Treadmill Versus Elliptical

Overview

Elliptical trainers and treadmills are popular exercise machines that are present in most gyms and many homes across the country. Both are fairly easy to use, easy to customize and can provide cardiovascular conditioning, fat burning, calorie burning and strength building. There are also some significant differences between the two machines, including how they work and what muscles are used.

Function

Treadmills provide a stationary, indoor running or walking workout. Users walk or run on a moving belt. On an elliptical, a person stands on a pair pedals and pulls a set of hand levers back and forth, pushing the foot pedals forward and backward.. The central axis moves in an elliptical motion, so the upper handlebars and lower foot platforms are moving at the same time.

Benefits

When used regularly for at least 30 minutes, three to five times a week, both treadmills and ellipticals can increase your endurance, stamina and strength. Treadmills work lower body muscle groups including the quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus, hips and calf muscles. Ellipticals work the same muscles as well as the arms, shoulders and back, and unlike a treadmill, you get a total body workout.

Treadmills offer a more effective way of burning calories and fat than ellipticals. An average person weighing 150 pounds can burn 360 calories in 30 minutes running on a treadmill, but only 297 calories on an elliptical.

Impact

While treadmills are high impact and can put stress on your joints, an elliptical is non impact. The circular motion of an elliptical means your legs are not pounding like they do on a treadmill, which can reduce the potential of pain and injury. Seniors and people with hip, knee or foot injuries can use an elliptical easily and safely.

Features

Both treadmills and ellipticals come with settings that let you control the intensity of your workout and monitor your progress. A display panel shows miles per hour, resistance, calories burned, time elapsed and distance traveled.

You can choose pre-set programs that automatically vary the speed and incline, or manually change these settings yourself. Varying speed and incline during your workout is helpful for interval and speed training, where the goal is to increase your heart rate to a high level for short bursts with a recovery period between bursts. For example, if working at a level six is fairly easy, you would increase to level seven for one minute and then go back to level six for one minute to recover. Repeating this pattern for 10 to 20 minutes on either machine is an effective means of burning fat and calories, while increasing speed and strength.

Considerations

When using a treadmill or elliptical, maintain straight posture and look forward to help maintain your balance. Your weight should be evenly distributed on both feet, and your knees and toes should face forward. Use smooth, continuous motions and stay focused on what you are doing at all times to prevent falls or injuries. As with any exercise machine, you need to challenge your body with the level of difficulty, duration and frequency in order to get the most out of your workout.