Best exercise machine- Elliptical vs Treadmill

Most of us know about elliptical trainers now, they are gaining popularity fast as the best cardio workout machines. Exercise machines with big handles also known as cross trainers. They are also effective in giving you a good workout for your cardiovascular fitness just like treadmills. Looking for the best fitness machine, when we compare elliptical Vs treadmills, elliptical trainers have some advantage over treadmills in the sense that they give you a upper body workout as well. Your feet do not lift from the footpads so there is no impact on your feet, knees and joints as you move in an elliptical motion. Although the treadmill belt is better for your knees than the ground, there is still a significant amount of impact on your joints. A lot of people switch over to elliptical machines for this reason alone.

Now the question in analyzing elliptical Vs treadmills is that, which one burn more calories?

If you are looking for a quality cardiovascular workout with the maximum efficiency, Elliptical cross trainer could be your best choice.

Elliptical trainers give you a more thorough workout as there is an involvement of upper body movement as well. Because elliptical trainers also work the upper and lower body simultaneously, the heart rate climbs more quickly. Thus, less time is required to achieve more results. With treadmill exercises also, the ideal workout would be using arms to make a natural walking or jogging motion but most of us do not follow this and our upper body movement is almost negligible. That makes a difference in calorie burn out. Studies suggest that exercising numerous muscle groups increases fat burning efficiency.

If your joints are suffering from strain or just old age, and if you would like to exercise your upper body, the elliptical trainer is a good choice.

With ellipticals you can add versatility to your workouts as the foot pedals can be worked in a forward or reverse direction. When you change the direction of the pedals, you’ll target your lower body in different ways. The intensity level can be adjusted on elliptical equipment according to your fitness levels. Resistance may be added as desired to increase the workload on your legs throughout the forward or backward stride. With all this added to your workout, you don’t do the same thing everyday and get bored out of it.

In elliptical Vs treadmill comparison, with respect to burning calories, an elliptical gives you the same results as running on a treadmill, but you burn fewer calories if you walk or jog on a treadmill. So it depends on what kind of exercise are you doing on a treadmill. Walking or jogging does not burn many calories. And if you like to go light with your treadmill workouts you will find elliptical much more effective and more calories burned on an elliptical trainer

However if you like to walk or run, nothing beats a good treadmill.