What Burns More Calories: Elliptical or Treadmill?

1. What Burns More Calories, Elliptical or Treadmill? The Short Answer

Running on a treadmill burns somewhat more than a vigorous elliptical session, and a moderate elliptical session burns about the same as a brisk treadmill walk — so the treadmill wins at the top end, but at matched effort the difference is small. In the 2024 Compendium of Physical Activities, elliptical training is rated at 5.0 METs for moderate effort and 9.0 METs for vigorous effort; treadmill walking at 3.5 to 3.9 mph is 4.8 METs and running at 6 mph is 9.3.

For a 160 lb person, that works out at roughly 180 calories for 30 minutes of moderate elliptical work against roughly 175 for a brisk treadmill walk, and about 330 for 30 vigorous elliptical minutes against about 340 for a 30-minute run at 6 mph. Steep treadmill walking sits in between, at around 255. Those are estimates from published averages, labelled as such throughout this page.

The practical answer is that the machine you will work hard on, regularly, burns more. Many people find the elliptical lets them work longer with less discomfort; many others find it lets them drift into an easy pace without realising. Both machines' consoles tend to overstate what they report. If you are choosing between the two machines for reasons beyond calories — joints, space, noise, running goals — our fulltreadmill vs elliptical comparisoncovers which is best for which person.

2. What Does the Compendium Say About Each Machine?

The Compendium of Physical Activities is the standard reference for the energy cost of everyday activities and exercise. Its 2024 adult edition, the third update since 1993, lists more than a thousand activities, each with a code and a MET value: the activity's energy cost as a multiple of resting energy use. Sitting quietly is 1 MET by definition. If METs are new to you, our explainer onwhat METs are on a treadmillcovers the idea and the equations consoles use.

These are the entries relevant to this comparison, as listed in the 2024 Compendium on the date we checked:

Three caveats belong with that table. First, the Compendium does not define "moderate" and "vigorous" elliptical effort in terms of resistance level or strides per minute, and no such definition could work across machines, because resistance levels are not standardised between brands. Our reading, used throughout this page, is that moderate means working steadily while still able to talk in sentences, and vigorous means only a few words at a time.

Second, the 2024 Compendium lists treadmill walking only at 0% grade. The incline rows above are its "climbing hills" entries, which are not treadmill-specific, so we use them as a reasonable stand-in. They agree well with the ACSM walking equation that ourtreadmill calories burnedguide uses: 3 mph at a 10% grade works out at a little over 7 METs that way.

Third, Compendium values and the ACSM equations do not agree exactly at every speed. For running at 6 mph, for example, the equation gives slightly over 10 METs where the Compendium lists 9.3. Differences of that size are a fair indication of the precision any of these figures has: good to within about 10%, not to the calorie.

3. Elliptical vs Treadmill Calories by Body Weight

The arithmetic is simple: calories ≈ METs × body weight in kilograms × hours. It rests on the convention that 1 MET costs about one calorie per kilogram per hour, which is close enough for estimates. The table below applies it to a 30-minute block at each intensity for three body weights. All figures are rounded estimates.

For an hour, double the figures: a 160 lb person comes out at roughly 365 calories for an hour of moderate elliptical work, 655 for an hour of vigorous elliptical work and 680 for an hour of running at 6 mph — though very few beginners can run or work vigorously for a full hour. For a body weight not in the table, multiply your weight in kilograms (pounds divided by 2.2) by the MET value and by the hours.

Gross and net calories

These are gross figures: they include the energy you would have used anyway by sitting still for the same half hour, about 1 MET. To see what the session added, subtract 1 from the MET value before multiplying. For a 160 lb person, 30 minutes of moderate elliptical work then comes to about 145 extra calories, a brisk treadmill walk about 140, vigorous elliptical work about 290 and a 6 mph run about 305. The net figure is the honest one to use if you are thinking about food.

What the tables show

• Within an intensity band, the machines are close. Moderate elliptical work and a brisk treadmill walk are within a few percent; vigorous elliptical work and steady running at 6 mph are within a few percent.
• Intensity matters far more than machine. Moving from moderate to vigorous on the same elliptical nearly doubles the burn. Switching machines at the same effort changes it by a few percent.
• Incline walking closes much of the gap to running. A brisk walk at 6 to 10% sits about halfway between a moderate elliptical session and a run, without running's impact. Our comparison ofincline walking vs runninggoes further into that trade.
• Body weight multiplies everything. The 200 lb column is about half as much again as the 130 lb column on every row, on either machine.

4. Do They Burn the Same at the Same Effort?

Broadly, yes. A calorie burned is a calorie burned, and at the same oxygen consumption the energy cost is the same whichever machine produced it. The Compendium's vigorous elliptical value of 9.0 METs and its 6 mph running value of 9.3 are close enough that the difference is within the error of the figures themselves.

One way to see it is to ask how long each takes to burn the same amount. For a 160 lb person, using the same Compendium values, reaching about 250 gross calories takes roughly:

The real difference between the machines is not the cost of a given effort but which efforts people reach and sustain on each. A treadmill's top end is high: a runner at 7 or 8 mph is above anything the Compendium credits to an elliptical. The elliptical's strength is the middle: many people can work at a steady moderate-to-hard effort for longer on it, because it does not hurt the way running sometimes does. Forty-five minutes of hard elliptical work outburns twenty minutes of running that leaves your knees complaining, and a run you do outburns an elliptical session you skip.

The same logic applies to the other machines people weigh up against a treadmill. The Compendium lists a stair treadmill ergometer at 9.3 METs, in the same band as running at 6 mph; ourStairMaster vs treadmillcomparison covers what that means in practice, and ourtreadmill vs exercise bikepage does the same for cycling.

5. Why Does the Elliptical Feel Easier?

Because several things about the elliptical lower the effort you feel, and some of them also lower the effort you actually make.

• No impact. Your feet never leave the pedals, so there is no landing shock and none of the jarring that makes running feel hard. The heart and lungs can be working just as hard as on a run, but the session feels smoother. That is a genuine advantage, and it is also why people misjudge their effort on an elliptical.
• Momentum. The flywheel keeps the pedals moving between pushes. At low resistance, momentum does a lot of the work, and you can keep a respectable stride rate going while doing much less than it looks. A treadmill belt offers no such help: at 6 mph, you run at 6 mph or you step off.
• The handles. Moving handles spread the work across arms and legs, which can make a given total effort feel more manageable to the legs. Fixed handles do the opposite job: leaning on them takes weight off the legs and cuts the real cost, exactly as holding a treadmill's rails does on an incline, while the console's figure stays the same.
• No pacing pressure. On a treadmill the speed is set and you keep up. On an elliptical you set the pace with every stride, and when attention drifts — watching a show, reading a phone — most people slow down without noticing.

None of that makes the elliptical a worse calorie burner in principle. It makes it a machine on which it is easy to do moderate work while believing you are doing vigorous work. The fix is to judge effort by your breathing rather than by how hard the motion feels: if you can talk in full sentences, it is moderate, whatever the resistance number says. A heart-rate monitor helps here too; our guide toheart rate zonesapplies to either machine.

6. Why Do Console Calorie Figures Disagree and Run High?

Because neither machine measures calories. Both estimate them from a few inputs and assumptions, and the assumptions tend to be generous.

A treadmill console typically applies a version of the standard walking and running equations to the belt speed and incline, multiplied by a body weight — often a default weight unless you enter yours. The equations assume you are walking or running hands-free on an accurately calibrated belt. Hold the rails, or use a machine whose speed or incline reads a little high, and the console keeps counting calories you did not burn. Many consoles also report gross calories, including the energy you would have used sitting down. Our guide to whethertreadmill calories are accurategoes through each of these.

An elliptical console has a harder job. It has no equivalent of a well-established speed-and-grade equation; it knows stride rate and a resistance level, and converts those into calories with a formula of the manufacturer's choosing. Resistance levels are not standardised between brands, stride lengths differ between machines, and momentum means that a fast stride at low resistance can look like hard work to the formula. If the console also assumes a default body weight, the error compounds.

The result is that the two consoles are not measuring the same thing in the same way, so comparing an elliptical readout with a treadmill readout tells you very little. A higher number on the elliptical is at least as likely to reflect a generous formula as a harder workout. Wrist trackers and chest straps add a third and fourth opinion, with their own assumptions.

The sensible approach is the same for both machines: enter your real weight wherever the console allows, keep your hands off fixed rails and handles, use one source consistently, and compare sessions only within that source. Treat any absolute figure as an estimate that probably runs high, and if you want an independent check, the MET arithmetic in the tables above is a fair one.

7. Impact and Joints: The Trade Behind the Numbers

Calories are only half of this comparison, because the cheapest way to raise the burn on a treadmill — running — is also the one that adds impact. Each running stride lands with a peak vertical force commonly measured at around two to three times body weight, against roughly one to one and a half times body weight for walking. An elliptical removes the landing almost entirely.

That has three practical consequences for anyone comparing the two on calories.

• If running hurts, the elliptical's "vigorous" band is the easiest place to reach running-level calorie burn without the impact. For people with sore knees, hips or feet, or who are heavy enough that running is uncomfortable, that is the elliptical's strongest case.
• Treadmill walking is already low impact. Brisk or incline walking gets you into the same calorie band as moderate elliptical work with no more impact than ordinary walking. If you can walk comfortably, the treadmill does not force you to run to burn a useful amount.
• Impact is not purely a cost. Bone responds to loading, and the jolts the elliptical removes are part of what makes running and brisk walking good for bone. The elliptical remains weight-bearing and better than nothing, but it is a weaker stimulus.

The elliptical also has a fixed stride path, which suits some joints and aggravates others. If you have a specific joint problem, a physical therapist's advice on which motion suits you is worth more than any calorie table.

8. What Does "Burns More" Mean for Weight Loss?

Less than the question implies. The gap between the two machines at matched effort is, for a 160 lb person, somewhere around 5 to 10 calories per half hour — less than a mouthful of most snacks. Even the bigger gap, between a moderate elliptical session and a 30-minute run, is around 160 net calories: real, but modest.

And exercise itself is a weaker lever for weight loss than most people expect. Studies of exercise programs without dietary change generally find modest weight loss, smaller than the calories burned would predict, partly because appetite tends to rise and partly because people tend to move a little less for the rest of the day after a hard session. Diet has the larger effect on the scales; exercise matters a great deal for fitness, health, mood and keeping weight off once it is lost.

For weight loss, that suggests a few honest priorities:

1. Pick the machine you will use most weeks. Consistency over months dwarfs any per-session difference.
2. Work at the hardest level you can sustain comfortably and safely, and be honest with yourself about it — the talk test is a better guide than the console.
3. Do not eat back the console figure. It probably runs high on either machine, and it is gross rather than net.
4. Look to diet for the bigger change, and to a registered dietitian for advice tailored to you.

Our guide totreadmill workouts for weight losssets out what actually helps, including why the "fat-burning zone" matters less than total work, and ourtreadmill calorie estimatescover more speeds and inclines than this page does.

9. So Which Should You Use?

On calories alone, the honest answer is whichever you will work harder on, more often. Beyond that, a few situations point clearly one way.

• You want the highest burn per minute and can run comfortably: the treadmill. Running at 6 to 7 mph and above, or intervals, goes beyond the elliptical's vigorous rating.
• Running hurts, or impact is a problem for you or your downstairs neighbours: the elliptical, worked at a genuinely vigorous effort, comes close to running's burn without the impact.
• You walk rather than run: a treadmill with a good incline range lets brisk incline walking reach the same band as moderate-to-hard elliptical work.
• You tend to coast: the treadmill's fixed speed is harder to fake; if you use an elliptical, judge effort by breathing and a heart-rate monitor, not the motion.
• You are training for running events: the treadmill, because only running trains running. The elliptical is useful cross-training around it.

For everything else that decides between the two — footprint, ceiling height, noise, maintenance, bone loading and cost — see our fulltreadmill vs ellipticalcomparison. If you have decided on an elliptical, our roundup of thebest elliptical machines for homecovers stride length, ceiling height and current models across the price range.

10. Frequently Asked Questions