Treadmill vs elliptical for weight-loss

Check out some of the High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) programs. Those are a great option on either pieces of cardio equipment.

If you are strictly worried about calories per hour the treadmill will be your better option. The lowest incline you should be using is 1.0, I'd suggest a steady state runs 2-3 times a week and one interval session per week.

For someone new to running something like 1 mile warm-up, .25 miles fast/.1 mile recovery (start with 6 repetitions and work your way up to 8), 1 mile cool down. Make each of the fast portions .1 faster than the one before. Next week start your fast where your 4th interval was the week before.

Definitely different muscles! Running is my primary exercise - because I love it, not because of weight loss or calories burned or any of that. And I can run long very happily - but an elliptical, which burns less calories for the same amount of time for me, has me exhausted in less than half an hour. I agree with those who say to mix it up.

Also - you may already do this, but I can't tell from your post - try to think of exercise as more than a tool that may lead to weight loss ... notice your muscles changing, your speed and distances improving, your day-to-day physical capacity/endurance increasing, etc. Challenge yourself by making small goals with short time-frames. That's much more rewarding (imho) than whether or not it's helping you to lose weight.

My suggestion is if you run or want to run outside, don't do a lot on the elliptical. I find it has shortened my stride when I run and makes running more difficult

_rachel_k wrote: »

My suggestion is if you run or want to run outside, don't do a lot on the elliptical. I find it has shortened my stride when I run and makes running more difficult

I agree, I never use the elliptical.

_rachel_k wrote: »

My suggestion is if you run or want to run outside, don't do a lot on the elliptical. I find it has shortened my stride when I run and makes running more difficult

If you are just exercising for the calorie burn, do what ever burns more (use and HRM to determine as elliptical tend to over estimate the burn.

I would point out like this person, that elliptical will not help you in "real life" situations, you will have a stronger heart and lungs. The motion it has you do is not used anywhere, except on the elliptical. It will not help you run better, and the motion on the machine is not natural to the body and, even though low impact, can cause RSI (repetitive strain injury) as the body moves in a way it is not designed to do.

Honestly you can make either of these as hard as you want them to be; before my wedding I set the elliptical on the highest resistance and highest incline and pedaled as fast as I could for 90 minutes a day - it was stupid and exhausting and I haven't been on an elliptical since... but it burned a lot of calories! The treadmill can also burn a ton or barely any depending on your speed, incline and length of time spend on it.

Its like asking if pizza is healthy - if you make it on cauliflower crust with all veggies and no cheese vs deep dish meat lovers - they're both called pizza but are completely different things; ellipticals and treadmills are quite the same because they can help you burn whatever you want depending on your settings and length of time you're willing to put in.

However, just keep in mind it is very hard to exercise weight off... pretty much everyone who is not a bonafide athlete needs to turn to their diet for weightloss and use working out for health.

erickirb wrote: »

_rachel_k wrote: »

My suggestion is if you run or want to run outside, don't do a lot on the elliptical. I find it has shortened my stride when I run and makes running more difficult

If you are just exercising for the calorie burn, do what ever burns more (use and HRM to determine as elliptical tend to over estimate the burn.

I would point out like this person, that elliptical will not help you in "real life" situations, you will have a stronger heart and lungs. The motion it has you do is not used anywhere, except on the elliptical. It will not help you run better, and the motion on the machine is not natural to the body and, even though low impact, can cause RSI (repetitive strain injury) as the body moves in a way it is not designed to do.

I think your experience with ellipticals is limited. Each manufacturer has a different movement design, so you can't make any general statements that are applicable to all types. At least one has done extensive movement studies and their elliptical movement moves exactly the way the body is designed. Repetitive injuries can and do happen with every type of exercise ever invented, no matter how "natural".

I'll echo what the others have said: depends!! Today I did a tempo run on a treadmill with the speed at 7.3 (8:13 min/mile) for 30 minutes. I warmed up/cooled down an extra 10 minutes at 6.0. I burned over 500 calories. I would be extremely hard pressed to do that on an elliptical.

I understand some people can't or don't like to run. If I had to pick a second piece of cardio equipment though, I'd choose a rower over an elliptical! I tend to burn more calories on that than the elliptical.

All this being said, most of your weight loss starts in the kitchen. So pick the form of exercise based on what YOU like and think you can stick with! Good luck!

queenliz99 wrote: »

Eating in a caloric deficit is how you lose weight. Exercise is health, so use the treadmill or elliptical or both. Mix them up for less boredom.

Not the first time I've heard this but I have a deficit because I exercise. If I burn more calories on the treadmill and eat the same, I've got a bigger deficit and I lose more weight.