If you want to lose weight or start keeping your body in shape, but don’t have time for the gym, you can always buy a home exercise machine. However, you need to decide which one. Strength options are designed to develop muscle relief. Aerobic exercise is optimal for losing weight and maintaining health. Detailed information about them will help you determine which is better, an exercise bike or an elliptical trainer.
Both cardio machines provide a good workout for the entire body.
Exercise bike
Exercise on an exercise bike is effective for losing weight, developing endurance, improving blood circulation, and strengthening the muscles of the legs and buttocks.
Contraindications: severe forms of cardiovascular diseases, respiratory system diseases, diabetes, severe arthrosis and varicose veins.
There are 4 types of exercise bikes:
- The vertical one imitates a regular bicycle. Effective for slimming legs and loading the buttocks.
- Horizontal ones provide a gentle load. They are more expensive and require a lot of space for installation. They are not very suitable for weight loss because they do not give quick results.
- A portable one is cheaper and you can practice with it wherever it is convenient for you. They are not as effective as stationary ones.
- Hybrid ones are more effective for weight loss. Combining upright and recumbent exercise bikes have a higher than average price.
Elliptical trainer
During classes, almost all muscle groups are involved. The legs, buttocks, muscles of the back, arms, and shoulder girdle work. Even older people can exercise at a low pace on the orbit track. Training is contraindicated for spinal diseases. All contraindications for an exercise bike also apply here.
Orbitrek replaces 5 exercise machines at once: a stepper, a treadmill, skis, dumbbells and a back trainer.
Peculiarities
To choose an orbitrek or an exercise bike for your home, compare their characteristics, advantages and disadvantages.
Exercise bike
Gives good aerobic exercise and burns calories. The cost is low and installation does not require much space.
During classes you can watch movies, listen to music, read books or study foreign languages.
At the same time, the heart and blood vessels are strengthened, a large group of muscles is tightened. It is difficult to fall off an exercise bike, so it is not dangerous.
Recumbent exercise bikes can be used by people with spinal diseases. During exercise, about 600 calories are burned per hour.
Flaws:
- Uniformity of loads. The muscles of the arms, shoulders, chest and back are practically not involved.
- An upright exercise bike puts a lot of stress on your knees and spine.
- Classes will have to be supplemented with dumbbells or fitness.
To lose weight, ride an exercise bike every day for 30 minutes.
Orbitrek
Harmoniously develops the whole body with a variety of loads: the movement can be direct, reverse, leaning forward or backward.
Different muscle groups are used in different positions:
- in the main position all muscle groups are involved;
- the reverse movement emphasizes the load on the buttocks and hamstrings;
- Leaning forward engages your hips and calves;
- bending back thoroughly works the buttocks.
Ellipsoids are:
- mechanical,
- magnetic,
- electromagnetic,
- aeromagnetic.
Some models display heart rate, distance, calories burned and other indicators.
It is as effective for the arms, back and pectoral girdle as when exercising with dumbbells. The load is uniform on the whole body, calorie burning is doubled compared to an exercise bike.
Exercise increases endurance, improves the functioning of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems.
It can be used by obese people, and in a gentle manner even for rehabilitation after injuries, but only after consultation with a doctor. In this case, you need to train with a trainer.
Compared to a bicycle or treadmill, the elliptical is gentle on joints and knees. All movements are performed smoothly along the oval. The risk of stretching is minimized.
Flaws:
- high cost compared to exercise bikes;
- requires more space for installation;
- It’s difficult to watch a movie and certainly impossible to read;
- the risk of injury is higher compared to an exercise bike: training in a vertical position creates the risk of falling from a greater distance.
To lose weight with the help of an orbitrek, exercise on it 4 times a week for 30 minutes.
The maximum load of most simulators is about 120 kg. If you weigh more, you should consult a medical specialist. Sports training at such a high weight puts a lot of strain on the heart.
What is better to use at home?
Which exercise machine to use at home depends on many different factors. First of all, it is worth considering the availability of free space in the room. The stepper has a much more compact design, which allows it to be used in much more limited spaces. An exercise bike, on the other hand, takes up much more space.
It is also worth noting several nuances that directly affect such a feature as ease of use. Due to the fact that the exercise bike can be used in a sitting position, the load is optimized. This is especially convenient for people who have problems with excess weight. On the stepper, on the contrary, you have to practice in a standing position, which requires additional effort to maintain a vertical body position.
Now to the question of the effectiveness of the presented simulators. An exercise bike allows you to provide a significantly larger number of training programs, which makes it possible to adapt the load to a person’s physical capabilities. At the same time, the intensity of training can be set to be completely different, which allows both beginners and more experienced athletes to train successfully.
What to choose to lose weight
The elliptical burns more calories in the same amount of time on the exercise bike. Therefore, it is more effective for weight loss.
The exercise bike can be combined with other activities, including studying and watching movies. You don’t have to allocate separate time for training, but include it in your regular schedule. The orbit track trainer does not need to be supplemented with other exercises if the goal is to lose weight.
To choose an orbitrek or an exercise bike, consider the condition of your body and contraindications. The choice is determined by the cost, space in the apartment, reviews, individual characteristics and a given goal. At the same time, control your diet to achieve high-quality results.
Many in the gym ask the question: “What is healthier and better for losing weight and training, a treadmill or an elliptical trainer (popularly an ellipse)?”
On the one hand, walking on an ellipse seems to be easier than running, and no special preparation is required, on the other hand, people shout at us from every corner about the wonderful fat-burning benefits of running.
Well, let's find out!
Exercise bikes
Exercise bikes are exercise machines that simulate the load on muscles when riding a bicycle. These machines are considered one of the best when it comes to strengthening the core muscles of the thigh. Although, by and large, the effect here depends on the height of the seat: the higher it is, the greater the load will be, which means the faster the result will become noticeable.
What is better, an orbitrek or an exercise bike? Judge for yourself: exercise bikes are an excellent choice for people who want to strengthen their back and leg muscles and tone their cardiovascular system.
Such devices can be either mechanical, in which resistance is carried out by tensioning a belt on a rotating wheel, or electronic, where exercises are carried out lying down or sitting, and in which you can independently choose the appropriate fitness programs.
The main disadvantage of an exercise bike, according to reviews, is that it does not use the calf muscles. In addition, it is important to remember that only the legs move on such a simulator, that is, the responsibility for maintaining the correct heart rate falls entirely on them. Therefore, you will have to work very hard, hard and long. It is also impossible to discount the fact that such exercises place a large load on the knee and adjacent joints.
What tasks do they perform?
Or in other words: why do we use them at all?
- Promoting health and preventing diseases
that may arise in the future. This includes training the heart and lungs, which means improving the functioning of the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, increasing endurance, reducing the risk of high blood pressure and the formation of pathologies associated with heart failure. - Our desired weight loss
(and preferably due to intensive burning of fat deposits without loss of muscle mass and exhausting diets). - A daily boost of energy
and a good mood from the results obtained.
Comparison
Let's visually compare the differences between an ellipse and a treadmill:
| Treadmill | Elliptical trainer |
| Nature of movement | |
| Natural running and walking at different speeds and distances on a flat or inclined plane | The legs (and arms resting on the handles) describe an oval, simulating climbing steps (), walking back and forth, riding a bicycle or skiing |
| Naturalness of movements | |
| A treadmill, unlike an ellipsoid, imitates natural human movements: walking, jogging, long-distance running. It is these types of activities that perfectly strengthen bones and muscles. | The ellipsoid is clearly inferior: we have not yet learned to walk “along an ellipse.” |
| Muscles involved | |
| Legs, back, abs, thighs, calves are involved NB! It is not recommended to hold hands, it reduces the effectiveness of the training! | Narrow impact on the muscles of the back of the thigh, buttocks, abs, back |
| Calories burned | |
| 600-700 kcal/hour (up to 800 kcal/hour) | 500-600 kcal/hour (up to 773 kcal/hour) |
| Shock absorption systems in expensive treadmill models soften the shock load, but it remains high compared to an ellipse, where the foot is constantly in contact with the support, and there is no such problem at all | Simulates walking without creating shock loads |
Summarize
On the one hand, a bicycle station is more convenient and safer if you are overweight. This is its advantage. On the other hand, an elliptical, unlike an exercise bike, works all muscle groups.
For a home exercise machine, the price category is important. If your budget is limited, it is better to choose an exercise bike. Even an inexpensive bicycle simulator will provide a full workout, without harm to health. The same cannot be said about the budget orbitrek.
The technical capabilities of elite ellipsoids and exercise bikes are approximately equal.
What is more effective and better for losing weight?
So, Broad Bone is ready to determine what is better and more effective for your weight loss: an ellipse or a path?
The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness published the results of an interesting study by Irish scientists. It focused on the bottom-line results that the vast majority of people who exercise care most about: getting fit and losing weight. Three experimental groups, each of which included 8 women, were engaged in fitness for 12 weeks according to a special program using various types of exercise equipment: an ellipsoid, a treadmill and a stair stepper.
As a result, participants in all three groups showed equal improvements in their cardiovascular health and decreased body fat. So for fat burning there are no fundamental differences between the mentioned exercise machines.
The most effective thing is to move and eat less
