot at a time, then slowly transfer your weight from foot to foot to begin the steplike motion. Pause for a moment when you are back to center before transferring your weight. Continue until you feel comfortable, or are ready for a more rigorous workout.
Intermediate Exercise
Once you have established your balance and comfort level with a lateral thigh trainer, the next step is to speed things up. By doing the stepping movement faster, you will increase your heartbeat for heart fitness and burn more calories. Simply transfer your weight as you step from foot to foot more quickly, without pausing in the middle to establish your balance. Keep your knees slightly bent to lower the impact of the exercise on your joints.
Advanced
A more advanced workout includes movement that involves the whole body, with the addition of added tension or weights. You can use small hand weights, wrist weights or weighted gloves with repeated arm motions to tone and strengthen your arms in addition to training your legs and to increase your heart rate. You can order optional DVDs or videos of workout routines, which include an advanced video with more ideas for an advanced workout.
Cardio Exercise
If you are more concerned with having a good workout for heart health than with burning calories, a cardio strategy is a good option. For a workout that increases your heart rate, you should use more quick or rigorous motion. To improve health and endurance, continue working out so that your heart rate is somewhere between 70 percent and 75 percent of your maximum heart rate. Then, based on your age and level of fitness, establish a quick-enough pace on the lateral trainer to increase your heart rate, but not too quick that it becomes dangerous or difficult to maintain.
Fat Burn Exercise
It is pretty obvious that the longer you work out, the more calories you will burn. Therefore, if you want to use the lateral thigh trainer to do calorie-burning exercise, you will have to set a pace you can maintain for an extended amount of time. By exercising at a lower intensity, you can work out for longer to burn calories, but still be toning the whole time because of the bidirectional motion of the lateral thigh trainer.
