Depending on your physical condition and the pace at which you use a treadmill, you may find an elliptical machine more difficult to use. Because a treadmill uses a more familiar, horizontal walking motion, you'll experience less muscle resistance on a treadmill. The repetitive pedaling motion and increased weight you put on your legs make using an elliptical very different from working out on a treadmill.
Considerations
Whether or not an elliptical workout will be more difficult than a treadmill session depends on how you exercise on each. If you are new to exercise and attempt to jog on a treadmill at 3 or 4 miles per hour, you will find the cardiovascular demands and high-impact running a challenge. If you generally walk on a treadmill at a slow pace, you'll find the higher intensity of an elliptical and its different leg motions more of a challenge.
Weight Bearing
Walking, jogging and running on a treadmill do not require you to vigorously push your body's full weight upward, which an elliptical does. This upward push requires increased use of your legs, specifically your calves and quadriceps. Because an elliptical is non-impact, you may experience less pain and discomfort in your knees than you will when you jog or run on a treadmill, the Mayo Clinic reports. The increased weight-bearing aspect of an elliptical, however, may place more stress on your knees.
Forward Motion
The pedaling motion of an elliptical can cause discomfort in your shins, which might not be used to this motion unless you ride a bicycle or use an exercise bike regularly. A treadmill only requires you to use the forward leg movements you employ every day.
Backward Motion
Pedaling backward on an elliptical creates another unfamiliar leg movement that requires more muscle actions. While this increased muscle effort is one of the benefits of an elliptical, any new muscle movements to which you must adapt may cause discomfort.
Upper-Body Work
If your elliptical comes with hand levers or poles, you'll add upper-body muscle use to your workout. Creating a total-body workout requires more muscular exertion and burns more calories. Adding upper-body movements to your workout increases the effort, making it more difficult. Awkward placement of arm levers, along with the wide space between pedals, can create unnatural movements, according to the Consumer Reports website.
Stride Length
Depending on how you set the stride length on an elliptical, you may have to use more muscular effort to move the machine. A shorter stride length provides you with less recovery time between leg movements and less ability to let your legs "coast" forward with momentum. A stride length that is too long may create a lack of balance and require more effort to recover.
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