Treadmill or Elliptical trainer?

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Cookie

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I need some opinions on which to buy for a Xmas gift for my son. I am wondering which would be better for him being he has some arthritis in his knees, either a treadmill or an elliptical trainer? I have been reading up on it, and it seems that might be better for him.
 
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Chad Schloss

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i have a treadmill and have tried an elliptical. I have bad knees. I cannot do the elliptical but I love the treadmill.
 

Gary in NJ

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I use both as well as a spin-cycle. The keys to keeping knee pain to a minimum are:

1. Cross-train, change-up your exercises. If you use the treadmill one day, then use the elliptical trainer the next,
2. Wear quality exercise (running) shoes and change them every 6 to 9 months,
3. Keep your body weight low. Unfortunately the vast majority of our weight is above the knees,
4. Stretch the achilles, calfs and hamstrings.

With all of that said, if your son has arthritis in his knees the treadmill may be a problem. An elliptical trainer is low impact and very kind to the knees. As a stocking stuffer you may consider a bottle of Glucosamine & Chondroitin. I use the Walmart Equate band and it really has helped to reduce knee pain.
 

Cookie

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Thank you to you both, I appreciate your input. He always says how bad his knees are, it worries me. He played football with his friends growing up all the time, one kid played for a major college team, and I think, my son sustained injuries from playing ball. Whether it created the arthritis I don't know. He also has it in his hip. When I watch him walk, it is one of pain for me, and to think of him, on a treadmill hurts my stomach. I have been doing some reading about different things and, I don't know, I think, I am leaning toward the elliptical trainer, it keeps saying it is lower impact on the knees. I work near a GNC so, I am in there all the time, I will ask about the stocking fillers for him, they have a big book in there, I spend my time reading. I wish I could give this kid my knees for Xmas, but, then again, he might look silly with them. :)
 

BobL43

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I also have both an treadmill and an elliptical, both are Nordik Track. The treadmill is not powered, except by my own feet. Personally, I find the elliptical nice and smooth to use. Last time I used either one of them was well over a year ago; been too busy reading and posting here:eek:
 

DonL

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I think that the best thing for the knees is normal walking.

Most of them machines just aggravate knee problems, from the start.

I think that a good walk with Mom does better good than anything else.

You may want to check into a Fish oil supplement, In hopes to better lubricate his joints.


The old timers use WD40...
 

DonL

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I thought that you were an Old Timer Bob.

I bet Cookie knows what I am talking about, Even tho she is a Young Lady.

Don't take WD40® internal, Spray it on the hurting Joint.
 

DonL

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I aint touching that one. :)

Sorry Cookie.

I guess that the old timers that work on autos used the WD.

I do not recommend it.

But the Fish Oil may help with his problem and is said to protect from many Cancers, + other Benefits.

I would not buy any Fish product from Japan tho, It may glow in the dark.
 

BobL43

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I thought that you were an Old Timer Bob.

I bet Cookie knows what I am talking about, Even tho she is a Young Lady.

Don't take WD40® internal, Spray it on the hurting Joint.

I have 2 cans of WD40 in my shed and one in the shop, but I never heard of spraying on any body parts Don.

There are other lubricants for some body parts, but we won't get into that here, will we?:p
 

Chad Schloss

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"I think that the best thing for the knees is normal walking."

I disagree. Being obese myself at a whopping 350 (lots of muscle,beer belly fat) i can tell you that the treadmill is better on your joints than walking on the street because most of them have shock absorption and give to it. I have a Horizon club style treadmill, it lifts fatties up to 400lbs or so. I have also owned a nortictrack incline trainer and loved that too. The only elliptical i've tried was a cheap one that my mom had and it was very jarring to my knees and i couldnt go more than 3 or 4 revolutions before wanting to get off. i can do 1hr on 6% incline no problem on the treadmill though.
 

DonL

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"I think that the best thing for the knees is normal walking."

I disagree. Being obese myself at a whopping 350 (lots of muscle,beer belly fat) i can tell you that the treadmill is better on your joints than walking on the street because most of them have shock absorption and give to it. I have a Horizon club style treadmill, it lifts fatties up to 400lbs or so. I have also owned a nortictrack incline trainer and loved that too. The only elliptical i've tried was a cheap one that my mom had and it was very jarring to my knees and i couldnt go more than 3 or 4 revolutions before wanting to get off. i can do 1hr on 6% incline no problem on the treadmill though.

Good deal Chad,

I was thinking more of a person starting starting out.

You are correct about walking on the road, but I think Cookie® has a bit of land to walk on.

I was told when I was 14 that I would not be able to walk by the time I was 18 if I did not get my knees operated on.

Screw a bunch of doctors, I am an old Fart and still walking.

It is good that the nortictrack® incline trainer worked for you.


I just chase my girl around the house.
 

Cookie

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I feel for my son, I do know how it feels. When I was little, I would walk and fall, the doctor told my mom I had "trick knees." When, I turned 9, it turned out to be juvenile rheumotoid arthritis. So, the doctor told my mom to keep me moving. I started running I became a fairly, good runner and tennis player. My mom got me my first tennis racket at age 13 from Green stamps, and it was infact, a man's racket. Heavy with a big grip. So, I have suffered with it, too, in my knees & wrists. I tried the shots through the years, including on my heel of my right foot, and I swore never ever again. That was in 98. I got him an ellipitical trainer today because, I think, from what I have been reading it would be the best for him. He walks like he is in pain at times, I am sure he gets tired of me asking him. I hope he didn't get this crap from me, I hope it is not genetic. Most things are. Walking or running on the roads are fine, but, once I got hit in the eye with a loose piece of asphalt from a car. Ever since then, I am leary of the roads.

Yes, I own a small, mountainside (camp) in the forest I could run on, but then, those bears are pretty darn fast when they want to be. :) Running for your life is not healthy. Or fun. lol.
 
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Cookie

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I mean they are no cheetah's but, they can run. Especially, if you are bugging them or taking their blueberries like this one day years ago at camp.

I walked down the road which is curvy, and a pretty nice little hill. I walked my youngest who was about 4 or 5 then. We walked down carrying our little basket, to pick blueberries from the huge bush right at the end. While picking them, I noticed the bush was moving, then, I heard a telltale sign their was a bear in the back also, doing some picking.

My son saw him. And, the bear saw him. I heard the snorting. And, it wasn't me. I scooped my son up and thought we could maybe, tippy-toe, out of there. No way. This bear looked like he wasn't going to tippy-toe. He looked like he was going to charge.

He did.

I never ran so hard and so fast, carrying a kid in my life. I flew. My feet wasn't touching the ground. My son kept saying, " there's a bear, there's a bear."

All the way up the hill we ran and probably, the only mother & child to beat a bear in distance. He was fast.

We were faster.

We got back to camp and went inside and, my basket still had the blueberries in them. :)

Oh, the bear? He sat down on the road a bit & then left. We never ever picked blueberries there ever again. They belonged to the bear.
 

DonL

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Where did you go Cookie ?

Did you get a Bad taste in Your mouth ?

Or did you get ran over by that new Nortictrack® ?

You should have taught that boy to drive better. lol

We All miss You...
 
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Cookie

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I only do good work. That is my problem. I am going to have to learn to be slipshod so, I blend in. :)
 
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