Question

Hi Bret, I have enjoyed your blog and website and found it not only informative and honest, but entertaining and thoughtful as well! I have a very simple query which is — elliptical vs treadmill? What should I get, and why?

Quick background on my situation:
I used to run in high school until a bad knee took me out of the races. Currently, I am a relatively active 25-30 year old and walk my great dane two-three times a day (and thats a workout).

I want to drop 15-20 pounds (I'm 5'-8" tall and weight 158-162 pounds right now) and need get in better shape. I have used and loved ellipticals in the past, and truth be told I am not really a fan of treadmills but want to ensure that I am spending my money in the right equipment and want to find the best workout machine to achieve my goals. Any recommendations? Thanks!! mk

Answer

Ah, the age old question of an elliptical vs treadmill for home cardio workouts. I'm actually surprised I haven't had to answer this question yet, but I guess it was just a matter of time so here it goes…

There are arguments that can be made in favor of ellipticals and treadmills with staunch supporters and detractors on each side that will mercilessly bash the opposing viewpoint, leaving the "sane" middle majority more confused than helped by debate. So, with that said, I'll give you my take on an elliptical vs treadmill for home fitness.

Let's jump right in and get to the meat of the matter by putting these two popular machines in a head-to-head comparison, and breakdown the pros and cons in the seven key areas of cost, durability, space requirements, calorie burning efficiency, chance of injury, warranty,  and resale value.

Elliptical vs Treadmill Head-to Head Comparison

Cost
Although you can get an elliptical or treadmill for well under $500 dollars, or over $3000 depending on your budget, the simple fact is you get far more bang for your buck with an elliptical trainer than you do with a treadmill.

A good quality elliptical will run you $1000 - 1500 where as a comparable treadmill will cost about $1500 - 2000. You can buy a machine a lot cheaper than this but there's the issue of price to durability, which many people neglect to consider when making their buying decision.

That small oversight can, and will, have major cost implications in the near future when your 90 day warranty expires.

Cost to Durability
A savvy shopper knows that you should never buy a sub $1000 treadmill and expect it to last with heavy use for a prolonged period of time, no matter what the sales guy at Sears tells you, it just isn't true.

Treadmills have a plethora of moving parts that are prone to breakdown and wear, and the cheaper the treadmill the more they breakdown. I would consider a $1000 treadmill an entry level machine if you're at all serious about fitness training and a $1500 - 2500 dollar model more realistic if you'll be running a lot or weigh more than 150 pounds.

Since ellipticals don't have as many moving parts that are prone to breakdown and wear (like motors, decks, treadbelts, rollers and  lift motors) you can get a pretty nice machine for around $1000 - 1300 that should give you many years of trouble free service with only minimal maintenance.

Calorie Burning Efficiency
You knew this one was coming, right? Which burns more calories a treadmill or elliptical trainer? The answer is  treadmill will burn more calories, but not by much. In fact it should be a non-factor in your buying decision because the only thing that really matters is that you use the machine on a consistent basis without getting injured or bored.

Just to satisfy your curiosity about the calorie burning (because I know you're still thinking about it) here's a chart with calorie expenditures based on one hour of activity for a 150 pound person

Type of Activity	Calories Burned Per Hour
Walking 2.5 mph level firm surface (normal)	136
Walking 4.0 mph level firm surface (brisk)	272
Treadmill (light effort)	456
Treadmill (hard effort)	741
Elliptical Trainer (light effort)	415
Elliptical Trainer (hard effort)	591
Exercise Bike (light effort)	252
Exercise Bike (hard effort)	598

So if you're going at hard effort for one hour on a treadmill you'll burn 150 extra calories than doing the same work on an elliptical trainer. That equates to a measly extra pound of weight loss for every 24 hours spent on the machine. I don't think that's worth picking a treadmill for if you hate running or have knee and ankle issues. Do you?

Space Requirements
Both an elliptical and treadmill will take up a decent amount of floor space when in use (live workout area). Of course there are exceptions to this fact, but I'll assume you're looking for a quality treadmill or elliptical and not some rinky-dink piece of junk you saw on late night TV.

For a full size elliptical trainer or treadmill you should figure on having a space that's 60" wide x 84" long as a minimum live workout area for safe use and operation.

Most treadmill manufacturers make folding models that will help free up floor space when not in use, so the actual floor space of a treadmill can be quite small when it's put away after your workout.

As a general rule, elliptical trainers are quite large and do not fold away for storage as they have fixed stride length rails and a large flywheel.

Chance of Injury
Unlike what most people think, there is a chance of getting injured on an elliptical trainer, especially in your ankles and Achilles tendon due to the unique motion of the machines. However, you can greatly limit your risk on machines with good ergonomics in the mid-level price range.

Treadmills have a much higher incidence of injury for the simple fact that exercising on a treadmill is a higher impact activity. You can greatly reduce your chance of injury by warming up properly and building up the intensity of your workouts slowly so your body can adjust.

Warranty
You'll find that warranties on ellipticals and treadmills will vary greatly depending on how much you spend on a machine. The cheap bare bones machines from manufacturers like Proform, Weslo and Image have short warranties in the 90 day range, and higher quality mid-level machines from manufacturers like Sole, Nordictrack and Smooth offer lifetime warranties on structural parts and 2-5 year warranties on mechanical parts.

Resale Value
Up until recently treadmills held their value far beyond all but the very high end ellipticals, but times have changed. Now you can expect a name brand elliptical to command a price that's equal to, or even slightly higher than a similarly priced treadmill on the used market.

Conclusion
So should you buy an elliptical or a treadmill? Either machine will give you a great workout, but for the average person working out at home I recommend getting an elliptical trainer for the following reasons.

• a good elliptical costs less than a comparable treadmill
• ellipticals are easier on your knees and ankles than a treadmill which is especially important for anyone over 30
• there is less chance of breakdown and repair with an elliptical because they have a simpler mechanical design
• they're more fun to use, increasing the chances that you stick with your workout program

Before we wrap this up I want to make one thing clear. I'm not against treadmills, in fact I own one - and I own an elliptical trainer too. But if push came to shove, and one machine had to go from my studio, the treadmill would be gone - it wouldn't even be a hard choice.

see my hand-picked elliptical trainer list here

see my top rated treadmill models here