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If you are tight for space, travel a lot or have a limited budget you may be tempted with a Mini Stepper. These offer a convenient alternative to full sized steppers, but are you going to get the same workout?
As long as you can get your heart rate up then any form of exercise is beneficial. Mini Steppers are no exception. They may not be as comfortable, or pack in as many features as full sized step machines but they can get your heart pumping, and that is the main objective of any cardio workout.
Click Here to see the best mini Steppers on Amazon
The Benefits of a Mini Stepper
When you strip down any exercise machine it comes down to a very simple idea, to get the legs moving. Your legs contain the largest muscle groups, particularly in the thighs. Get these working, either through cycling, elliptical training or running and your heart and lungs will have to work to push blood there.
In turn this improves your cardiovascular health, and burns calories, which can lead to great health benefits such as weight loss and a feeling of wellbeing after the workout.
The mini stepper achieves this by producing a very simple rhythmic step, generally there are no confusing features such as resistance, just get on and start working.
As they are so simple there is generally little to go wrong, and they are easy to manufacture making them incredibly affordable
Lose weight while working!
For some squeezing in that extra bit o exercise each day can be a huge challenge. Walking to work, or joining a gym may not be practical for everyone.
However a good way to burn an extra few calories during the day is to use the mini stepper. Small enough to fit under a desk. The short range of motion is perfect for discrete steps. Test have shown that its possible to burn around one hundred calories an hour this way.
This may not be as good as standing on an elliptical for an hour, where you might expect to burn 500 to 600 calories, but it won’t leave you out of breath and needing a shower.
Toning
For some reason all cardio machines talk about toning. Toning means revealing muscles. This can be done in two ways, either make the muscles bigger, or have less fat covering them.
Mini Steppers help to tone by burning off the muscle (assuming that its not replaced with food). They won’t build muscle, or make your muscles any stronger. There simply is not enough resistance for that.
If you really want to tone and sculpt your legs then you need to look at weight workouts, performing squats and weighted lunges.
Maximise Your Heart Rate for the best health benefits.
The real benefit from the Mini Stepper is its ability to go anywhere and be ready for a brief exercise session. Experts recommend a minimum of an hour a day exercise. This means an elevated heart rate, from walking, climbing the stairs, running etc. To ensure that your heart is working at its optimum fitness level we have a huge range of heart rate monitors reviewed here.
So we know we can get a good workout from a mini stepper so what is the best mini stepper for you?
Our Pick of Mini Steppers.
Commercial Grade Mini Stepper: Xiser Mini Stepper
Stamina In-Motion Elliptical Trainer
Best for Size and Price: Sunny and Health Twister Stepper
Due to its compact form you can use it under your desk at work, or while sitting in front of the TV. Its essentially a small elliptical machine, it even has built in resistance bands to work your arms out at the same time as your legs.
The best thing is the price, its RSP is only $99, however you can find them for much less than this on Amazon.
See on Amazon
Mini Stepper Summary:
With a mini stepper you can go along way to meeting your fitness targets. For more mini stepper reviews click here.