Mobia Vs. Elliptical

Treadmills make walking and running indoors possible--you can work out vigorously in the safety and comfort of your own home. Stairsteppers give you the benefits of climbing stairs without the need for locating a staircase. Ellipticals provide a cardio workout with lower stress on your joints. The Mobia, a relative newcomer in indoor fitness equipment, promises the benefits of all three machines.

Treadmill Comparison

Marketed by Nautilus, the Mobia combines the features of a treadmill and elliptical machine. Like an elliptical machine, the Mobia provides two treads, one for each foot. The machine includes the forward movement of the treadmill along with the stairstepper movement that the elliptical provides. The mobia puts less stress on your joints than a treadmill.The fact that you must press down on the treads provides for a more intense workout than you would get with a treadmill.

Features

The speed you can attain using an elliptical machine depends on your ability and endurance. Your speed limit can not exceed 4 mph on the Mobia. An elliptical machine alleviates impact stress because you do not move up and down on the treads. When you place your foot forward on the Mobia, the tread rises to meet your foot to reduce pressure on your joints. The Mobia, like elliptical machines, provides an electronic console display, custom workouts and other standard features such as a bottle holder. Products similar to Mobile include the Treadclimber TC 5500 and the NordicTrack C7i Incline Trainer.

Calories Burned

The Mobia site claims that the machine helps burn twice as many calories as a treadmill does based on a study conducted at New York's Adelphi University. The unpublished study did not directly compare a treadmill to the Mobia, however. It compared the treadmill to the Treadclimber and participants did not exceed 3 mph on either machine. The Mobia site also says you can burn 450 calories in 30 minutes if you exercise at the maximum speed allowed on the machine. If true, this would put the Mobia on a calorie-burning par with an elliptical, depending on your weight and pace.

Considerations

While the Mobia combines the benefits of the elliptical and the treadmill in terms of the action and the movement of the legs, the elliptical alone can help you in working out the body due to the moving side bars that it has. But if you are someone who needs a low-impact workout, yet want the forward movement that the treadmill provides for better efficiency, the Mobia may be for you.