Elliptical Trainers and Treadmills are great pieces of exercise equipment for getting in shape. Recently elliptical trainers have begun to eclipse treadmills in popularity. As elliptical trainer information becomes more and more available to the general public this trend should continue. The ability of elliptical trainers to prevent and protect joints, muscle and bones is a major advantage. As the population gets older and the baby boomers enter retirement, elliptical trainers will become increasingly more popular. Elliptical machines will allow intense full body exercise routines to be conducted with relative safety.

Treadmills have pretty much been the main piece of fitness equipment found local gyms and fitness centers. However, my doctor recommends that I stay off them since my knee was scoped 5 years ago. We love doing our road work outdoors on natural surfaces, however, here in Southwest Florida with its high temperatures and humidity during summer, we prefer exercising in air conditioning. Exercise physiologists and doctors tell us that when you use a tread mill that is not perfectly adjusted, each time your foot strikes the belt it slides forward a small amount. It is this motion that causes knee injury. If you are over 150 lbs. and use the treadmill for running it can be very noticeable and sometimes uncomfortable. Many times my knees will ache after just two miles of a light jog on a treadmill. I recently talked to an exercise equipment repair technician who told me that about 80% of all treadmills are not adjusted properly. The main cause is that it is expensive to properly maintain treadmills and that they can easily become out of tune. I have on more that one occasion tried more than one treadmill at our local fitness center before I found one that did not have a pronounced belt slip.

Elliptical trainers are easier on our knees due to the greatly reduced impact. They also do not have the belt slip problems that hurt our knees. Some people describe running on an elliptical trainer to something like running on air. It does take a little getting used to the change in motion but it does allow you to do a good aerobic workout when your knees are sore. In fact some physical therapist use elliptical trainers as part of their recovery programs. I have also noticed that I can exercise longer on my sore damaged knee on an elliptical trainer than I can on a treadmill. Many quality elliptical trainers have the ability to change the angle or slope of the elliptical motion. This has a major benefit in that it will allow you to change the shape of the stroke to eliminate pain and discomfort during y