Elliptical VS Treadmill

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  • Great_Mazinga
    Great_Mazinga Posts: 214 Member
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    I usually like the Elliptical, as it is comparatively easy on the joints, even if the treadmill has a forgiving deck. I think the answer is the one you enjoy the movement on the most. For some the elliptical will always feel awkward, while for people like me, a treadmill doesn't feel right at higher speeds.
  • amberj32
    amberj32 Posts: 663 Member
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    I prefer the elliptical. I burn more calories on it. If I want to walk or run I go outside and do it. The treadmill is so dreadful.
  • ftrobbie
    ftrobbie Posts: 1,017 Member
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    dump them both for a rowing machine.

    wait, that's not the question... okay, sorry.

    i prefer the eliptical to a treadmill because i have a bum knee but i prefer my old concept two rower to both of them for quality and intensity of the workout i am able to do.

    +1 although using a treadmill at the moment as I fell foul of some silly bet and I am NOT going to lose.
  • contrarymary7504
    contrarymary7504 Posts: 30 Member
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    When I first returned to exercising I found the elliptical better. I worked up to an hour a day and I found the calorie burn greater and it was easy to reach my target heart rate on the elliptical. Walking on the treadmill just didn't get my heart rate up and I didn't want to run at that time for fear of injury. Seven months later I find running/walking on the treadmill much better at raising my heart rate.
  • 17ChargerGirl17
    17ChargerGirl17 Posts: 441
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    It's the Eliptical for me the majority of the time. I burn more calories and push my self harder on the Eliptical.
    I do, however, get on the treadmill once in a while set the pace fast and the incline rather high.
  • bugaha1
    bugaha1 Posts: 602 Member
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    High end Elliptical have preprogramed routines that will push hard and you can burn close to 900 to 1000 calories an hour if you can keep up. I'm still using the the 650 calorie burn routines. I can't say that I like it because it's very boring. lol
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
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    Neither......I rather go outside and walk, I also do weight lifting. But that's just me. :wink:
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
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    In your opinion what's the better workout?


    I would say for both - you get out of it what you put into it. So if you like one over the other.....then stick with the one you like!
  • JoeDenison
    JoeDenison Posts: 18 Member
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    For me, elliptical is better for interval workouts, especially short intervals (e.g., 20s sprint, 20s walk) ... a treadmill takes too long to ramp up and slow down whereas on the elliptical you have total control of that. I also like that I can engage my arms on the elliptical trainer. Seems this has to be a greater energy expenditure than just using my legs.

    But the stride on an elliptical trainer is weird -- certainly not natural like walking or running. The treadmill will allow you to use your full stride. If you like to run then this is so much more enjoyable as compared to the elliptical, where sometimes I feel like I am having to take baby steps. Be careful if you have been working exclusively on an elliptical: when you transition to a treadmill you'll need to give time for your leg muscles (especially hamstrings and adductor muscles) to get used to the full stride. Be sure to warm up adequately or otherwise you risk injury.

    I rely more on strength training for fitness and fat loss than cardio. But HIIT cardio is important to me, and I do that almost exclusively on the elliptical trainer. But if the weather isn't right and I've got the itch to take a walk or a jog, I'll choose the treadmill.
  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
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    The better workout is the one that you enjoy and will stick to in order to reach your goals. Both are cardio so it boils down to personal preference.
  • CoolDad67
    CoolDad67 Posts: 324 Member
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    I'm certainly no fitness guru, but I split my time across 3 machines for cardio exercise. They include an Arc Trainer, Elliptical, and Treadmill.

    I like the varied strides and motion work that each provides.

    According to the machines (for however accurate they are) I burn more calories on the Arc Trainer followed by the Elliptical and then the Treadmill using similar paces.
  • Jeneba
    Jeneba Posts: 699 Member
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    I used to LOVE the elliptical, but after an injury last year, I found that it was hurting my elbows and my glutes. It also tends to jumble up my digestive tract. Since my knees can't take much of a pounding, I am now walking very fast on an incline on the treadmill & it is really a pleasant workout. Besides that - it really targets my abs.
  • stephbirmingham14
    stephbirmingham14 Posts: 1
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    I love the elliptical, but different machines may not fit your body type. I have 2 different elliptical machines at my gym and one I can use the arm pulls and the other I can't. It also depends on how your body feels and what makes you feel awesome. I would love to treadmill too but I have recently battled arthritis in my neck which put all running and hard joint type activities on my cancellation list. I found the key is to make sure you use the elliptical hard enough to break a sweat and keep it going. Maybe alternate to keep variety and prevent muscle memory? Best of luck!
  • awoodfell1117
    awoodfell1117 Posts: 22 Member
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    For me I used to love the treadmill and would burn an amazing amount of calories with it. But now that I have the elliptical that I can use it seem to burn more calories with it rather the treadmill I can burn as much as 15-20 calories per minute on the elliptical! (:
  • MFPMol
    MFPMol Posts: 151 Member
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    Treadmill, but both overestimate calorie burn by a lot. Wear a HRM if you want accuracy otherwise you risk overeating especially if you eat back most of your exercise cals.
  • ShellF415
    ShellF415 Posts: 182 Member
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    I use the arc trainer which is easier on my old joints than the treadmill but it's a more challenging workout than a standard elliptical.
  • jessilee119
    jessilee119 Posts: 444 Member
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    I like the Elliptical. We had to cancel our gym memberships so we purchased an Elliptical for the home. It's one of the best investments we've made IMO. Both my husband and I use it, but I do other work outs too so I don't get bored.
  • HerbertNenenger
    HerbertNenenger Posts: 453 Member
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    elliptical will help endurance out a bit, but nothing else about the machine can translate to the real world as the motion is not something you would ever do if not on the elliptical. Treadmill on the other hand is a "normal" motion (walking, running, jogging) and can help improve performance in any activity that uses that, and will increase overal endurance.

    If you are going on calorie burn, don't compare what the readout on the machines say, treadmills tend to be fairly accurate, if you enter, age, gender, weight, elliptical, even with that info can be way off as the calculation of work done used by the machine has not been tested and verified as the one use on treadmills.

    Another issue with elliptical is that if the stride pattern is not your natural length it can overtime cause injury to hips and knees as your body is not "supposed to" move like that.

    A lot of machines in the gym don't translate to the real world - they don't have to. they are designed to isolate and build on specific muscle groups. The elliptical is meant as a pure cardio machine to burn calories and improve heart health while enabling the user to not suffer unnecessary joint pain, and it does that.
  • fuhrmeister
    fuhrmeister Posts: 1,796 Member
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    whichever you enjoy more and will stick with.

    I hate the ellipitical b/c my toes fall asleep. It' so uncomfortable. I perfer incline intervail on a treadmill 2 min at every even level till at the top and 2 minuntes at every even (up to 14 on my gym treadmill) level until Iit is flat again at a 2.5-3.0 pace depending on fitness. I really works the legs and shapes the bum.

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