Treadmill vs elliptical machine

[kalster]

Which is better to burn off calories/loose weight.

 

[EGGO]

Straight from my fitness magazine on Cardio Know-How:

"The best cardio machine for fat-burning appears to be the good ol' treadmill"

I agree, since I dropped from 200 lbs to 138 lbs using just the treadmill back then in about 6 months.

"The best form of cardio for maintaining or enhancing leg mass and strength appears to be the stationary bike."

Also, do interval training, take supplements like caffeine, carnitine, and HCA to help burn more fat (I never took anything but these will help).

 

[sixone]

Depends on too many factors, which you haven't listed. A treadmill is not an option for me, as my knees are starting to go. So the elliptical is the best option for me, but it might not be for you.

 

[TallBill]

If you insist on using a treadmill instead of just running/biking/swimming, then at least put it on 2-3% incline.

 

[kindest]

ellipticals are the only way to go.
way less stress on body.. way more of a workout (works upper and lower body)
if legs get tired then use arms to push legs..

much easier to get heart rate going and sustained i've found.

 

[Kaido]

My elliptical really makes me feel like I've "worked out" after using it if that's any help.

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: EGGO
Straight from my fitness magazine on Cardio Know-How:

"The best cardio machine for fat-burning appears to be the good ol' treadmill"

I agree, since I dropped from 200 lbs to 138 lbs using just the treadmill back then in about 6 months.

"The best form of cardio for maintaining or enhancing leg mass and strength appears to be the stationary bike."

Also, do interval training, take supplements like caffeine, carnitine, and HCA to help burn more fat (I never took anything but these will help).

I don't understand that, as the elliptical moves all 4 limbs, while a treadmill only moves two.

 

[EGGO]

Originally posted by: Fritzo
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: EGGO
Straight from my fitness magazine on Cardio Know-How:

"The best cardio machine for fat-burning appears to be the good ol' treadmill"

I agree, since I dropped from 200 lbs to 138 lbs using just the treadmill back then in about 6 months.

"The best form of cardio for maintaining or enhancing leg mass and strength appears to be the stationary bike."

Also, do interval training, take supplements like caffeine, carnitine, and HCA to help burn more fat (I never took anything but these will help).</end quote></div>

I don't understand that, as the elliptical moves all 4 limbs, while a treadmill only moves two.

It's a study from the University of Birmingham in England. They did a study with treadmill, stationary bike, stepmill, cross-trainer, and elliptical. The treadmill burned almost 30% more fat than the others. Elliptical is still a good machine to go on, since it requires coordination and all.

 

[daveshel]

I like my elliptical. I chose it after sampling a lot of machines at the gym.

 

[geckojohn]

I use a treadmill more and feel that it's a better workout. But, it's still nice to switch off and use the elliptical every so often.

Why don't you just do a combination of both? that way you never get tired of each machine...

 

[troytime]

Originally posted by: EGGO
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Fritzo
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: EGGO
Straight from my fitness magazine on Cardio Know-How:

"The best cardio machine for fat-burning appears to be the good ol' treadmill"

I agree, since I dropped from 200 lbs to 138 lbs using just the treadmill back then in about 6 months.

"The best form of cardio for maintaining or enhancing leg mass and strength appears to be the stationary bike."

Also, do interval training, take supplements like caffeine, carnitine, and HCA to help burn more fat (I never took anything but these will help).</end quote></div>

I don't understand that, as the elliptical moves all 4 limbs, while a treadmill only moves two. </end quote></div>

It's a study from the University of Birmingham in England. They did a study with treadmill, stationary bike, stepmill, cross-trainer, and elliptical. The treadmill burned almost 30% more fat than the others. Elliptical is still a good machine to go on, since it requires coordination and all.

i've seen other studies that show elliptical as the best calorie burner

but either way, use whatever you prefer (tolerate)
my mind goes numb on an exercise bike, i can't stand the sound of my feet hitting the treadmill, therefore i stick with the elliptical

 

[Rubycon]

Neither will allow you to take off.

 

[RollWave]

I used to treadmill but I feel like the Elliptical leaves me feeling "better". I dont know exactly why...I assume that if you use the calorie counters rather than time as a marker an elliptical workout will be better since you dont wear out your joints.

 

[mrSHEiK124]

Originally posted by: Rubycon
Neither will allow you to take off.

:laugh:

The treadmill cancels out the thrust his quadricep's generate?

 

[theeedude]

Elliptical, unless you are already in good running shape. Much less impact on the joints, much less jiggling around, so it's much easier to motivate yourself to use it, especially if you are overweight. I lost 50 lbs on elliptical, went from 275 to 225. At 275lbs, running would have been too much impact and fuss, and I would have quit it long before. Now I just bike to work.

 

[redgtxdi]

Bump for more feedback!!!


Summer makin' it pretty tough to get outside & run, but also considering the possibility of goin' w/ an elliptical.

Had a cheap elliptical & used it, but recall the serious 'FOOT BURN' from having your feet stay in one place for too long. Ya, you can move your feet, but the burn comes right back twice as fast & ya' don't wanna keep changing foot placement when you're trying to focus on working out.

Plus I'm an avid Costco shopper & while they don't have much in the stores, the website shows some good stuff. I think the stores might be even doing away with treadmills right now??? (maybe moving in a new model).

And their latest elliptical is some $2K "Precor" machine. $2K for an elliptical is just a wee bit much, no??

 

[Capt Caveman]

Interesting. I try to run outdoors year round but I was thinking of a stair climber over a treadmill thinking it would provide a more intense workout.

 

[KoolDrew]

Which is better to burn off calories/loose weight.

The squat rack and your kitchen.

 

[KoolDrew]

As for the cardio itself, do whatever you are comfortable with. It's more important that you are actually doing it, than getting all nit picky about which is best. If running on the treadmill hurts your joints, don't do it. I highly recommend switching cardio up though. Don't just do steady state cardio constantly. Throw some intervals in there, some hill repeats, etc.

Also, to clarify on my post above, losing weight is mostly about diet. The amount of calories you lose doing cardio is pretty slim and even if you eat a tiny bit over your maintenance calories you're still going to steadily gain weight, regardless of how much cardio you're doing. Also, if you don't already do some form of resistance training, you should.

 

[thepd7]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
Interesting. I try to run outdoors year round but I was thinking of a stair climber over a treadmill thinking it would provide a more intense workout.

Yeah, tough to sustain that though since your hammies will get sore fast.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew
As for the cardio itself, do whatever you are comfortable with. It's more important that you are actually doing it, than getting all nit picky about which is best. If running on the treadmill hurts your joints, don't do it. I highly recommend switching cardio up though. Don't just do steady state cardio constantly. Throw some intervals in there, some hill repeats, etc.

Also, to clarify on my post above, losing weight is mostly about diet. The amount of calories you lose doing cardio is pretty slim and even if you eat a tiny bit over your maintenance calories you're still going to steadily gain weight, regardless of how much cardio you're doing. Also, if you don't already do some form of resistance training, you should.

Great post.

The "better" machine is the one that you'll use longer, and more frequently. For me it's an elliptical because of the low impact. And the Precor that the OP mentioned at Costco is certainly one of the best ones out there for the money. They pioneered the elliptical market and still are the best brand out there IMHO.

And your point about food is great one too - 30 minutes on a treadmill or elliptical can be erased with a Snickers bar or cup of ice cream.

 

[Rudee]

Which ever machine you are most comfortable, will untimely be the best one for you.

 

[jman19]

Originally posted by: vi_edit

Originally posted by: KoolDrew
As for the cardio itself, do whatever you are comfortable with. It's more important that you are actually doing it, than getting all nit picky about which is best. If running on the treadmill hurts your joints, don't do it. I highly recommend switching cardio up though. Don't just do steady state cardio constantly. Throw some intervals in there, some hill repeats, etc.

Also, to clarify on my post above, losing weight is mostly about diet. The amount of calories you lose doing cardio is pretty slim and even if you eat a tiny bit over your maintenance calories you're still going to steadily gain weight, regardless of how much cardio you're doing. Also, if you don't already do some form of resistance training, you should.

Great post.

The "better" machine is the one that you'll use longer, and more frequently. For me it's an elliptical because of the low impact. And the Precor that the OP mentioned at Costco is certainly one of the best ones out there for the money. They pioneered the elliptical market and still are the best brand out there IMHO.

And your point about food is great one too - 30 minutes on a treadmill or elliptical can be erased with a Snickers bar or cup of ice cream.

You're still better off doing cardio and eating that Snickers than doing nothing.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: jman19

Originally posted by: vi_edit

Originally posted by: KoolDrew
As for the cardio itself, do whatever you are comfortable with. It's more important that you are actually doing it, than getting all nit picky about which is best. If running on the treadmill hurts your joints, don't do it. I highly recommend switching cardio up though. Don't just do steady state cardio constantly. Throw some intervals in there, some hill repeats, etc.

Also, to clarify on my post above, losing weight is mostly about diet. The amount of calories you lose doing cardio is pretty slim and even if you eat a tiny bit over your maintenance calories you're still going to steadily gain weight, regardless of how much cardio you're doing. Also, if you don't already do some form of resistance training, you should.

Great post.

The "better" machine is the one that you'll use longer, and more frequently. For me it's an elliptical because of the low impact. And the Precor that the OP mentioned at Costco is certainly one of the best ones out there for the money. They pioneered the elliptical market and still are the best brand out there IMHO.

And your point about food is great one too - 30 minutes on a treadmill or elliptical can be erased with a Snickers bar or cup of ice cream.

You're still better off doing cardio and eating that Snickers than doing nothing.

Duh?

The point still remains that diet is much more responsible for weight gain/loss than exercise.

 

[Capt Caveman]

fwiw - my five mile run burns around 700 calories = equal to my lunch