Beginning a new workout routine can be daunting. One of the big questions that is asked when joining a gym or buying home workout equipment is, which is better, an elliptical or a treadmill? I’ve noticed a lot of comparisons on the obvious parts of buying equipment, but there is so much more to it than burning calories. There’s no true answer for the question, but hopefully I can help you decide on which works better for you.

Calories

The amount of calories being burned on each machine has been debated quite a bit in many articles all over the internet. From personal experience and the observations of my own workouts on both machines, it seems as though the treadmill can burn around 150 calories more per hour than that of the elliptical going at the same rate with same resistance level on each machine. This is not a huge differentiation seeing as all machines vary and hopefully the treadmill or elliptical will not be your only source of exercise.

Endurance

After searching I could find no research done to make any claim to which machine on average helps a persons endurance. This is solely based on my observations of others in a public gym and from my own personal experience. The endurance level on ellipticals seems to be better than that of the treadmill for the simple fact that the elliptical has arms which allow you to use more of your arms in order to help you get through the workout once you begin to feel tired. The ability for your arms to bear some of the burden can be done on the treadmill by holding onto the rails, but in my experience I noticed myself running the same speed, just basically holding myself higher off of the treadmill so there was not as much impact which made for less of a workout.

Form

A problem associated with running, is that most people when just starting out run incorrectly. Running incorrectly can lead to shin splints, tiring quickly, rashes, and not being able to keep your endurance up, among other problems. With this in mind the treadmill has no way of providing any form adjustment for you while running. It reacts as though you were outside and have no guides or ways to adjust your form without you making mental note of it yourself.

The elliptical however, has areas for your feet to be put in. This allows your feet to be forced in the correct direction while having your arms grabbing the handle bars which forces you to be in a proper form for the machine.

Breathing

A large problem for me which has kept me from the ability to run on a treadmill or outside is asthma. I have a real problem with it and have realized that running outside is a serious problem for me, this lead me to look into the elliptical.

The elliptical allows for breathing to differentiated somehow from a treadmill. I am able to push myself as hard as I can on an elliptical than I am able to on a treadmill. I am able to do 8 minute miles on the elliptical trainer compared to half that on the treadmill. Again, I would point to research, but for some reason there is little to no research done on what is better for those with breathing problems.

Pacing

Pacing yourself on the elliptical or treadmill is key to a successful workout. The ability to last for the full 30, 45, or 60 minutes on the machine is what helps you burn the calories, not the box telling you that you can burn that much. From my experience and with dealing with others (especially beginning runners), pacing on a treadmill compared to an elliptical can be quite difficult to do. For some reason, your brain wants to take over and tell you that you can run faster than your current speed for the next half hour, but then you realize that you can’t even last 30 seconds!

For me, the elliptical is much easier to pace myself with, offering the ability to use the arms on the machine to help compensate which goes back to the endurance factor. I am able to mentally pace myself better on the elliptical because of the resistance and change in the way I workout with the machine.

Joints

If you experience any sort of knee or joint pain I would not push you in the way of treadmills. I highly recommend you check out an elliptical machine. Having zero impact on your joints is beneficial  for those with arthritis or any sort of pain in their bones. This not only helps those in the current state, but also helps those in the future to avoid the problems as well.

Conclusion

While in this article I’ve been a bit biased towards the elliptical, I feel there is good reason to. Simply for the ability to avoid joint pain, shin splints, and breathing problems I’m sold on the elliptical. This does not mean that you will feel the same way as I do about the machines. I suggest you join a gym for a month, or even if they are having a free introductory week, try one machine half of the week, then switch. See which works better for you, and see which keeps you more entertained, remember that you’ll be on these machines for a half hour to an hour, 3 to 5 times a week. That’s a lot of time where you can get bored.

Comments, questions or suggestions? Comment below or email me at Jordanddunn@gmail.com