Indoor Marathon Training – Elliptical vs. Treadmill
It’s that time of year again where I start to get the itch to train for my next marathon. The problem is I live in the Northeast and it’s known for awful weather; particularly lots and lots of snow. So there are days when I have to resort to doing my marathon training indoors and that means putting in several hours on an exercise machine mainly an elliptical or treadmill.
I happen to own both, neither of which are very good, but if you are just starting off and you want to have something that will help you jump start your marathon training during the cold winter months which one should you get? Also, which one is better for preventing running injuries such as shin splints and plantar fasciitis?
Elliptical Exercise Machines
Elliptical machines have been around, in one form or another, for many years. They are meant to mimic the motion of cross-country skiing and are a much better improvement to the old school nordictracks (you know those ones everyone had with the rope that you used for ski poles and fake wooden skiis…anyhow). Ellipticals have numerous benefits: they use both upper and lower body making you use more energy and burn more calories, they follow the elliptical path so there is no striking and therefore very low impact, and numerous models will monitor your heartrate allowing you to maximize your workout. But they just aren’t running.
Treadmills
Treadmills are a much more direct comparison to outdoor running because you are actually running. No matter how much conditioning you do, your feet will need to be used to pounding pavement for 26.2 miles which is why it’s so important to get the mid-week runs in. But there are also drawbacks to using a treadmill. The primary drawback is that they aren’t like outdoor running: you are running on a flat surface that is actually sloped slightly downhill. You can counteract this to some extent by elevating the slope anywhere from 1.5-2 degrees. Also, because of the confines of some treadmills you can actually develop shin splints more easily.
Ellipticals vs. Treadmills
So when it comes to evaluating whether you should buy an elliptical vs. treadmill, there are a couple of questions you should ask yourself:
- What am I using it for – Early in the season I will use the elliptical to get the conditioning in. It’s easy for me to pop onto the elliptical for 15-20 minutes just to say I did something. Also, when I fractured my foot (hairline), it was a way that I could keep exercising and conditioning without being laid up for the 3-4 weeks. And if you are following the Hal Higdon schedules, It’s also a good way to cross-train during the off days.
- Will I really use it? – No, really, will you?. I absolutely hate running on treadmills. It has to be a really crappy day for me to resort to running inside for hours at a time looking at the same thing, sweating up the room and hating just about everything about my workout. So if you find that you are like me and absolutely despise running on treadmills, you will probably make excuses as to why you should skip your workout and make up for it some other day (also like me). 1 hour on an elliptical is better than nothing on a treadmill. And if you’ve never tried one or the other, go to a gym 1 time just so you have the experience to know if it’s right or not.
There really is no simple answer. If you don’t mind treadmills and find one that is in your price range, go for it. The benefits of actually running will help to condition your foot and prevent running injuries from happening.
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