Treadmill Exercises (page 3)
A real posture-wrecker
Every person I’ve ever seen holding onto the treadmill while jogging or running has demonstrated terrible posture, usually characterized by being hunched over like Quasimodo (you know, the Hunchback of Notre Dame?). No matter how old or frail a person is, holding on is bad for that person. Besides, most of the runners I see holding on are not senior citizens.
When your feet become accustomed to gliding on the tread while you’re hanging on, you’re asking for trouble once you hit the outdoors, especially uneven surfaces. Your body, not accustomed to real jogging because it’s adapted to the security of hanging onto the treadmill, will be vulnerable to injury. Your 6 mph indoor fake jog will feel like 10 mph outdoors at the same speed.
A person who holds on at very high speeds may experience an elevated heart rate, thereby believing he or she is getting a nice training effect. An elevated heart rate does not mean efficiency. If it did, then smoking — which raises heart rate — would be considered beneficial to the heart! Holding on, particularly at very high speeds, can jar up the shoulders and transmit unnatural forces throughout the body.
The gripping and tugging become more pronounced as speeds exceed 8 mph. The faster the speed, the more your legs, hips and feet move in a way that contradicts motion in the real world. Even if you hold on intermittently, this adds counteraction to the rest of the time.
A high incline never justifies holding on while jogging. This will do absolutely nothing to train your body for a true-life uphill canter or even walk, in which you must support your full body weight without anchoring your hands to anything.
Forget the numbers on the machine.
Here is a simple rule to follow: Forget about viewing impressive numbers on the display panel. Don’t think you look cool because the machine is angled all the way up and the tread is whizzing fast beneath your feet. Nobody looks good holding on. Instead, they look just plain silly.
Humble yourself and set the speed slower, and/or the incline lower. And just say no to holding on. If you must slow the speed to only 4 mph in order to jog without holding on, then so be it. If you hold on at faster speeds, you will not progress.
Get used to the smaller numbers blinking on the console. Proper technique comes first before increasing the intensity, especially if you are challenged, i.e., new to exercise, overweight, older, bad knee, poor balance, or even diabetes neuropathy.
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