Effective Treadmill Exercises - What Not to Do
This section of the website will teach you about what not to do when working on your treadmill exercises. Holding onto a treadmill while jogging is a travesty. I’ve witnessed people — usually young men — turn the speed up to near 10 mph, then “run” while hanging onto the front or side. These floating-like jogs will never prepare you to sprint down that basketball court, where there’s nothing to hold onto!
Hmmm, when else might you need to run hard in real life? How about across a parking lot in the pouring rain? How about when you see someone messing with your car, or a thug 50 yards away pulling at your child? How prepared will your body be to make a mad dash? Yes, attempt that hard sprint, and your body will be wondering, “Where are the rails?!”
Even if you’re hanging on during your treadmill exercises at 12 mph or faster, forget it: This will not carry over to the real world – be it in an athletic field or on the streets. Running mechanics change considerably when a person grabs the treadmill. The foot-stride length alters; there’s a different foot impact point as well, among other biomechanical tweaks. And these unnatural stresses can predispose the person to injury — even if he or she holds on at only 5 mph.
Think about how Nature engineered the human body to run…
…with both the upper and lower half moving in synch. Holding on during your treadmill exercises freezes the upper body. During a hands-free jog or run, both halves of the body work together in harmony to formulate a fluid motion. The abdominal region is the vital link between lower and upper body, and this link is severed when you hold onto the treadmill. Stress injuries to the neck, back, hips, knees and arches can result. Or they may not. But why take the chance?
Some “runners” press their hands off the side rails, body weight partially subtracted from the tread, legs floating in a running motion only. I call these moon-gravity runs that have no application in real life.
Other people hang onto the front bar, feet slamming down. This can cause arch problems, not to mention be quite irritating to other people, since the resulting foot-slamming is very loud: Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!, reverberating throughout the entire gym. How can such hard foot-strikes NOT eventually cause foot problems?
The entire gait is changed when a jogger/runner holds on, including a shorter stride length, different foot impact point, tread-surface forces; the kinetic chain of running is marred. A moon-gravity run will not prepare you to sprint after the punk who just stole your wallet.
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