Elliptical vs Treadmill: Which is better for weight loss !?
Contents
Introduction
Did you know that treadmill can impact your joints and Elliptical can overstate the calories that you have burnt? Well, Treadmill and Elliptical are the two well-known and the most commonly used cardio machines which you can find in almost every gym and a health club. Both the machines are designed in a manner to help you lose weight through the cardiovascular workout by burning calories and improving the aerobic capacity. Elliptical vs Treadmill which is better for weight loss??
The questions which now arises is which out of the two, Elliptical or Treadmill is more effective in losing weight? Which of the two should you use? Well, this article will help you know what actually are these exercising methods and their pros and cons and will help you decide which one to go for in order to lose weight!!
What is a Treadmill?
It is one of the most popular exercise equipment which has been in existence since around 1800s with a universal purpose of burning calories of the exerciser. These are the cardio machines which are stationary and lets you walk, jog and run indoors. They come with a feature of adjustable incline and speed to accommodate the needs of all the types of users. It is a blessing for those who love to go for a run, get fresh air and feel the nature but are unable to go outdoors may be due to the weather conditions or the traffic and the polluted air in the urban areas. Whether it is an electric or a manual treadmill, it is, of course, an effective way to help you stay fit and active.
Benefits of a Treadmill
There are a lot of benefits that this workout machine has to offer, some of them being:
It imitates natural movements:
With the advancement in technology new machines are being developed which are rather more confusing and difficult to use. Whereas the treadmill is an equipment which is familiar to all since it is in use from a long time and hence it helps to emulate natural movement for jogging, sprinting, or running without putting in extra effort or brains to understand and get accustomed to it.
Versatility:
It offers a vast range of options for speed, incline, and other training programs allowing you to do a simple brisk walk or an uphill sprint according to your mood, needs, and requirements.
Great work output:
It lets you propel your body weight which of course requires a lot of effort resulting in burning the calories at a much faster and higher rate.
A well-developed and researched product:
It is one of the oldest used equipment for weight loss, dating its existence back to 1800s. It can be found in every gym and a lot of houses too. It is an obvious thing that by now a lot of research must have been already done in the context of a treadmill thereby assuring that the treadmill being used is developed after a lot of research to meet perfection.
Weight-bearing effect:
Running and walking helps in strengthening the muscles and the bones and hence helps in developing an apt posture and enough sustainability as you grow in age.
Control in the hands of the users:
Almost all aspects of the workout like the speed, warm-up period, incline, cool down period, and energy spend is controlled by the user.
Allows the user to do multitasking
Users can continue to do other things like watching television or reading a novel while they are on the treadmill, thereby helping to make the Exercise interesting.
Cons of a Treadmill
There are two sides of a coin, similarly, the benefits of the treadmill are accompanied by some disadvantages that you must know. Following are some of the cons of using a Treadmill:
The issue of safety:
One has to have an adequate skill set before increasing the intensity of workout on a treadmill. So, directly doing some high-intensity training and exercises say may b an incline sprint can be very dangerous.
Can impact the joints:
Although some treadmills come with shock absorption but still running on a treadmill can have an adverse impact and can stress the hips, knee, ankle joints, and spine particularly if you are not in a habit of stretching or doing a warm-up before starting your workout on the treadmill.
Can cause a problem in posture:
The quality of the treadmill varies and so does the size and shape of the belt. It is believed that the size of the belt of the treadmill can lead to a change in the way people generally run or walk thereby causing an imbalance of muscles and other posture problems.
Holding onto the handles is quite unnatural:
It sometimes happens that people like to know their heart rate and other details while they are running or walking on a treadmill. This requires them to hold on to the handles on the side of the treadmill which is not only awkward but difficult too as it is quite an unnatural position while running or walking.
Difficulty in running:
Running on a treadmill is generally hard and it becomes even more difficult on an inclined surface.
Maintenance:
Most of the gym equipment which uses computers and motors require maintenance and a treadmill is no exception and requires a professional.
Boring:
It doesn’t provide vast dynamic options for exercise and is limited to walking and running making it seem a little boring to some people.
Cost and space constraint:
Some treadmills are very expensive. They also tend to take up a lot of space and generally are the ones that don’t fold up.
here is a video Mo Farah’s Tips on Using a Treadmill
What is an Elliptical Trainer?
An Elliptical trainer also known as a cross-trainer or an X-trainer is one of the most popular fitness machines. The first Elliptical Fitness Cross Trainer (EFX) was launched by Precor in the year 1995. It is a motionless machine which helps to burn calories and tone the muscles of the body. Working on an elliptical trainer gives a feeling of climbing stairs, walking, and running. It has 2 hand-levers and 2 pedals suspended above the ground. The pedals are moved up and down or forward and backward like in an oval-shaped track to provide a workout for the legs. The foot of the user never touches the ground thus eliminating the pain or jerk of a hard surface.
Benefits of Elliptical
This electronic equipment was new to the market as compared to the treadmill but still quickly gained popularity due to the huge bunch of benefits that it had to offer. Some of the benefits of Elliptical are as follows:
Lower perceived exertion:
While working on an elliptical, it is believed that people actually work much harder than what they perceive thereby making them lose the same number of calories with less effort.
Reverse stride:
The reverse stride offered by most of the elliptical helps to activate different muscle groups, offer mid-workout of adjustable variety, and emphasize on the quads.
Ability to cross train and total body workout:
Elliptical trainers have moveable handles which allow the workout of the upper and lower body simultaneously i.e. full body workout in short and hence the name cross trainer, unlike treadmill which lets you do only the lower body workout.
Non-impact conditioning:
While working on elliptical, the heels are always on the pedal thereby stabilizing the feet. It prevents the body from getting that strenuous impact on the joint which is caused by a treadmill, by simply letting the body imitate a running motion. This makes it safe to use even for elderly people or the ones suffering from joint issues or problem of varicose veins.
Cardiovascular benefits:
Working out on an elliptical helps to strengthen the heart and increase the aerobic capacity of the body which leads to a stronger lung and heart functioning and a nice heated-up system.
Building up strength and endurance:
It is a weight-bearing exercise which targets the hamstrings, weak quadriceps, calves, and glutes without putting a strain on the joints or the knees.
Easy to use:
It is very easy to use and doesn’t involve much of science or technology. It takes very little space and saves time too and is also capable of allowing you to do a complete high-intensity workout in say just half of the time you would have spent on a normal cardio workout.
Allows customization:
When an activity is done repeatedly, the muscles of the body gets used to it and stop working as hard as they used to earlier thereby let the body burn less of the calories. Here comes the need of customizing the workout by varying the speed, resistance, and stride length which lets the body burn more calories and also increase the muscle engagement.
Easy and cheap maintenance:
It has less moving parts and very fewer impact movements and hence less risk of breaking down or aging fast. This helps to maintain a balance between the cost and the maintenance.
Allows you to multitask:
It lets you watch television or read a novel while exercising. There are better ellipticals available which come with the speaker and even allow you to listen to an audio-book or even play your favorite music while working out.
Cons of Elliptical
Just like any other product, it also has some cons which can’t be ignored. Some of the disadvantages of using Elliptical as a workout machine are:
It is less dynamic:
The elliptical trainer generally lacks the feature of incline or if it has then it is not much effective thereby making it less dynamic.
Has lesser weight-bearing effect:
Weight-bearing exercises help to strengthen the muscles and bones but in an elliptical trainer, the pedals are suspended off the ground and smoother movements are designed for lower impact and hence have a lesser weight-bearing effect.
Provides momentum that is not needed:
It allows the user to use the momentum of the machine in order to increase the power of the machine which is of course, not desirable and helpful.
4. Difficult to start:
As the pedals are not on the ground, it sometimes requires a significant forward push to start moving the pedals and hence making it difficult for some people to start the motion.
Elliptical vs Treadmill for weight loss: Some differences
Elliptical and treadmill are both designed for weight loss but of course, there are some noticeable differences between the two which one must know before deciding which cardio equipment to go with. Following are some of the differences in terms of the benefits which one offers over the other:
Benefits of Elliptical over Treadmill:
Elliptical allows you to do upper body workout too
Elliptical trainer has movable handles along with the pedals which not only allows the workout of the lower body but the upper body too unlike the treadmill which offers only the lower body workout. You can even grab some dumbbells or do a shoulder press while you are on an elliptical trainer. Some also offer an option of pulling motion i.e. to work on biceps and back or pushing motion i.e. triceps and chest. This all is missing on a treadmill.
Low impact on the joints and knees when using an elliptical
It is believed that the strenuous impact on the knees and the joints are less while using elliptical as the feet are stabilized by the pedal resulting in a lower Relative Perceived Exertion (RPE) unlike in the treadmill which can cause serious stress to the knees, spine, and other joints.
It requires less energy to work-out on elliptical
Since elliptical is a low impact equipment and allows to adjust the intensity, it requires lesser energy and hence you can hit an elliptical even on days when you feel low on energy.
Less likely to get injured
You are less likely to get injured while using an elliptical as it helps to avoid putting a lot of pressure on the joints than while using a treadmill.
Option of targeted work-out
Elliptical offers a variety related to resistances and inclinations thereby allowing a user to choose the body part he or she wishes to target like only the calves or the thighs or the lower body etc. It also presents an option of moving backward allowing to target a variety of muscles.
Noise
As it is operated using motors, the treadmill makes a lot of noise whereas elliptical is operated mechanically without any sound made by the motors, therefore, is less or not at all noisy.
Benefits of Treadmill over an elliptical:
Overestimation of the number of calories:
The elliptical machine sometimes overestimates the number of calories burnt thereby giving a false picture of the workout done and a false sense of achievement.
Machine controlled and hence better workout
Unlike the elliptical in which the hands and the feet control the motion of the machine, a treadmill controls the machine i.e. the speed etc. (unless a person manually presses the buttons) thereby making it compulsory for the user to continue the exercise without getting slow or lazy and to do work out outside his or her comfort zone.
Allows natural movement
Running and walking are the natural forms of movement for a human which one does on a treadmill, unlike the cross trainer which elliptical lets you do.
High level of customization
There are a variety of options available on a treadmill which helps to create a customized workout for climbing, running, weight loss, interval training etc. varying from person to person.
Burn more calories
Treadmill helps to burn more calories as it involves a strenuous exercise of moving the body forward unlike in an elliptical which lets you move at the same spot.
The bottom line of Elliptical vs Treadmill discussion
Both treadmill and Elliptical benefits weight loss, lets you burn calories, and both even take the same amount of space. On one hand, a treadmill might help you to lose weight faster than an elliptical trainer whereas on the other side, the elliptical might take a little more time than the treadmill but it lets you lose weight and burn calories without affecting the knees and the joints. A treadmill might allow you to burn more calories than an elliptical but there is, of course, an element of personal preference which comes into the picture which can ultimately make a person choose between the two. If you don’t suffer from any joint problems, you can even decide to go with both of these machines in order to target different muscle groups, avoid the monotony of doing the same exercise in repeat mode, and of course, to benefit the most.
Elliptical vs Treadmill, Which Burn More Fat?
watch this video, introduced by Yuri Elkaim
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