Myths, half-truths, and facts about the treadmill

When the wind is brisk or the sun is scorching, runners are faced with choosing between braving the elements or playing it safe on the treadmill. But the treadmill has a reputation for being boring and negatively affecting a runner’s overall performance.

Freshman Anna Burkey began college career with a goal to run 300 miles this academic year. Every weekday morning, Burkey laces her running shoes and goes to the Perry Center.

“I started out hating running, and now I’ve grown to love running. I’m already at 280 miles,” Burkey said. “I tried to make a goal that would be really challenging, but I didn’t want it to be too unreasonable.”

Although Burkey ran the trails around Bourbonnais when the weather was warmer, for the past few months she’s been stuck on the treadmill.

Fitness writer for About.com, Christine Luff, writes that a few treadmill mistakes are improper running form, running the same pace for the entirety, and running the entire workout on a steep incline.

Junior Wesley Sproul is a marathon runner. He runs most of his winter runs on a treadmill, but rarely steps on the machine during the summer. “It’s more of a winter, stay in the rhythm of running thing,” he said.

Sproul’s biggest aversion to running on a treadmill is the way it forces him to change his stride. He shortens his strides on the treadmill because he is afraid of kicking the front of the machine or falling off the back. “It doesn’t feel natural. It feels restricted,” he said.

Dr. Casey Kerrigan, physiatrist researching the biomechanics of treadmill walking and running with the National Institutes of Health, found the idea that the treadmill belt propels you forward, creating less work for the runner, and the treadmill belt pulling your leg through, resulting in a passive extension of the hip are myths.

Even though your stride may change when running on a treadmill, the relative movement of your muscles remains the same and they are being conditioned the same way, Kerrigan said.

Runners also have a habit of running on a one-percent-incline on a treadmill to mimic an outdoor run. According to Kerrigan, this strategy is not helpful unless you are running at a speed of 7.5 mph or more. She wrote on her blog, OESH, that if you are running at a pace faster than your usual outdoor pace, think of it as a “needed winter confidence booster.”

Sproul practices this technique by varying the speed of the treadmill giving it a more realistic feel because it allows you to speed up and slow down the way you would naturally do if you were running outside.

Burkey said, “I like to run outside just to relieve stress or enjoy the day, but when I run on the treadmill I go for speed because it makes you go a certain pace.”