Treadmill OR Elliptical

kpak73

I own both machines. I started out as a cross country runner in high school and loved the feeling after a good run, the speed. Then when I got older, I bought an elliptical machine which was good until the foot rest broke and I couldn't get a replacement for it. But a couple years back, I bought a treadmill and when I do use it (which sadly, isn't that often), I really enjoy it. I prefer the Treadmill, but I feel the elliptical is also a good choice for the low impact reason. Listen to your body and try the equipment out at the store or gym before you buy it. Different people prefer different things. I like the treadmill mostly because I'm a runner at heart who has very strong legs.

tolygal

At first, I burned WAY more calories on the elliptical. I know this because my bodybugg shows me my burn. It didn't hurt my knees (which the treadmill did and still sometimes does) and I was able work hard and go fast and really kill it the whole time. I couldn't run for very long yet, and walking on the treadmill - even at a higher incline, did not burn as many calories as what I could burn on the elliptical. On the elliptical, I worked my way up from 20 minutes (barely) to 60 minutes. Along the way, my speed and resistance have increased. My normal speed is now about 85 RPM and I do bursts of up to 95 RPMs (when I started I was around 67 on average with bursts to 75). The 'problem' is that my body is now very conditioned to working hard on the elliptical and I'm not burning as many cals/minute as I used to - except during my bursts - which I cannot maintain for 30+ minutes straight.

Throughout the last year, I've also dabbled in some running. Now that I CAN run at 6 MPH (or faster) for 20+ minutes, I'm seeing that the treadmill is burning the same or more calories than I do on the elliptical. Usually, I burn about the same calories per minute one each, but last week, I ran an entire 30 minutes at 6 MPH and for some reason I burned 2-3 calories more per minute than I've been doing on the elliptical (except during my bursts). So it seems that things may be swapping for me. I'm now burning more calories/minute when I run than when I do the elliptical?? I'll have to watch it for a while to make sure, but I assume it's because I can now actually run at a good pace consistently - and my body isn't as conditioned to it, so I'm working harder to do it. However, right now, I can't run for as long as I can do the elliptical, so if I run 30 minutes or do the elliptical for 60 minutes, I actually burn more over the entire workout on the elliptical. So, what I'm doing is alternating between them both. But I also do aerobics videos and classes too - and I'm adding strengh training - just to make sure I can be versatile - and because I love the aerobics class at my gym.

I'm a big fan of the elliptical because you can change the resistance, go faster, it doesn't hurt your joints, and your arms even get into the action, etc. But - what happens if you go on vacation and don't have an elliptical near you. It's just nice to have something else you can do anywhere (like running or speed walking). So, I'm an even bigger fan of alternating things. If you have an elliptical at home, you can switch it up and go for a walk/run outside on nice days so you can do both!

Good luck!!!

addman72

Using the figures from my HRM , personally I burn more on the treadmill for the same time on the elliptical

I agree with others though that its harder on the knees.

I usually do 1hr on the treadmill and then 20-30min on the elliptical