Elliptical vs. Treadmill

octopusbeard
octopusbeard Posts: 19 Member
edited September 21 in Fitness and Exercise
Which do you prefer? Which one burns more calories? I've been using my treadmill every day for 20-30 minutes burning between 200 and 250 calories. Does the elliptical give you better results?

Replies

  • crystalterry
    crystalterry Posts: 9
    I love the elliptical at the gym. In 30 min I burn 400 cal. I try to do it at leat 40 min every day. It makes me feel awesome.
  • AmyJopp
    AmyJopp Posts: 57 Member
    I usually burn 350 calories on the elliptical for 25 min and when I go on my treadmill it is usually less for the same amount of time. I can only go on the elliptical for so long though cause i get bored than I switch over to the treadmill. Hope that helps!
  • jrich1
    jrich1 Posts: 2,408 Member
    The treadmill has the potential to burn more calories because simply you are doing more work, its higher impact.. but which burns more depends on how much effort you put into either of them
  • lloydrt
    lloydrt Posts: 1,121 Member
    Octo....what speed do you have it on ,and do you use the incline? Just wondering, mine at the gym tells me at the speed I am using it, as well as weight and age , all say about 430 per hour

    I tried the eliptical, still to much on me, I lost a lot of weight on the tread mill, but youre young and from what I ve read, the elipitical is much better on your joints and knees...........

    I think most will say the eliptical..........

    Hey, in regards to your friends not wanting you to lose weight...........NEWS FLASH , Friends

    They are not your friends.........I read where you said they werent wanting you to lose the weight, that sad ,they are nt your friends

    Your a beautiful girl ,chance are they are insecure

    Good luck with the tread mill, mine took off lots of weight, esp in my rear and back of my legs.......Good Luck, Lloyd
  • kriegs86
    kriegs86 Posts: 41
    I push the incline as high as it will go and increase the level on the elliptical until I reach my gaol heart rate. This way I can burn up to 800 calories per hour. While I could get close to that by running on the treadmill, I still struggle to run that long.
  • sallyLunn
    sallyLunn Posts: 381
    I like them both.
  • octopusbeard
    octopusbeard Posts: 19 Member
    On the treadmill I'm either at 3.5, 0 incline, or 3.0, 5 incline, and that burns around 550/hour. I'm just considering buying an elliptical instead of a gym membership, because that would be the only reason I go to the gym.


    About the friends thing, I halfway agree! :P They're girls I grew up with, and fully support me.
  • KatrinkaB
    KatrinkaB Posts: 11 Member
    I like both. The elliptical however after about 20 minutes my feet are numb....so I have to change it up. Start with elliptical for 20 min....move to treadmill for 20....and finish up with elliptical for 20.
  • cherylpoitevent
    cherylpoitevent Posts: 25 Member
    I've never really been a fan of the treadmill... perhaps it's because I was terrified I would break my neck, or I was self conscious because I felt like when I ran on a treadmill I sounded like an elephant storming the food bucket.... ;D

    I did however take to running outdoors and I LOVED doing it. I got up to where I was able to run about 2 miles a day without stopping... then, take a break and run 2 more in the evening. Unfortunately, I have suffered a knee injury and my doctors have advised me not to run anymore...

    I now do the elliptical and LOVE IT. I try to get in at least 35 minutes a day 5 days a week. I can go about 3.5 miles in 35 minutes and I burn anywhere from 550-650 calories depending on my speed and intensity....

    I would recommend doing what you love... If you hate doing exercise indoors see if there is a way to exercise outdoors.

    Do you love to skate? Invest in some roller blades and hit the local park (so long as it paved)...
    Do you enjoy swimming? -- Check out your local YMCA see how much the membership is and committ to that.

    Best advise -- change up your workouts... don't do the same thing everyday.. :)
  • Kresent
    Kresent Posts: 39 Member
    I've always hated treadmills, they remind me of hamster wheels, they are noisy and I can run anywhere. For indoors I love the elliptical. It's quiet and gets my heart rate up and the sweat going quickly. I like to jump on while the kids are playing video games. That way I can give them unwanted gaming advice while I'm spending time watching them do something they like while I do something that's good for me. They also motivate me to keep going because they know the TV goes off when I'm done exercising.
  • npryor100
    npryor100 Posts: 99 Member
    I think the key either way is to up the incline on the treadmill (and don't hang on to the handrails) or turn up the resistance on the ellipical. Both are great for variety!
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    From a physiological/fat/calorie burning standpoint, it doesn't make any difference. Intensity is intensity whether you are on a treadmill, an elliptical, or hopping up and down on one foot.

    There have been some studies that suggest that RUNNING on a treadmill has a somewhat lower perceived exertion (therefore you will naturally work a little harder) than an elliptical, but the difference is small and, taking everything else into consideration, probably insignificant.

    So it comes down to a matter of personal choice.

    The one possible advantage that ellipticals might have for some people is that increasing intensity on a treadmill at some point requires that you either start running or start walking up very steep hills. Walking on the level, even at what would be considered "brisk" speeds (e.g. 4.0-4.2 mph) is still pretty low intensity exercise. To work harder, you would need to either start running (which not everyone can do) or lower the speed and jack up the incline (without holding one--some people find this uncomfortable as well). With an elliptical, you can often go from low intensity to high intensity while doing basically the same movement.

    Oddly enough, I am finding that a lot of my deconditioned seniors (over age 50) really struggle on the elliptical cross trainers--even at the lowest resistance and speed they are pooped after 5 min.
  • mollykay09
    mollykay09 Posts: 22
    When I work out we use an interval training thing that my PT showed me on the treadmill. it works really great. if you would like I can explain how to do it && you can try it out. it always makes me burn mega calories plus it gets your heart rate up. The trainer showed me so I assume its a good thing to do (:
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    The one problem with ellipticals is that they are by far the most notorious machines for inflating the "calories burned" estimates. That's partly because they are so popular and partly because, due to the variability of movement design between manufacturers, there is no standard formulas for estimating energy expenditure on elliptical cross trainers. So, they can basically put in any number they want and, unless some research university does a large-scale study, nobody can challenge them.

    From the numbers I am seeing thrown out in the comments, it appears that many of you are overestimating your calorie expenditures.

    The only elliptical cross trainer manufacturer that I know has done responsible validation testing on their elliptical cross trainers is Life Fitness, and even then, only on the newer model 95X or the even newer 95X elevation. The older 91x models, CT9500HRR and 95X, use an older software that overestimates calories by 25-30%.
  • rachelcordova
    rachelcordova Posts: 19
    I prefer the elliptical. I have one at home and I love it. It seems to be easier on my knees than a treadmill.
    I've heard before that often they overestimate on calories. So I always shave off a bit of what it says my total burned are before I record my calories burned for the day.

    Nice thing about of elliptical is a lot of them have the arm movements too, so on certain settings/intensities you can get an upper body workout as well.
  • adriancal
    adriancal Posts: 13
    I have both a elliptical and treadmill at home but I personally prefer the elliptical. I usually do the intensity of 4 on my elliptical and I burn about 500 calories in 35 minutes where with my tredmill I have it at an incline of 5 and speed of 3.5 and can only burn up to 200-300 in the same amount of time.
  • rach40
    rach40 Posts: 4
    i burn far more on the fatburn program on the elliptical than i can on the treadmill,.. and i like the upper body work out on the elliptical too!!!! i do a 45 minute cardio session before free weights and i burn on average 680 calories on the elliptical,
  • LotusF1ower
    LotusF1ower Posts: 1,259 Member
    :heart: I :heart: love :heart: my :heart: treadmill. :heart:

    My treadmill has been key in my weight loss programme, I :heart: :heart: :heart: it!!!
  • JStarnes
    JStarnes Posts: 5,576 Member
    LOVE love love my treadmill. HATE my eliptical with a passion. I think it's because I'm so tall & the stride on mine is just 12" and not adjustable so I feel ridiculous on it, like I'm doing some kind of jig instead of exercising. I hate it. Bad.

    My treadmill is my BFF :happy:
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    If you jog on the treadmill, you can burn the same amount of calories as if you go hard on the elliptical. If you do the elliptical at a slower pace, you'll burn what you burn walking on the treadmill. It's all in how you use them.

    However, I prefer the elliptical. I can walk faster outside than I can on the treadmill and I don't enjoy it at all. The elliptical is so low-impact, too, so I can work harder on it than on the treadmill.,
  • IsMollyReallyHungry
    IsMollyReallyHungry Posts: 15,385 Member
    That is why I go by my HRM. I know even those are not 100 percent accurate but they are more personal vs. averages. They are always lower than MFP for the most part and it depends at the gym.
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