Does A Stair Climber Or Treadmill Burn More Calories?

Both the stair climber and treadmill provide effective cardio workouts that will burn significant amounts of calories. If your fitness goal is weight loss, you will benefit by using either type of exercise machine. Several factors affect calorie burn, including resistance, speed and incline on the treadmill. You should also consider the type of exercise as well as the potential for variety that each machine provides.

Calorie Burn

Between the two machines, the stair climber provides the higher calorie burn with an expenditure of about 612 calories an hour for a 150-lb. person. Using a treadmill, the same individual would have to run 5 mph with a 5 percent incline for 52 minutes to burn 607 calories. The difference lies in how each of the two machines uses the muscles of the lower body. In addition, the use of the arms for balance on a stair climber contributes to the calorie burn.

Other Factors

Adjustable resistance on the stair climber will allow you to match the intensity of your workout with your fitness level. This factor is essential if you are to receive the optimal benefits of working out. A treadmill accomplishes the same purpose with speed adjustments and incline. Higher end models of either type of machine often include pre-programmed workouts for weight loss or endurance. Some models may also include heart rate monitors. If fat burn is your goal, you want to exercise within 60 to 80 percent of your target heart rate or 220 minus your age. Using a heart rate monitor with either machine can help ensure you are exercising intensely enough.

Considerations

Even if the stair climber provides a higher calorie burn, another consideration is how you will use the machine. Other than changing the intensity, you are limited in the type of exercise you can do with a stair climber, which may lead to boredom after awhile. With the treadmill, you can walk, run or interval train. Some individuals may find the variety of workouts with the treadmill a better fit for aerobic exercise.

Using Your Exercise Machine

With either machine, you should set a goal of 150 minutes of usage each week for general good health, recommends the U.S. Department of Agriculture. If you want to lose weight, you should plan on using your stair climber or treadmill five or six days a week for at least 30 minutes each session, gradually working up to 60-minute workouts. At this level, the calories you will burn each week will be nearly the 3,500 you must expend to lose 1 lb.