Treadmill or elliptical?

mariamwhatandwhy

I've been doing 20 minutes of both, everday.
But I'm thinking about doing an hour of the most effective one.
So which burns more calories, and is better for me? Or shall I keep on doing what I'm doing

nordlead2005

I think the running burns more calories if everything is equal, but we are talking by only a few calories. Hardly worth considering.

Which is better? ellipticals are lower impact and can give your arms a bit of a workout instead of just your legs. However, treadmills force you to keep a pace (which is nice for me, I trail off on the elliptical)

Do whatever you enjoy more, overall the differences are so minimal that enjoying it is far more important.

Tedebearduff

You'd be better off and burn more calories if you lifted weights for that hour instead of doing cardio....

do 60 mins of lifting 20 mins of cardio IMO

nordlead2005

Tedebearduff wrote: »

You'd be better off and burn more calories if you lifted weights for that hour instead of doing cardio....

do 60 mins of lifting 20 mins of cardio IMO

Yeah, if you lifted heavy weights with no breaks at a run like pace you'd burn more calories, but no one can keep that up for 1 hour. If you do a normal heavy lifting program you'll burn about 1/3.

mariamwhatandwhy

Yeah I do lift for about 30-40 minutes also, in addition to the cardio.

BrianSharpe

I wouldn't worry so much about which burns the most calories......which do you enjoy more?

Both, if done at reasonable intensity, will give you a great cardiovascular workout and help improve your fitness which is, after all, the point of exercise.

MeanderingMammal

Tedebearduff wrote: »

You'd be better off and burn more calories if you lifted weights for that hour instead of doing cardio....

do 60 mins of lifting 20 mins of cardio IMO

Because 200 calories is so much more than 400...

CV work and resistance work both have different, but complementary, benefits.

Key point is what objectives one has, but I'd agree that 40 minutes of one rather than two of 20 minutes seems like a more effective use of time. Both are dull as hel

cwolfman13

mariamwhatandwhy wrote: »

I've been doing 20 minutes of both, everday.
But I'm thinking about doing an hour of the most effective one.
So which burns more calories, and is better for me? Or shall I keep on doing what I'm doing

machines don't burn calories...your burn, improved fitness, etc are bi-products of your level of effort...not which machine you choose to use.

maybe also try to look at exercise as more than just burning calories...you can get a good cardiovascular workout using either machine...which is really good for your cardiovascular system and overall health and well being...exercise goes way beyond burning calories and in fact, calorie burn from exercise is rather minuscule relative to the other health benefits of regular exercise.

MeanderingMammal

mariamwhatandwhy wrote: »

So which burns more calories, and is better for me?

More calories <> better.

What are your objectives?

Generic CV work to burn calories is pointless. CV work to improve your endurance and training capacity has a point, and just happens to burn calories as well.