stair machine or elliptical ?
exercise suggestion? : stair machine... - Osteoporosis Support
exercise suggestion?
I suppose it depends what you want/need to accomplish, and what is possible to be done conveniently without a machine, and what would benefit you more if you have equipment,
My understanding is to support bone health, stair machine is suggested,, however, weight-bearing exercise such as hopping, high intensity training, etc are included when I read about exercise.
I recently read somewhere that walking upstairs is good for the heart and walking downstairs is good for the bones.
I think the stair master because it provides more impact than the elliptical. But, both increase your heart rate, so that's a good thing too.
Both are considered low impact. That is good for joints but bones need impact. So if your objective is strengthen your bones, I think neither is of much use.
the experts say stair master is best for bones and I do double stepping on it ( as in skip a step ) and I do weight lifting
I googled and found a site that compares stairmaster to incline on the treadmill and thought this was interesting:
Stairmaster Boosts bone health - Stair-climbing is a weight-bearing exercise, meaning it involves lifting your body weight. This stresses your bones, stimulating new bone growth and increasing your bone density. As a result, regular stair-climbing could reduce the risk of osteoporosis and fractures later in life.
Improves balance and coordination - Stair-climbing requires you to maintain balance while moving up the stair machine. You’ll need to use your core muscles and hip flexors to keep your body stable and control the action.
On a side note, the site may have been written by a company that promotes stairmasters, but the site did have some good info.