At face value, the treadmill and the elliptical seem like two pretty similar pieces of gym equipment. Both machines have you up on your feet, moving in the same plane of motion and largely calling on the same set of muscles. Their basic purpose—giving you a cardio workout—is downright identical.
Yet these machines can inspire some big feelings: Most folks who use them strongly prefer one or the other. Those on Team Treadmill love how it simulates an outdoor run or walk, plus how quickly it can get them huffing and puffing. Team Elliptical, on the other hand, will wax poetic about how it feels better on their body—and never leaves them paranoid about missing a step.
But which machine gives you a better workout? Well, that depends on exactly what you’re looking to get out of your cardio session. “They’re both beneficial,” physical therapist and running coach Kimberly Melvan, DPT, CSCS, tells SELF. “It isn’t necessarily one over the other.” To help you decide which to hop on when, we asked experts to break down the differences in how treadmills and ellipticals affect our bodies. Here’s what to keep in mind before you hit that start button.
The biggest difference is the impact of your strides.
If you’ve only ever heard one thing about the elliptical, it was probably about it being “low-impact.” Because your feet are attached to the pedals the entire time, you don’t put a bunch of stress through your joints with each step the way that you do on a tread where your feet have to come off the belt then land back down to keep walking or running.
But that’s not to say that impact is bad. In fact, it’s hugely helpful for our bone health. “Every step that you take, you’re providing force to the joints, which leads to more osteoblast activity, which will play a very large role in bone mineral density,” Susie Reiner, PhD, CSCS, certified exercise physiologist and post-doctoral researcher at the University of Kentucky’s Sports Medicine Research Institute, tells SELF. For that reason, weight-bearing exercise like walking or running gives your bones the stimulus they need to strengthen, making it a smart part of a balanced fitness routine (particularly if you’re prone to choosing cardio over bone-building lifting workouts).
Yet there are times when it’s best to minimize that impact. In particular, people with arthritis, those coming back from lower-body injuries, or anyone who needs to minimize impact during pregnancy or the postpartum period are better off on the elliptical because of that boon. “Since it is low-impact, there’s less wear and tear on the joints, making it easier to do longer sessions without discomfort,” Dr. Reiner says.
The elliptical can also work your body in a couple of unique ways.
There are a few different kinds of ellipticals out there. Some keep your feet on just one circular path, and the only tweak you can make is the amount of resistance you’re pushing against. In this OG case, the muscles you work are pretty darn similar to those on a treadmill. Think: hamstrings, calves, glutes, quads. (Though you might get a little more glute and calf action on the tread.)
Other machines let you change the height of your stride (sometimes independently of the resistance) and some even let you tweak the length of it too. Certain ellipticals also have arm handles that move back and forth.
If you take advantage, these extra options can work your body in different ways. For instance, Dr. Reiner says that choosing a higher step height can challenge the range of motion in your hips if your knees come up high enough, somewhat mimicking a stair climber. Taking higher steps can also target the glutes and stability muscles around the hip joint, she adds. Now, that doesn’t mean it’s a replacement for dedicated strength and mobility work, but it can add some helpful variety.
With arm handles, Dr. Melvan says you can also work your upper body, engaging your biceps, triceps, and the postural muscles between your shoulder blades. Just know that you’ve got to be pretty intentional about pushing and pulling with your hands to actually get that benefit, since it’s easy to let the bigger muscles in our legs take over while the arms simply go along for the ride.
If you’re running a race, you’re better off on the treadmill (mostly).
There’s a basic principle in exercise science called specificity, which points out that our bodies adapt to the particular activities we do over and over again. So if you’re training to run a race, you’re going to want to put in a good deal of time running. And even though the motion of the elliptical is similar to running, it’s not quite the same as hopping on a treadmill. “You’re losing that impact force, that wear and tear in the body, which will help build up that athlete long-term to be ready and resilient for whatever their [race] goals might be,” running coach and personal trainer Elizabeth Corkum tells SELF.
That said, the elliptical can be a helpful tool for runners to use as active recovery when their body’s feeling a little beat up. “Sometimes it’s great for the day after a really hard run or a long run,” Corkum says. She particularly recommends elliptical sessions for runners who struggle with issues like shin splints. “You’re checking the box of getting stronger and getting in that aerobic training and you’re doing something that very much simulates running but without the same stress or forces,” she says.
Either machine can give you a hard workout, but certain intensities are easier on each.
The treadmill is often seen as more hardcore than the elliptical. But it really comes down to how you approach these machines. “I think that theres a misconception that the elliptical is easy,” Dr. Reiner says. “It really isn’t if you use it efficiently.” You can crank up the resistance and push the pace to hit higher intensities. Getting your arms in on the action, too, is an especially strategic move. “When you start working the upper body more in cardio, that actually raises the heart rate much faster because the limbs are closer to the heart,” Dr. Reiner says.
That said, many gymgoers find it simpler to do high-intensity work on a treadmill, either by amping up the incline or running faster. “There’s an upper limit to where you can safely coordinate the quicker movements on an elliptical,” strength and running coach Alison Marie Helms, PhD, CPT, tells SELF. She points out that at higher speeds, the motion of an elliptical can start to feel a little awkward, whereas the treadmill harnesses your natural movement patterns even when you sprint. Of course, a treadmill can only go so fast and so high too, but it will get most of us to our max.
Also: You’re the one moving the pedals on an elliptical, so it’s easy to get distracted and step off the gas without realizing it. “If you space out, you’re not going to fall off the machine,” Corkum points out. On a treadmill, however, that belt keeps on moving at whatever speed you programmed; you’ve got to stay focused enough to hit that pace until you actively decide to dial it back.
On the flip side, if your goal is to get in some endurance-building zone 2 cardio, that can be easier to pull off on the elliptical. That’s because running can easily make our heart rate jump up into higher zones (especially when we’re new to the sport). “On the elliptical, it’s a lot easier to manipulate where our zones are and to feel truly in control of them,” Corkum says.
Remember: The best cardio workout is the one you’ll actually do.
Physical benefits aside, don’t ignore your emotional reaction to these machines. If you dread the tread, or find the elliptical too boring to stay on for long, you’ll be more likely to cut your workout short. And Dr. Reiner points out that it’s consistency over time that helps us actually make the fitness gains we’re after.
So hop on the equipment that feels best to you, or mix up your cardio sessions and do a little of both. Corkum even has runners switch back and forth between the two in the same workout. “Sometimes it’s not just what the body can handle,” Corkum says. “It’s also what the brain is going to thrive on long-term.”
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