Looking to buy Home exercise equipment? Here is how to choose between two of
best selling ones: treadmills and ellipticals
Both elliptical trainers and treadmills are two of most popular home fitness equipment. They
are excellent tools for getting an aerobic workout indoors. In fact, When you compare ellipticals
vs treamills, you will quickly realize that treadmills have been around much longer whereas
elliptical machines have only come to party fairly recently. As a result, treadmills are
wider known and more commonplace. However, a quick trip to your local gym will show that there
are almost as many ellipticals these days as there are treadmills. There is a good reason for
that.
A quick comparison:
When you compare treadmills to elliptical trainers, you can't help but notice how impact free
elliptical machine is.
With elliptical trainer, there is no impact on ground, so joints in your lower body
are free from any abuse. Although treadmill mat is better for your knees than cement, there
is still a significant amount of impact on your joints.
One obvious point that is in favor of treadmills is that it provides a better training experience
for a dedicated runner/jogger than an elliptical trainer. If you are training for a marathon or
even a 10k, and you don't want to go outdoors too often during months, you are certainly
better off with a quality treadmill.
That being said, if you are looking for a quality aerobic workout with maximum amount of
efficiency, you will not be able to overlook elliptical trainer. Most ellipticals give you a
total body workout if you have dual action handlebars for your arms and foot pedals for your
legs, whereas treadmills focus more on your lower body as they simulate jogging experience.
What is even more interesting, according to recent studies, is that lack of impact on
joints allows user to burn roughly same amount of calories as treadmills with
impression of putting CONSIDERABLY less effort.
Therefore, it comes as no surprise that ellipticals have been machine of choice for senior
citizens with knee problems, as well as physical trainers who are involved in rehabilitating
their clients.
This is what Thomas Altena, an exercise physiologist at University of Missouri-Columbia, had
to say: "The physiological responses associated with elliptical exercises were nearly indentical
to treadmill exercises." He went on to conclude that "both exercise machines are effective for
increasing amount of calories burned and for producing cardio respiratory health and training
