Treadmill Vs. Elliptical: Which Burns More Fat?

Making a commitment to a healthy lifestyle to burn your excess fat and develop a lean body can lead to vast overall improvements to your health. But before you can experience these benefits, you must choose a form of cardiovascular exercise to burn fat. Treadmill and elliptical trainer workouts both can generate a high calorie burn. To see fat-loss results, however, you must pair your new workout regimen with a reduction in your caloric intake.

running in gym

Your Pace Dictates Your Burn

Man exercising on elliptical trainer and woman.

Your average pace dictates the number of calories you burn while using a treadmill or elliptical trainer. The key element to remember is the faster you move, the more calories you burn. HealthStatus reports that a 195-pound person burns about 755 calories in 45 minutes on an elliptical trainer. The caloric burn you experience on the treadmill depends on whether you walk or run. A person of the same weight burns about 342 calories walking at 4 mph and 562 calories running at 5 mph. When your body burns 3,500 more calories than it consumes, you lose a pound of fat.