I'm shopping around for a piece of cardio equipment for my home. I am partial to the treadmill and the recumbent bike. I have used the elliptical but I really am not fond enough of it to purchase one. I used to jog and run but I no longer do that and I have no plans of ever starting again. (doctor's orders because of a back injury due to running). I use the treadmill to power walk and do incline walking.

Which do you think would consistently give me the most effective workout? I'm looking to drop weight and improve overall health. I'm not looking to train for a marathon or anything like that. Any experience or advice would be appreciated.

thanks!

I've been trying to lose weight for over two years now. I used to own a recumbent bike, and now own a treadmill and a normal exercise bike. I stopped using the recumbent because I also had a back injury due to a car accident. My back is for the most part better now, but still have some pain from time to time. Whenever I would use the recumbent for more than 15 minutes, my back would start to ache. I tried to use it for a few weeks to get used to it and hope my back was just stretching or something, but it never went away. I even tried back stretches and exercises before I would work out and nothing helped.
I love my treadmill and my normal exercise bike. I lost 50 lbs with my bike in a matter of 3 months using it 3-4 times a week and doing nothing else (of course I gained it all back when I moved and stopped working out for a while). The only problem with the bike is that my tushie hurt a little after riding on it for about 20 minutes. But after using it twice, it stopped hurting.
I also power walk on my treadmill and occassionaly run. Although I have lost some weight doing that, I haven't lost it nearly as fast as my bike.
So basically I would recommend a treadmill over a recumbent if those were the only choices, but I would recommend a cycle over anything else personally, especially if you don't plan on running on the treadmill.

Excellent, thanks for the advice!

I am going to pipe in with my opinion. I actually prefer the treadmill as a more versatile piece of equipment. You can walk, walk on an incline, speed walk, walk with weights..run, do interval training. Plus something about being seated and doing the recumbent..makes me feel like it's not as efficient a mode of cardio. No scientific data to back this all up. Just saying.

Yes I've thought about that too. Doing something seated burns fewer calories than doing that same thing standing up so what you're saying makes sense.

It all depends on your level of intensity. Some people may be able to run faster and longer on the treadmill than say pedal on a bike. But for other people like me, I can only run and walk so much on a treadmill before I get tired or my legs hurt. But on the bike, I can go twice as long as a treadmill and go at a more vigorous pace. Plus, whenever I was on the treadmill, all the bouncing caused my mp3 player headphones to fall out, I couldn't read a book, and it kind of made me a little dizzy watching TV. But I can do all of these activities on my bike, which made me able to work out even longer.

What it all boils down to is personal preference. Instead of having to buy each piece of equipment to try it out and then find out it you don't like, you should see if anybody you knows has a treadmill, recumbent, or bike and try them all out. Maybe even check out the local gyms. The gym I used to go to let you do 3 visits to the gym free before you had to sign up, so you could try out the equipment, or some gyms will even let you do a one month membership. If worse comes to worse, just go to the fitness store and try the equipment out in the store for a few minutes to rule out any reasons you may not want to get one of them, or even all of them.

Hope this helps!

Hi All: I got a recument bike at the beginning of the month. Reasons: 1. It could support my heft without putting too much stress on my joints. 2. I can read or watch TV on it without getting dizzy. 3. It took up less space than the treadmill I finally burned out (ok, the treadmill was purchased in 1996 and I got rid of it last year).

I bought a $299 schwinn recubment on sale and am really enjoying it. Because I can watch TV or read on it though I really have to stay on top of increasing resistence and getting my target heart rate up. It's easy for me to get complacent.

thanks for the advice everyone. Your input has been very helpful. I think the bike is going to be my choice.

I think the bike is a great choice. But I am still going to tell you why I LOVE my normal exercise bike.

I rented a treadmill for a month or so, I really enjoyed it and even got up to running for about 5-8 minutes at a time, it felt like I was getting a better work out but when I compared the calories burned to what I burned on the bike for the same about of time the bike was almost double! Given I ride the bike pretty fast but I don't feel it as much and feel I can go longer! It is also much quiter then the treadmill meaning if I want to do it when my boyfriend is sleeping I can, I could not use the treadmill when he was sleeping. The bike also takes up much less room. Like someone else said, I can read and watching TV while I ride the bike, making it more enjoyable for me. I lost my first 50 pounds riding the bike. Also, the bike isn't as hard on your knees and feet.

I still ride the bike but I also do some walking videos

Were you using the readouts on the machines? I wouldn't take them as accurate.

If you have osteoporosis concerns, the treadmill supports weight-bearing exercise. A bike does not.

I also have a recumbent bike and I LOVE it. All the same reasons as listed above. I would wake everyone up on the treadmill and it just took up so much room. I have the bike in the livingroom so I can ride while watching TV. I also made a rule for myself. I LOVE reading. I do not allow myself to read unless on the bike-no more plopping down killing time on the couch for me.