I have used both ellipticals and treadmills, and personally I prefer the elliptical because of the lower impact. I was a runner for many years and my knees don't need any more pounding! However, I think a lot of it is personal preference. If you like to read while you work out, for instance, a treadmill is going to work better for you because you won't be moving up and down.
Here's a study done for the Journal of Exercise Physiology online. They studied a dozen cardiac rehab patients ages 47-79 to find how they responded, cardio-wise, to the elliptical and to the treadmill. You can read the whole study online if you like, though it's a bit dense. They measured oxygen consumption, heart rate and blood pressure, among other things, during two trials on the treadmill and two on the elliptical. For these patients, the study ended up recommending the elliptical trainer.
If you ask your doctor, though, I imagine that the thing she or he would emphasize is this: Which machine do you like the most? Will that make you exercise more, and more consistently? Then that's the one you should buy!
Comment Reply
I have used both ellipticals and treadmills, and personally I prefer the elliptical because of the lower impact. I was a runner for many years and my knees don't need any more pounding! However, I think a lot of it is personal preference. If you like to read while you work out, for instance, a treadmill is going to work better for you because you won't be moving up and down.
Here's a study done for the Journal of Exercise Physiology online. They studied a dozen cardiac rehab patients ages 47-79 to find how they responded, cardio-wise, to the elliptical and to the treadmill. You can read the whole study online if you like, though it's a bit dense. They measured oxygen consumption, heart rate and blood pressure, among other things, during two trials on the treadmill and two on the elliptical. For these patients, the study ended up recommending the elliptical trainer.
http://faculty.css.edu/tboone2/asep/Sweitzer.pdf
If you ask your doctor, though, I imagine that the thing she or he would emphasize is this: Which machine do you like the most? Will that make you exercise more, and more consistently? Then that's the one you should buy!
September 23, 2008 - 8:25amThis Comment
Reply