On days when they don't want to go out, whether it is due to air pollution, time constraints or changing clothes, many bodybuilders choose to exercise at home. In terms of size and convenience, treadmills and elliptical machines are the two most common equipments for indoor running. But, which equipment is more suitable for you?
Advantages of using treadmill for exercise:
Dust-free and interference-free real-world mode experience: With the treadmill, you can experience the real-world mode of parks, forests, lakesides, and mountains indoors without being affected by natural factors, so you can restore the fun of road running.
Stable speed and long-lasting health: The speed, slope and distance of the treadmill can be customized according to your own goals. In addition, the treadmill is equipped with safety protection functions such as heart rate detection and safety rope, and can record multiple data such as your weight and body fat in real time. Furthermore, the treadmill can accurately calculate the running time and distance. This is more accurate than outdoor running using mobile phone calculations. Therefore, the runner can execute the training plan more accurately.
Controllable physical injury: With a treadmill, you can imitate outdoor running at home, but it reduces the damage to the knees and arches of the foot by pushing backwards. For older runners, treadmill exercise is also very helpful for maintaining bone density. According to a study by the University of Missouri, running may have a greater impact on strong bones than resistance training. Running on an indoor motorized treadmill allows you to continue to burn a lot of calories in the body while have less impact on the knee joints.
More consumption: If the goal of the runner is to burn calories, an indoor treadmill is the best choice. Studies have shown that a 150-pound person burns 668.2 calories per hour of running. If a person with the same weight of 150 pounds exercises on an elliptical machine, he would consume approximately 340.9 calories per hour. Maintaining exercise for 3-4 days a week will greatly improve your endurance, strength, and muscle condition. Some treadmills have a multi-function mode that allows you to maintain anaerobic shape after the end of aerobic. If you want more diversified, intelligent and comprehensive fat reduction, a treadmill machine is more suitable. Athletes who train for competition will want to concentrate more time on the elliptical cross trainer or outdoors to improve their running skills, because they will not achieve this goal on an elliptical machine.
Reduce joint wear: The elliptical machine can provide low-impact exercises for bodybuilders. Because you are often connected to the pedals, this reduces the pressure on the knees and joints even more. This means you can avoid a lot of wear and tear on the joints of the lower body.
Core challenge: When you use the elliptical cross machine to exercise, pushing and pulling the handle can bring challenges to the upper body. You are really using your core balance to maintain movement between the upper and lower body. Changing the tilt and resistance settings can make your exercise more reasonable and efficient. Reverse pedaling can effectively lock the hamstrings, while increasing the slope can focus on the gluteus maximus. All of these are very important to bodybuilders.
It makes you feel easier to burn the same calories: Research shows that burning the same number of calories on each device will seem to be easier on an elliptical cross machine. This is due to the higher consumption rate you can feel.
Although the elliptical machine exercise cannot replace running outdoors or on a motorised treadmill, it can be a good auxiliary exercise for runners, especially those who are injured or over-fatigued. The elliptical cross machine provides a lower impact experience. It can change your exercise style according to your needs. Such a variety of exercise methods will not only help your physical recovery, but also help create a certain balance.
For those runners who may need to rest, the elliptical machine can also be used as a training means of active recovery and low impact. Using an elliptical machine to exercise allows you to exercise with low impact and still get the cardiovascular benefits from hard exercise. This is an excellent fitness tool for runners who want to prevent injuries or adjust the fitness rhythm and style.
In summary, treadmills and elliptical machines can achieve different exercise effects, but they also have their own advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, the bodybuilder should choose the treadmill or elliptical machine correctly according to their actual situation and the training effect they want to achieve.
