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Exercise Equipment | Gym Cardio Compared

We asked exercise equipment/gym fitness equipment expert Rick Allen about the relative merits of treadmill equipment and elliptical machines.

Paul: Hi Rick, if you could have only one piece of home exercise equipment to use in your own home workouts, what would it be?

Rick: Hi Paul. As I may have mentioned before, with both strength training and the various kinds of cardio workout, it’s a very subjective thing. People have unique likes and dislikes and very individual fitness goals. There are people interested in healthy weight loss, fat burning and maybe muscle toning and stomach flattening, and there are those people who strap on a weightlifting belt and dive like a madman into the squat racks. We all have different goals and also different home fitness equipment, gym equipment that feels good to us.

Now, one of the main benefits of elliptical machines is that you’re able to have home workouts that not only target the lower body, but target the upper body too.  That's why elliptical equipment exercise is sometimes referred to as crosstraining. Because like certain other equipment, like ski machines, you're using both your arms and your legs.

Should you buy one of the elliptical machines for the crosstrainer benefits alone? Well no, because treadmill equipment can do the same thing- with dumbbells. Grab a pair of dumbbells, hold a dumbbell in each hand and then swing your arms at your side as you walk on treadmill equipment - you'll get the same benefits - the same fat burning, fat loss benefits and upper muscle toning.  There will be  difference, which is that you'll be working different parts of the muscles, because you get a different pattern of movement on an elliptical machine than you do walking on a fitness treadmill.

And the point is? I personally prefer treadmill equipment. But you've got to try them both.  Because if you're going to find a home exercise system that really delivers, you've got to start with whatever home exercise equipment feels most comfortable to you. Statistically speaking, people do have a tendency to stay on treadmill equipment a lot longer because its an extremely natural movement, but elliptical machines are a close second. So, depending on your personal preference, they'd both be excellent choices in exercise equipment - gym, home, or otherwise. So long as its a quality home fitness machine, you really can't lose.

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