The disadvantages of using a treadmill
There are many benefits to running on a treadmill. Running in general can give you a great cardiovascular workout while strengthening your muscles. It can also relieve stress. Running on a treadmill allows you to run in any type of weather or season. You can monitor your vitals. You can vary your running "program" to challenge or relax your body, as needed. But there are also some disadvantages to using a treadmill. You may want to consider them before investing in a gym membership or before buying a treadmill for your home.
Treadmills can never simulate a road workout perfectly. They may allow varying courses, speeds and inclines, but they can never prepare you for road surfaces like gravel, sand, cement and dirt. The even and soft surface of the treadmill is an advantage in many ways, but it does present one major disadvantage. The challenge of running over the varying surfaces of a road improves the ability of your brain to recognize the effect these types of surfaces have on your muscles and the position of your body parts and joints. This is important because it affects your balance, power and running economy. Running on the treadmill removes this very important part of training.
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Treadmills have also been shown to create differences in a runner's positioning when running. For example, more experienced runners usually have a longer stride on the treadmill than when free running. Less experienced runners usually have a shorter stride on a treadmill. Also, some studies have determined that some runners run with less of a forward lean when running on the treadmill. This can cause more energy being wasted on up and down motion and less energy focused on forward momentum.
Treadmills are inappropriate if you're training for an outdoor running event. If you're just training to improve your running skills, using a treadmill may be a fine idea. Either way, your training should match your goal as closely as possible. So if the race you want to run is indoors on a treadmill, by all means, use a treadmill to train for it. But if the event you're training for is outside on the road, trail or track, you should be training outside and not on a treadmill.
By nature of being indoors, treadmills are easier to run on because you don't have wind or other weather resistance. This can give you a false sense of how fast you can run indoors. When running on the treadmill, you are obviously running in a stationary position. You are not running through the air. When you run outside you are running through the air, which creates resistance. The faster you run, the more of an effect the air resistance has on you. You can compensate for the wind resistance by elevating the treadmill to one or two percent.
If you own your treadmill you have to maintain the machine and that may be costly. To top it off, it may lead to lost training days. If you are in your home, you may also have to deal with family issues, ringing phones and delivery people at your door. Plus, you have to be self-motivated throughout the whole workout because there are no other people working out beside you for inspiration, and no trainer shouting at you to keep up the good work. If you don't own your treadmill, but use one at a gym, it can be expensive to pay the monthly fees. You also have to travel to get the gym.
Although there are clearly some disadvantages to using a treadmill, this does not mean that they are bad. Treadmills also have many advantages and are a great way to stay in shape. Just be sure to do some research before you invest in a treadmill.
