Elliptical vs. On-Road Running

emseedubya

Am I doing something wrong? I love the elliptical and, from what I can gather, the reason why I feel like it is easier than running is because it fully engages my upper body as well as my lower body; using more muscle groups=lower perceived level of exertion even though the actual level of exertion is equal to that required by one muscle group. Don't get me wrong, when I do sprints and intervals (which I can't maintain for long!) I can feel it in pretty much every muscle in my body the next day and my heart-rate monitor reflects that.

However, when it comes to a basic jog on-road for 45 minutes vs. working on the elliptical for 45 minutes, I always burn the same calories on the elliptical that I did on the jog in the same amount of time. Even though I really really struggle to finish that jog on-road and (after pushing through that initial 15 min. wall) I feel like I can go forever on the elliptical. My heart rate averages about 180-185 with peaks of 199 either way so I am really really working my *kitten* off on both fronts. (I use a heart-rate monitor rather than the machine read-out FWIW)

Why does my exercise on the elliptical feel so much more maintainable than when I try to go out for a jog? Even though my heart-rate monitor clearly indicates my body is working as hard on the elliptical as it does on-road, why does the elliptical feel so much easier? And why is it that I can do over an hour on the elliptical, stopping more out of boredom than anything else, whereas friends of mine who I perceive to be in similar shape/height/weight to me struggle to push through 10 minutes before they claim they are dying? Is there some secret technique I'm missing to get more out of the workout?

BrianSharpe

You're comparing apples to oranges.

An elliptical is definitely good for your cardiovascular conditioning but does little to prepare you for running (it's a great cross-training activity for running). The only thing that prepares you for running is running and I suspect that part if the problem is that you're trying to equate the ability to do 45 minutes on the elliptical to 45 minutes of running (HR is only one indicator of effort).

To run successfully, especially being able to run longer periods of time, requires considerable physical adaptations that an elliptical doesn't provide.

I'd suggest shorter, slower runs to start with. Let your body adapt.....

Azdak

In addition to the above reply, let me just add that you are being fooled by your HRM. For a variety of reasons, you are achieving similar heart rates, but the levels of effort are not the same. This is just an inherent limitation of HRM calorie estimates.