Treadmills and ellipticals offer improved heart health, calorie burning and improved muscular endurance. Dr. Edward Laskowski, a rehabilitation specialist on MayoClinic.com, writes that ellipticals may be a better choice if you want a non-impact exercise at high intensity or some upper-body muscle toning. However, walking -- not running -- on treadmills doesn't create the repetitive stress on joints ellipticals can at high intensities. Understanding the features of each will help you make the right choice for you.
Muscle-Building Benefits
A treadmill offers little or no upper-body muscle-building benefit. You can use walking poles or dumbbells when you walk on a treadmill, but you still may not get the same resistance as when you use an elliptical equipped with arm levers. Increasing the incline on a treadmill works your calves more, as you simulate walking uphill. Some ellipticals require you to push down on the pedals and raise and lower your entire body weight, working your quads, shins, calves, hamstrings, butt and hips. An elliptical that lets you pedal backward engages different muscles than you use walking or jogging forward.
Cardio Benefits
Both machines let you create moderate-intensity fat-burning workouts, aerobic workouts and sprint-training exercises. A treadmill with an electronic console may let you program workouts that vary the speed and incline of machine, simulating hills and changing your heart rate. A high-intensity workout on an elliptical requires more muscular effort and endurance and may fatigue you sooner than jogging or running on a treadmill. According to the Harvard School of Public Medicine, you'll burn the same amount of calories running on a treadmill at 5.2 mph and using an elliptical for a general fitness workout.
Impact
Walking on a treadmill is low impact because you keep at least one foot on the machine at all times. The faster you go on a treadmill, the more impact you receive, since you leave the machine with both feet at high speeds. You keep both feet on the pedals of an elliptical during workouts, making it a non-impact exercise.
Stress
While Laskowski writes that an elliptical creates less stress on your joints and back than running on a treadmill does, an elliptical still requires that you repeatedly push your body's entire weight up and down with muscular effort. This can cause pain in your knees, hips, shins and back at high speeds, so monitor your workouts if you're new to using an elliptical. You may want to start by adding five minutes of elliptical exercise to your workouts, adding minutes as your muscles get used to that movement.
References
- MayoClinic.com; Are Elliptical Machines Better than Treadmills for Basic Aerobic Workouts?; Edward R. Laskowski; June 2009
- Harvard Heart Letter; Calories Burned In 30 Minutes of Leisure and Routine Activities; July 2004
- MSNBC: Treadmill vs. Elliptical -- Which Is Right for You?; Reuters; October 2010
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