On the television, the Biggest Loser Season Whatever played; a scene with a bunch of purple shirts on the treadmill machines. Bob and Jilian hammered these overweight contestants who were working harder than I ever have on a treadmill (part of this is because I prefer elliptical machines) and at one point, one of these contestants dropped to his knees and let the belt roll him to the end of his workout. Chaos ensued and the collapse became about someone not having enough heart and wanting to give up. You have to hand it to the contestants; they know what it takes (sweat and tears and hard work to the tune of way more calories burned than earned) to drop the pounds.
My friend looked at me from the sofa and pointed something out: “Ever notice that these guys are never on an elliptical trainer? Those things are obviously useless.”
The first part of his statement was definitely true. You never see elliptical trainers on the Biggest Loser and a most fitness experts will either love them or hate them, often disputing their relevance to a workout regimen. The second part of his statement was untrue – part of me believes he made the remark simply because I had just spent a small fortune on a mid-market elliptical machine.
The question about the relevance of an elliptical in a workout program has been ongoing since they were first marketed as cross-trainers. Much of the debate stems around what kind of value they provide your body. A treadmill emulates walking or running outdoors; a stationary bike emulates riding a bike and so on.
But an elliptical? It emulates nothing, so the motions involved (moving your arms and rowing your legs against different resistance and, possibly, incline levels) really do not provide much benefit in a training environment – you use different fine muscles for skiing, different muscles for running, plus there is no “impact” with an elliptical.
Ultimately, what an elliptical machine provides is a no-impact cardiovascular work out. It works muscles and over the extreme long-term could actually build muscle, but not like an impact workout like running outdoors. Where an elliptical machine outshines all other cardio machines is in its ability to get your heart rate to its optimal level quickly and keep it there, and this is where you are better able to control fat burn and calorie burn than with other machines.
The usefulness of an elliptical machine, therefore, is in the cardiovascular and no-impact benefits it offers over the traditional machines we see on shows like the Biggest Loser. If you want to run, in my opinion, go outside. Don’t like the hard sidewalk? Run on the grass as it will provide the same impact-absorption as a flex-track treadmill.
Still not convinced? Consider some of the in-house cardiovascular elements to P90X, yoga and pilates and compare those to a 30-minute interval workout on an elliptical machine. You decide which will allow you to get into shape quicker.
If you are looking at buying an elliptical machine, ask yourself if you are training for a marathon or if you want to burn fat and shed the pounds. If your answer is that you want to prepare for a marathon, don’t waste your money. If you need the weight-trimming benefits that a tough cardio workout offers (and a $6,000 Stepmill is out of the question), then your best bet is the elliptical machine. Period.
