s4one

I've done elliptical workouts before but now I feel that the treadmill is more effective. Which one will be the best weapon of choice to lose weight?

I know that I should change up my workout routines so that my body gets different types of workouts.

I always thought that the elliptical is kinda the pansy workout, compared to the treadmill.

Btw, I mean running on the treadmill.

flip18436572

I think it really depends upon the person. I can get my heart rate up on an elliptical machine without any problems, but I increase the elevation/rise and also increase the tension/resistance while increasing the strides per minute. I can do a work out on the elliptical in 50 minutes and by the machine burn 1500 calories, or I can jog on the treadmill for 50 minutes and burn about 1250 calories.

I have the cheapest Polar HRM, so it doesn't give me calories burned, but the heart rate is similar when I do both, but the elliptical is not as hard on my joints.

But, I do both, plus lift weights and swim at my daily workout at the gym. To vary the things I do the better I feel about getting back to them and don't get burned out on any one machine.

Spintogrin

I have had problems with both my knees and back; the treadmill causes flare-ups while the elliptical does not. The only way that I could maintain any cardio was with the use of an elliptical while recuperating from patellar tendonitis. I can easily get my heart rate into any zone I want on the elliptical - as flip stated - by playing with incline and resistance. I should say that I really only like a high quality elliptical machine without the hand/arm motion but that is my preference.

timmyquest

treadmills give me pain
Ellipticals don't feel right and feel ineffective.

Sparky005s

Treadmills give me pain, but I'm trying to use them a bit more, just for the change. the elliptical can give a terrific workout. Don't mess with the different courses, just adjust the elevation and resistance. It's easy to do intervals this way too. You can spend a few minutes on 12, then punch it up to 14 and work really hard for 60 seconds, then bring it back down. Vary your cadence as well. My only issue with the elliptical is that my feet get numb after 30 minutes. But after 30 minutes I'm ready to do something else anyway.

LIUser22

treadmill, it forces your legs to push your body off the ground. the elliptical can build up momentum and you can use your arms.

Treadmill will also destroy your knees, as it did to me. I use the elliptical now, i would much rather be running

flip18436572

If you have a problem with your feet going numb, step off the elliptical at about every 15 minutes and take about 15 seconds of walking and get back on. Something about not having the impact will cause that with some people. I had the problem also, but I did the walking every 20 minutes and now I never get off the machine and I go for 50 minutes once a day.

I also do not use the machines with the arm movements.

I vary my incline and build up to the maximum in 10 minutes and then stay at full incline for the remaining 40 minutes. I do intervals where I keep a cadence of 170 (bike cadence would be 85) for three minutes and 20 seconds and then go to 220 for one minute, 230 for one minutes, 240 for one minute and 20 seconds and then back to the 170 - 190 range once I am in the last 40 minutes of the work out. This will increase my heart rate up to 150 and then back down to 120 as an example. Sometimes I will do 7 minutes of the 220 and higher to push my heart rate up to 160 - 170, but I usually will have to increase the resistance to make it happen. Then I go back down with the resistance and the cadence.

You can do a lot on the elliptical, and I never use there planned routes, I just use the manual setting and make the changes as I want to.

telebianchi

To get your heart rate up, use whichever works and feels best for you. As said above, treadmills can give you similar types of injuries as actual running.

Personally, I prefer treadmills or stairsteppers because they come closer to a "real life" motion. I can get my heart rate going and break a good sweat on an elliptical trainer, but the motion is something that seems to only teach your muscles how to work on an elliptical. While I know a treadmill is not the same as actual running, the basic motion and muscles used come much closer. And my gym has a couple of the big stair steppers where you are actually stepping up a moving staircase as opposed to having your feet rest on pedals/arms that go up and down in a stair-like motion.

That said, I still will use the elliptical about once every two or three weeks just to change things up.

Carbonfiberboy 

Give me that fancy Stepmill and I'm happy. Treadmills hurt, ellipticals are boring, but for some reason the Stepmill is OK. Maybe because the climbing motion is natural. It seems to help slightly with out-of-the-saddle endurance. Otherwise I'd vote for the elliptical - less chance of injury and for me, that's the major deal with going to the gym. A gym injury will sure make a mess of your season.

flip18436572

We have only had one stepper type of machine and I think it was junk, so I never liked it and I tried it multiple times.

Treadmills are better than road running, because there is some give in the treadmill that is not there on concrete or blacktop.