2/22    Dear motd personal trainer: Is using an elliptical machine as
        effective as a treadmill? (the goal is weight loss and i'm worried
        about impact on the knees).
        \_ why are you considering the elliptical machine over treadmill?
           \_ He said "i'm worried about impact on the knees".
        \_ I've been losing weight at the rate of about 2lbs per week
           largely on an elliptical trainer.  I work hard, though:  52
           minutes/day in 140-150 heart rate range.  If you believe the
           calorie count, it is MORE effective than equivalent time/effort
           on a treadmill.
           \_ Elliptical training is for the weak - the numbers make it
              look far more impressive than it is.  Stairmaster creams it
              by a factor of 2x on a calorie count.
                \_ ellipticals are not at all for the weak. they're meant
                   to be a very low-impact way of getting aerobic exercise.
                   they work slower than some machines and quicker than
                   others, but it has nothing to do with being weak or not.
                   nice try.
              \- the stairmasters that have real steps in an infinte loop
                 rather than the pedals that just go up and down seems
                 pretty good to me. i ran up those for a couple of months
                 before heading off to nepal. i also operate those on manual
                 rather than program modes and just always push pretty
                 hard with a sprint at the end and maybe a breather now
                 and then. treadmill with a manually varied slope is also
                 reasonable, --psb
              \_ Calorie count is worthless.  You can't lose significant weight
                 from exercise alone.
                 \_ My 2lbs per week weight loss and I beg to differ.  Is
                    14 lbs "significant"?
        \_ i've been using the elliptical due to knee problems as well,
           and it is good at low angle and low resistance, but i have now
           found that my knees are again the limiting factor, as my cardio
           conditioning is now good enough that i can't get my heart rate
           up without causing too much strain on my knees.  i've recently
           added treadmill to my workouts for short periods of time and so
           far my knees have been okay with it, but we'll see!  it's a much
           more intense cardio workout and if you are interested in training
           for actual activity like hiking or whatnot, gives a realistic and
           transferrable muscle workout, unlike the elliptical, which has
           helped my overall cardio conditioning, but otherwise hasn't really
           seemed to help my hiking all that much.  -lila