TREADMILL VS ELLIPTICAL WHICH IS BETTER?

MyJourney1960

I also think you need to up the resistance and move faster. I sweat tons when i use the elliptical. I keep moving the resistance up and i make sure that I am moving fast.

But - use whatever you prefer - personally i think that if you are moving, then you are moving, and you should do what you feel better about. I don't like the treadmill, i always feel i am about to fall off. and i feel that the elliptical is more challenging and easier on my knees

Livingdeadgirl44

I thought that the eliptical burn was too high so I got a heart rate monitor. That said I was burning slightly more than the machine said! Like you I find it feels easier than the treadmill, although I sweat buckets on both, but I think its just the fact it's lower impact that makes it feel easier.

ghostrider1970

Treadmill. Elliptical is a joke. I'm sorry, but the calorie readouts on those are waaaay off. Unless you are elderly or have f#$%#& knees stay away from the elliptical.

LMAO, as long as your heart rate is high enough, it doesn't matter what piece of equipment you are using. By the way... I wouldn't consider men's health as a reliable source of information

paulperryman

If you are exhausted on the treadmill and not the elliptical you are doing something drastically wrong.
treadmill only works the legs unless you are intentionally swinging your arms or jogging and it's harder to keep the heart rate up for longer

Elliptical/Cross Trainer works the whole body and you can set the heights and strides alot higher and thus far more resistance then a treadmill

I burn around 12-15 calories a minute on a elliptical, on the treadmill the same intensity would only net 10-12 calories a minute and about 100 calories less over the course of a 20min session, elliptical is also lower impact atleast for me.

Try intervals or bumping the stride and elevation up and down randomly and you use your arms to pull and push not just your legs to drive it.

but if you want a real challenge, Bike burns more then both of them.

That's all providing you aren't just going through the motions and are pushing yourself, I see many people at the gym on the machines just reading a book, playing with there phones or talking while casually working out, what's the point of even being there if you aren't trying to do anything usefull

as for readouts, none of them are accurate, they are just a ballpark average not even taking into consideration your height and age for one thing, so they are only 30% accurate and any readings you get from the use of a HR monitor aswell is not real time syncing, the HR monitor will change constantly but the machine takes a few seconds to register and sometimes doesn't register anything or can even register your neighbours workout (ie they are useless for accuracy). I can get the machines and my heart rate monitor to register roughly the same if i don't set the weight on the machine, get yourself a heart rate monitor and see what are really likely to be burning, ignore what the machines say, if you are sweating and puffing, and can talk words but not whole sentences without running out of breath you are burning a good rate, if not you are wasting your time.

demon2run

Try upping the resistance on the machine, you should definitely feel it in your legs then! Yes they do burn calories. Just up it to the point where it is difficult to get moving. Once you have it moving you'll be fine, so try that.

However, if you feel that you are doing more use the treadmill.

One other thing you can do is get a heart rate monitor which you set to your age, weight etc. That will give you a much better idea of the true calories you are burning.

mattschwartz01

I don't know that one is better than the other as they both have positives and negatives. I really believe it's the physical activity that counts.

theseus82

I find the elliptical is tougher to do, and is intended to be easier on the joints than walking.

I much prefer the treadmill, because I can set a good pace and I enjoy walking. I hate the elliptical machine.

In the end, the most important thing about choosing your exercise is to do something that you can keep up with. If it is total misery, you probably won't stick with it. Choose based on what seems acceptable to do daily.

TyFit08

The calorie burns on those machines are off. You can get a heart rate monitor to get a better gauge on it. I don't think you should choose. Why not do both. But running is a more strenuous activity and works your entire body, so it makes sense to me that you feel more tired. Unlike the elliptical, you can't relax your arms when you run. You can always increase the intensity when you are on the elliptical. I prefer running because it is harder and I like the challenge.

ghostrider1970

elliptical is a useless movement. The motion you use is not applicable to any real life scenario. It's too easy to be lazy on it, and very very few atheletes use this machine(maybee if they are injured). Yes, you can burn calories doing just about any activity, but why not do movement that helps you do every day activities? Run, jump, climb. Those things you can train and will be applicable to every day life.

LMAO again and again! So... is "running" like an hamster on a threeadmill more useful than using an elliptical? Unless you are a triathlete, or doing a strongman training, or any other functional training, this is only BS.
Most of the stuff people do in the gym is pretty much useless to any real life scenario... the average joe goes to the gym just to look good naked. Running to catch a bus doesn't require a great level of fitness so, unless you live in the jungle, please tell me how often during your day you have to climb (a mountain, I suppose), jump (over a river?) and run (to escape a lion?)... just curious.

alisonlynn1976

I'm not an athlete, I don't want to be an athlete, and I use the elliptical to increase my calorie deficit. I don't care that the machine readout is inaccurate (actually, when I used one that did take weight, age, and heart rate into account, if said that I was burning *more* than the ones at my usual gym say without taking those things into account). I don't care that it doesn't mimic a real-life movement. I also do other kinds of exercise that build strength and/or are fun for me, but the elliptical I only use to burn calories. It succeeds at that. None of the holier-than-thou proclamations that some of you are making change that fact.

rbear713

Face it, the machines lie. A heart rate monitor might give you a slightly more accurate burn, but it lies too.

Do either of the machines measure your heart rate? As the others have said, do you put in your height and weight?

If your perceived effort on the treadmill is greater, it is probably greater...

Normally I stay out of this debate, but cant resist - how does an HRM lie? IMHO, it is by far and away the most accurate way to calculate calories burned.

That being said, theres a few other points -

Machines dont burn cals, people do.

Ive never been on ANY machine in the gym that came close to being accurate - ok maybe a precor that actually takes the signal from my hrm to calculate my HR, but then it still gives me more cals/min than my watch (because the settings are still not as specific as my HRM)

Calorie burn is a VERY individual and specific thing - your age, weight, height, strength, exertion, digestion, fitness level, and health all play a part!!

All that said, dont put such a huge value on the total calories burned - if you are breathing hard, sweating hard, and tired when youre done, you burned plenty!

One guy said - make sure you bring it! If you do, treadmill or ellip wont matter...

GOOD LUCK!

rbear713

I don't know that one is better than the other as they both have positives and negatives. I really believe it's the physical activity that counts.

In a lot less words than I used - this!!

toddis

Face it, the machines lie. A heart rate monitor might give you a slightly more accurate burn, but it lies too.

Normally I stay out of this debate, but cant resist - how does an HRM lie? IMHO, it is by far and away the most accurate way to calculate calories burned.

Reputable brands like Polar are ~70% accurate. Stuff people pick up at Wal-Mart or Target much less so. If you are using the exact same HRM doing two different activities the accuracy will vary. Doing activity A it will give you 120% of your actual calories burned and activity B 80%, for example. Therefor it can't truly be used to compare alternate forms of exercise for the same individual. ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21178923 , http://www.wired.com/playbook/2012/08/fitness-trackers/ )
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On the topic of which is better, it all depends on the individual's goal. Exercise beats non-exercise. Goal oriented training beats anything-will-do training.

DavPul

ffs, use whichever one you prefer. the machine you choose has no bearing on how much weight you're going to use. if you prefer the treadmill, use the damned treadmill.

billsica

Treadmill is better.

fionarama

You're allowed to do more than one thing! both have their advantages and disadvantages, do both. 15minutes on one 15 minutes on the other. change it up, mix and match.

BonaFideUK

I'd only use the elliptical if I had joint problems like a knee injury or ankle injury. I think the treadmill is by far the better option. I dont think cardio gets any better than running.

kpmuzzy

I prefer the elliptical myself, it's less impact on the joints.

I put my machine on a medium resistance and do intervals of just going as fast as I can until I start feeling the ache in my legs then rest for about 10-30 seconds and go again. Just make sure you go at a sprint type speed I find this works for me and I'm always a hot mess after about 20-30 mins lol. Hope this helps!!

ghostrider1970

I dont think cardio gets any better than running.

Agree, running is great...but running and using a threadmill are completely different things.
Dynamic Indoor Rower is a great piece of equipment for cardio.