The time has come to hit the cardio machines, picture the scene; you’re at the start of your workout after a short warm up, you have muscular endurance exercises lined up after your stint at cardio. On your left is the indoor exercise bike and on your right the treadmill. What do you choose?

Choosing between an exercise bike or treadmill can be a hard choice for some. Weighing the benefits and drawbacks of both is an important decision when working out; they work similar muscles in different ways. So, what way is best?

In today’s article, we’ll be delving into both the treadmill and the exercise bike to determine which - if any - is best for cardio. No matter if you're a gym veteran or brand new to fitness, explore both machines with us as we break down the pros and cons of both.

For the new people among us, we’ll start with;

What is a treadmill?

As the image above shows, a treadmill is a type of indoor exercise machine that allows you to simulate a run or a jog without needing to plan a physical route outdoors. It is a great solution for running or jogging in winter months, or for those who may be self conscious running in a public place.

What’s great about a treadmill is that there are several ways to control how difficult your workout will be. For instance, speed, distance, and even the angle of the treadmill can be altered. This allows for the treadmill to simulate everything from running up a steep hill to long-distance lap running around an athletics track.

Some folk that are just getting started in fitness will use the treadmill at a slower pace (such as a fast walking pace) to tone their leg muscles and work up to a jog or a run.

It is a great machine to get anyone started with cardio.

What is an exercise bike?

An exercise bike is, essentially, a stationary indoor machine that’s function is to simulate bike riding. Usually, an exercise bike will be equipped with only one wheel to simulate the peddling action and the whole ‘bike’ will be raised off the ground to allow the machine to remain stationary.

Exercise bikes are much like treadmills in that they can be adjusted to suit an individual’s workout goals. The resistance you’ll feel while peddling can be increased to simulate going up or down hills, and some high-end exercise bikes even come with gears to simulate a real bike ride. However, most exercise bikes will have various difficulty settings to choose from and this serves the need of almost everyone wanting to use one.

These machines, much like treadmills, are great for beginners. For people that don’t own a bike but want to get fit or for those not comfortable enough to ride a bike on the roads/pavements, an indoor cycling machine is a fantastic option.

Exercise bike or treadmill?

This is the big question on everyone’s mind. When weighing up whether you want to use a treadmill or an exercise bike, you’ll need to take a few things into consideration:

• Do you intend to do cardio at the start or end of your workout?

• Is cardio the main focus of your workout?

• What muscle groups do you want to improve?

• Are you recovering from any injuries?

• What does your full workout plan look like?

Answering these questions will help guide you when choosing between these two cardio machines. However, nobody said you need only choose one! A well balanced workout schedule has room for using both machines during different workout sessions during the week.

Workout Intensity

Often people will try to compare how intense an exercise bike workout will be versus a treadmill. This isn’t really the best metric to use as the intensity of the workout will vary based upon what difficulty settings are used, but more importantly, both machines put a focus on different muscle groups.

The treadmill tends to put a greater strain on the calves, ankles and lower legs, while the workout bike will tend to put more of a strain on the thighs and hip joints. Taking this into consideration is a big part of how intense a workout will feel. For instance, if you’ve been deadlifting then an indoor cycle workout may feel more intense in the thighs. If you’ve been doing weighted step ups, then a treadmill may feel more intense for your calves.

However, body weight is also a factor to consider for workout intensity. Working out on an indoor cycle is not a weight bearing workout because your body weight is being supported by the machine. On the contrary, a treadmill doesn’t offer any kind of body weight support during the course of a run, making a treadmill a weight bearing workout. This presents the treadmill as a great choice for those wanting to have a weight bearing cardio workout.

But, just because the treadmill is weight bearing and the indoor cycling machine isn’t - that doesn’t mean the treadmill is an optimal option. A session cycling at a high difficulty session versus a session of light jogging will feel vastly different in terms of intensity and calories burned.

Variety of Workout

A crucial factor to consider when choosing a treadmill or an indoor cycle is the variety of workout options both present. Generally, most treadmills will have functionality to:

• Adjust speed

• Adjust the angle of the treadmill

• Set timers

• Set distance goals

In contrast, most exercise bikes will have functionality to:

• Adjust resistance

• Set timers

• Set distance goals

Immediately, the big difference is that treadmills are able to adjust incline. This may not be immediately important for a beginner but it does present an array of options for working out with a treadmill that an exercise cycle can’t effectively match. The ability to both run and jog on a treadmill also makes it a great choice for those who want to take part in HIIT sessions.

This presents the treadmill as the machine that does have a slight edge over the indoor exercise cycle when it comes to the variety of exercises the machine can facilitate.

What muscles do each target?

The stationary exercise bike and treadmill do target very similar muscle groups in the body, which makes them hard to choose between if you’re choosing by this metric alone.

The treadmill tends to work:

• Thighs

• Hamstrings

• Calves

• Core

• Arms (if you don’t hold on)

• Glutes

It is worth noting that the weight bearing nature of a treadmill workout makes it work the full body, just some muscle groups to a lesser extent than others.

The exercise bike tends to work:

• Thighs

• Hamstrings

• Calves

While strengthening (to a lesser extent):

• Core

• Back

• Shoulders

What machine is good for weight loss?

For those on a weight loss journey, we should assess what machine is more efficient. Thanks to an in depth study by the Harvard University, we know that for 30 minutes of working out:

• Walking at 4 miles per hour (15 minutes per mile) burns around 135 calories for a 55kg person, 175 calories for a 70kg person and 189 calories for an 83kg person.

• Running at 5 miles per hour (12 minutes per mile) burns around 240 calories for a 55kg person, 288 calories for a 70kg person and 336 calories for an 83kg person.

• Bicycling at 12-13.9 miles per hour burns around 240 calories for a 55kg person, 288 calories for a 70kg person, and 336 calories for an 83kg person.

• Bicycling at 14-15.9 miles per hour burns around 300 calories for a 55kg person, 360 calories for a 70kg person and 420 calories for an 83kg person.

For those looking at more intense workouts:

• Running at 7.5 miles per hour (8 minutes per mile) burns around 375 calories for a 55kg person, 450 calories for a 70kg person and 525 calories for an 83kg person.

• Running at 10 miles per hour (6 minutes per mile) burns around 453 calories for a 55kg person, 562 calories for a 70kg person and 671 calories for an 83kg person.

• Bicycling at 16-19 miles per hour burns around 360 calories for a 55kg person, 432 calories for a 70kg person, and 504 calories for an 83kg person.

• Bicycling at 20+ miles per hour burns around 495 calories for a 55kg person, 594 calories for a 70kg person, and 693 calories for an 83kg person.

Using these figures, you can approximately estimate how much you’ll be burning depending on your weight and the machine that you choose.

Always Choose Village Gym

Regardless of your exercise machine of choice, choosing Village Gym will provide you with a range of state-of-the-art equipment - such as both treadmills and exercise bikes - as well as a friendly environment to get your sweat on.

Our resident personal trainers and gym staff are more than happy to assist you on your fitness journey, no matter if you're stepping onto a treadmill for the first time or trying to consistently break that 20 mph barrier on the indoor cycle.

Join today at your local Village Gym!