Elliptical or exercise bike: standing or seated, and which session suits each

On both machines your feet stay on the pedals throughout, so neither has the landing that running puts into every stride. What separates them is where your weight goes. On the elliptical, or cross-trainer, you stand: your legs hold you up the whole time, your hips straighten behind you as on a walk, and the moving handles let your arms push and pull. On an exercise bike the saddle carries you: your legs push the pedals without supporting your bodyweight, the upper body stays still and there is nothing to balance.

So the choice is standing and weight-bearing, with the arms available, against seated and legs-only. For set-up and technique, see the elliptical guide and the exercise bike guide. To match a machine to a goal such as fat loss or a running race, the cardio machines guide goes goal by goal, and RPM's photos of its cardio area show both machines.

For short, hard intervals the bike is the simpler tool. You stay seated, so your position holds when you are breathing hard, and the resistance goes from easy to hard and back in seconds; a spin bike's heavy flywheel adds standing climbs. The elliptical does intervals too, with the arms adding to the effort, but a very fast stride tends to bounce, so make the hard minutes harder with resistance rather than speed.

For long, steady sessions the picture flips. On the elliptical the work is shared between arms and legs and you stay upright, and switching between the moving and fixed handles changes the feel without stopping. On the bike, long rides are often limited by the saddle before the heart and lungs, so set it carefully, and on a spin bike stand up out of it for a minute now and then.

The day after heavy squats or lunges, many people use easy cardio to get moving. The bike fits this well: at a very light resistance your legs turn over without holding your bodyweight. The elliptical works too, but you carry yourself on tired legs, so keep the resistance low and the session short. On a low-energy day the bike also needs fewer decisions: sit, set a light resistance and ride at a pace you could talk at.

Soreness after a hard session is common. If a knee, hip or your back hurts on either machine, stop and have it checked by a doctor or physiotherapist rather than switching machines and carrying on.

Neither machine appears in a HYROX race, which alternates running with stations that include a SkiErg and a rower; HYROX at RPM explains the format and the HYROX training plan builds towards it. What the two machines add is fitness around the running. The elliptical gives extra aerobic time on your feet without more landings, for an easy day between runs. The bike gives hard intervals that add no running, for a week when your legs are already busy with runs, sled work and lunges.

For a running race, practise on your feet; elliptical vs treadmill covers where the cross-trainer fits around that. For a cycling event or a triathlon, the bike is the specific choice.

Within one session, the bike makes an easy warm-up because it asks nothing of your balance, and the elliptical can then carry the main block. Reverse the order on days when you want the hard part seated.

RPM's floor photos show an upright exercise bike on the cardio row, next to the treadmills and cross-trainers by the windows, and a row of spin bikes in the functional area, so you can try standing and seated cardio in one visit. Recumbent bikes and air bikes do not appear in those photos, so ask on a free guided tour whether either is on the floor; the air bike page explains that fan bike, whose handles move with the pedals. Women can ask on the same tour which cardio machines the women-only Ladies section currently holds. A coach in a personal training session can fit both machines around your strength days.