By Aritra Laha / 24 Mar 2021
We all know what cardio is. There are numerous exercises and regimes that aim to get your heart rate up and get your blood pumping. This type of aerobic exercise is always being recommended to people and with good cause. Cardio, not only helps strengthen the heart and help in weight loss, but is a great way to improve your lung capacity, boost your immune system, tone muscles, and helps promote better sleep. Safe to say that some form of cardio should be in your exercise routine. To get this much-needed cardio, you can do two things. You can either plan out a route or wake up early each day for a morning jog, or, you can hit up your gym or home gym and use either a treadmill or an elliptical.
Now the main question arises. Should you get an elliptical or a treadmill? Both these gym equipment are the ones you will commonly see in a commercial gym. Both of them sever the same purpose of doing cardio. So, which one should you get?
The best way to decide which machine is right for you is by weighing the pros and cons of each machine and identifying exactly what you are looking to get out of them.
Treadmills
Whenever talking about going to a gym, the first thing people associate with it is a treadmill. It is the gym equipment that is more or less the face of modern exercise and rightfully so. Getting your daily jog has become synch with the help of a treadmill. Both running and walking on a treadmill can help in building leg strength. By walking or running on a treadmill for an extended period each day, you are able to increase your stamina and with some extra exercises, you can train your glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves. This makes it an excellent option for lower body training. Not to mention the wonders it does for weight loss. Another benefit of a treadmill is the option of having absolute control. You can change the setting of the treadmill at any time to fit what kind of experience you want. Whether you wish to have a casual walk or a run uphill, you can change the speed and even the elevation of the treadmill to spice up your workout. This high versatility makes treadmills a good fit for HIIT workouts, which also aid in the burning of calories and provides complete cardiovascular training.
Just like everything, the treadmill also has its downsides. Even though treadmills are great for cardio, it specifically targets lower body muscles. This means the upper body does not get as much training as it should. To make up for this deficit you will need to take on another form of exercise that will help balance out the amount of training. Compared to an elliptical, treadmills do not target as many muscles in the body like the arms, chest, and shoulders. Similarly, running on a treadmill puts more stress on your joints compared to an elliptical. This may lead to injuries like shin splits, knee pain, or even stress fractures that can be caused due to overexertion on a treadmill.
Ellipticals
Elliptical machines are one of the most upcoming machines that are used for exercising. Despite common misconceptions, Elliptical workouts are very effective. They are a less intense form of exercise that burns calories and improves balance. Elliptical machines are widely used in homes and Gymnasiums. Elliptical machines provide low-intensity workouts to the lower and upper body. One of the major advantages of having an elliptical machine is that it can be a good alternative to running or jogging for someone who has arthritis or joint pains.
The best part about owning such equipment is the health benefits it gives. This machine does not give any sort of pressure to your body. A person who uses the machine for 15 to 20 minutes burns more than 250 calories whereas jogging would take about 30 to 45 minutes. In this sense using an elliptical machine is time-saving too.
THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING BETWEEN A TREADMILL AND AN ELLIPTICAL MACHINE
The treadmill as compared to the elliptical machine may seem to be superior in some aspects, similarly, the elliptical machine may hold much more value as compared to the treadmill in some areas. To decide which machine should be purchased, we should follow these basic steps:
Consider the length, pace, and frequency of your workouts:
Treadmills are the perfect equipment for people who like to get a quick and intense cardiovascular workout. They have the option of speed which is essential so the user is comfortable with the machine working at his pace. The user has the option to use the treadmill for a longer time, dividing the target he needs to achieve or he can do a quick workout by simply increasing the treadmill's speed. The treadmills nowadays are very high-tech in nature. They track your daily workout and record the distance you run each day, it also detects your heart rate with each workout
Ellipticals, on the other hand, are for real fitness freaks that are into long, full workouts. This machine doesn’t cause the strain that a treadmill may impose. An elliptical is a very low-intensity workout that focuses on working out your full body, because of the low-intensity training, it does not cause a strain on your muscles from being too overused, it helps in correcting your posture and makes your spine stronger. Unlike the treadmill, it may not track your heart rate but it does track the distance to give you a brief idea about how much further you run every day.
Choosing Equipment Based on Your Space
Any time equipment for working out is purchased, it is important to ascertain the space that is available to store that equipment. Treadmills and Ellipticals are both very big equipment’s so the space available to keep them is a big factor that needs to be considered.
Choosing the equipment based on your physique:
One of the major differences between a treadmill and an elliptical is the intensity of the workout. A treadmill plays with the normal walking, jogging, and sprinting motion of your body. For the younger generation, it is very comfortable to use the treadmill. Running on it is basically like running outside in terms of the impact it has on the body. However, an elliptical is a better piece of equipment that can be used for people especially those that have arthritis. People who struggle with joint pains and obesity may find it more comfortable to workout on an elliptical as compared to a treadmill.
