In any effective fitness routine, you will need to add cardio into your workout regimen. An elliptical trainer is a fantastic machine to help you work your major muscle groups and raise your heart rate, and in the process, you burn calories. Harvard Health has mentioned that if you weigh 185 pounds, you can burn somewhere around 800 calories on an elliptical machine in an hour. But because an elliptical machine is controlled by your pedaling speed and resistance, the number of calories burned will vary depending on how intense you want the work out to be.