Treadmill VS Elliptical

$75? Buy it and do both. They are both great workouts. A couple of notes though:

- On Calorie burn: you Caloric burn is dependent on the effort you put in. If you do sprints on a treadmill, you'll burn more than easy-going on an elliptical. Conversely, if you go at a hard effort on the elliptical but only walk on a treadmill, you'll burn more on the elliptical. It is all based on effort.
- Calories burned on the treadmill is also dependent on incline. The higher the incline, the more effort you have to use, and the more Calories you burn.
- I also have arthritis (Psoriatic, Osteo, DDD, and AS) AND am a long distance runner. The elliptical is easier on your joints than running is. But, the elliptical helped me strengthen my legs, hips, glutes, and all muscles around my knees to enable me to run again.
- Doing the same exercise every day isn't really advisable. You need to mix it up a bit.

That's why I say do both.. By doing elliptical training and walking on the treadmill, you may *try* jogging some time later and learn to love running.

HTH and good luck .

Archerychickge wrote: »

Hahahaha... learn to love running. That's funny. I'd rather not have two black eyes if you know what I mean. It's no SECRET that VICTORIA has nothing for me.... LOL

Thanks for the info though. I'm pretty much convinced that I need to jump on the deal on the elliptical. I'm pretty sure I can get my $ back out of it.

I'm sure you can get your money back out of it if you don't like it.. But after you get used to the motion and the workout, I don't think you'll want to get rid of it .

You may surprise yourself if you tried running -- it is quite therapeutic. But, sprints and speed work are AWESOME Calorie burns.

An elliptical will not burn any more calories than a treadmill. Calorie burn is based on intensity, not activity. If you can burn X amount of calories on an elliptical, you can burn the same amount on a treadmill. If not, you're doing one of them wrong.

There are other reasons why one might prefer one over the other, but calorie burn should not be the main reason for the decision.

Why are you clutching the treadmill? When I run I pump my arms. I own a treadmill because I need it functionally as a runner when I can't be outside. The one time I used an elliptical my gait was weird and I hated the feeling. If I had a choice for a second piece of equipment I'd get a stationary bike!

P.S. I can't shop at Victoria's Secret and I have no black eyes.

I am a runner, so an elliptical is a perfect cross trainer for me. Easier on my joints. I use it with a heart rate monitor and yes it gives me less calories burned than when measuring with the handgrips.

I am unable to use a treadmill due to hip dysplasia Initially, I was totally bummed because I had JUST started running/using a treadmill for fitness and I was no longer allowed... so I started using the elliptical. I think it's all in how you use it, re: how "worth it" your work out will be... when I started, I started small and I pushed myself as far as I THOUGHT I could... turns out, I could go much harder for MUCH longer... now, I push myself to the limit every time and I never do less than an hour of straight use; alternating resistance and hitting 10-11 rpm religiously (anything else is "suuuuch a disappointment," says my work out ego). I get a nasty work out from this machine! I sweat profusely and I am TIRED by the end of it. I love my elliptical work out!! BUT, that having been said, who knows what I would say if I did not have restrictions placed on the treadmill...

Archerychickge wrote: »

let me CLARIFY..... I DO NOT RUN. Have no desire to. Just not my thing and never has been. I don't see that changing.

Second, the thing about clutching the grips was a JOKE. Please re-read. my tongue was FIRMLY planted in my cheek...

Third, I do buy good bras. It still sucks. Short of using duct tape... well lets just not go there... lol

To be clear, I wasn't trying to sell you on running. I was just putting it out there as an option b/c you were asking about which burned more Calories.

To reiterate:
- Calorie burn is based off of exercise intensity -- not the actual exercise you do. You'll burn more Calories doing any exercise at full effort than going at an easy effort.
- Even though I am a runner and have severe arthritis, I still love the elliptical to cross train. It is a good workout and is very easy on the joints.
- I'd still recommend keeping both. It's good to cross train often and gives you an extra exercise option to do if you get bored with one. Doing any training at all is better than doing none.

I have no useful input about bras or securing your "girls", so I'll just remain quiet on that subject!

HTH!

If you aren't going to run, I definitely don't see the point in the treadmill. I would say you would be better off with an elliptical since you would be defeating the purpose of treadmill.