1. What is a treadmill vs. an elliptical?
When it comes to losing and maintaining a healthy weight, cardio exercises play a crucial role. You can indulge in brisk walking, running, jogging or take up cycling, swimming and other outdoor activities that help boost cardiovascular fitness. But if you’re a gym person then make sure that you know your equipment well. Treadmills and ellipticals are the two most popular gym equipment choices, but what are they and how do they work?
2. Treadmill versus elliptical
A treadmill is a gym equipment that is generally used for walking, running and climbing without having to move around a lot. It is a stationary machine that promotes indoor cardio workout. It comes with a range of speed and incline settings and can be stationed at home too. Similar to a treadmill, an elliptical is a stationary exercise machine used to walk, run or stair climb, without putting too much pressure on the joints. This makes the equipment low-impact. It involves a running movement with stair climbing motion which targets the leg muscles, glutes, hamstrings, quads and hip flexors.
3. Benefits of treadmill
From providing you with comfort and convenience to helping you achieve your fitness goals, a treadmill has several benefits. It is great for people who do not have the time to run outdoors, but still wish to maintain cardiovascular fitness. It is versatile as you can walk, run, jog and even go for an uphill climb. You can customize the range of speed and intensity and can also keep a track of time.
4. Benefits of elliptical
As far as elliptical trainers go, it involves minimal impact and is able to engage several muscle groups. Rather than limiting to a single motion, an elliptical machine incorporates varied workouts, working your arms and legs altogether. It also gives you the controls over your incline.
5. Which is better for weight loss
Both treadmill and elliptical help in burning calories and promote weight loss. However, scientific data shows that a treadmill can burn more calories than an elliptical. According to one study from the Medical College of Wisconsin, the average calories burned jogging on a treadmill for one hour was 705 to 866, whereas it was an average of 773 calories burned per hour for ellipticals. This showed that treadmills may have a slight advantage in calorie burn over ellipticals. However, at the end of the day, it all comes down to what you’re more comfortable with.
6. Prioritize safety
While a treadmill is said to burn more calories than elliptical, elliptical is low impact and less prone to injury. Depending on what your fitness goals are, you can choose which equipment you want to go with. If you’re recovering from an injury then you should go with the low-impact elliptical, whereas if you want to build strength, improve bone health and burn maximum calories then choose treadmill.
