Dental and General Health

Treadmills and elliptical trainers are two of the most popular pieces of exercise equipment. They are excellent tools for getting an aerobic workout indoors.

When you compare treadmills with elliptical trainers, you will quickly realize that elliptical machines have only come to the party fairly recently. Treadmills, on the other hand, have been around much longer and are consequently are more well-known and more commonplace.

When you compare treadmills to elliptical trainers, you can’t help but notice that the elliptical trainer offers an impact-free workout. With the elliptical, there is no impact on the ground, which may appeal to people who need a gentler exercise because of joint problems or pain.

The treadmill offers more impact, which helps strengthen the bones. One obvious point that is in favor of treadmills is that it provides a better training experience for a dedicated runners and joggers.

If you are training for a marathon or even a 10k, and you don’t want to go outdoors too often during the colder months, you are certainly better off with a quality treadmill. If you are looking for a quality cardiovascular workout with the maximum amount of efficiency, the elliptical is an excellent choice.

Most exercise machines give you a total body routine if you have dual action handlebars for your arms and foot pedals for your legs, whereas treadmills focus more on your lower body as they simulate the jogging experience. According to recent studies, the lack of impact on the joints allows the user to burn roughly the same amount of calories as treadmills with the impression of putting less effort.

Therefore, it is no wonder that elliptical machines have been the machine of choice for senior exercisers with knee problems, as well as physical trainers who are involved in rehabilitating their clients. One feature which is often overlooked is the ability to add variety to your aerobic workout.

Whenever anyone is on an exercise plan, one of the biggest challenges he faces is to stay motivated and interested in his workouts. With the treadmill, the ability to change the incline, as well as the intensity is big pluses, which has contributed to its popularity over the last decade.

The trainer matches these features and has a few additional ones as well. In addition to changing the cross ramp incline as well as varying the intensity, you also have the option to not use the handlebar and focus on your lower body.

Although this option is not used often, it does add variety to your routine. However, the most critical feature, and what separates the elliptical trainer from many other exercise machines when it comes to variety, is the forward and reversible feature on the foot pedals.

When you are going forward, you feel like a cross country skier hitting the long slopes, but when you reverse your pedal motion, you can target your lower body in a completely different way. Without question, you are targeting your quadriceps muscles and will soon feel them burn after a few minutes.

What makes an trainer unique is the combined upper and lower body workout. In fact, there is no other fitness equipment that simultaneously works as many muscle groups.

With an trainer, you get a workout that utilizes the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, chest, back, triceps and biceps. The obvious benefit from exercising more muscles is that you tone more of your body.

Furthermore, you also optimize your energy expenditure. You end up burning more calories and fat in less time.

It is also suggested that there is a reduced perceived rate of exertion with an elliptical workout. You are actually exercising harder than you would normally perceive.

Of course, to get the full benefit of the dual action exercise, it is important that you distribute the resistance between your upper and lower body. Many people who exercise on an exercise machine place most of the resistance on their lower body and only go through the motions with the upper handlebars.

Like a treadmill, elliptical trainers are equipped with a variety of challenging exercise programs. These programs mimic hill climbing or interval training through alternating resistance.

Many exercise machines are also equipped with wireless heart rate control. This allows you to optimize your workout by letting your heart rate control the resistance level.