Top 12 Mistakes People Make When Using Treadmills for Fitness and Health

By jbehar at June 9, 2015, 4:58 p.m., 17386 hits

Today cardio is becoming very popular. You enter any one of the many big b ox fitness chains on every corner and you see rows and rows of cardio equipment. One of the first places people new to a gym venture is “cardio row” and the most common choice they pick to start their fitness journey……

Wait for it

Wait for it

The TREADMILL!!! Tadahhh!

Now on its surface the treadmill seems like a simple machine, it relatively speaking it is. But even being a simple machine, many people make mistakes while using this simple piece of cardio equipment.

Here’s a look at some of the most common mistakes people make while using the treadmill.

Using the wrong kind of footwear: For those who start a new fitness routine, it is extremely important to choose the right kind of shoes before stepping foot on a treadmill. In my experience I have seen people using dress shoes, flip flops, and even no shoes at all. The best footwear to pick is the ones with extra padding in the sole so that your knees and ankles are protected from the high impact of your foot when it hits the treadmill surface.

Hunching forward. Hunching forward can cause you to develop an anterior tilt or excessive forward lean, which can cause you to lose your balance and may contribute to lower back pain. Keep a solid upright posture, and engage your core muscles. If you can't maintain good posture, slow down your pace and/or lower the treadmill incline.

Slapping your feet down. This creates too much impact and force on your body and can cause muscle strains and lower back issues. Landing flat-footed can cause your body to lean ackward as the belt goes forward, which strains back muscles from the force generated through your hips and back, and could also cause you to lose your balance. Instead run lightly, heal to toe. Be as vertical as you can.

Running or walking flat footed. This is one of the most common mistakes people make. While landing on the treadmill belt, most people slap their foot causing strain in your leg muscles. This impact of your feet landing hard on the treadmill will force you to lean backwards thereby increasing the chances of you losing balance. Experts recommend people to use their mid-foot, instead of their heels, while using a treadmills. So friends, get your form right from the word go.

Constantly looking down: Looking at your feet while walking on the treadmill can cause you to lose your balance. Looking down can also strain the back of your neck and misalign the rest of your body, causing your hips to thrust out behind you, stressing your hips, spine, and knees.Instead, look straight ahead, keep your shoulders at level while walking, jogging or running. Focusing on one spot will ensure that you don’t lose balance.

Swinging your arms widely. You may think you are burning more calories, but in fact you are probably just being laughed at by gym regulars. If you want to make your workout efficient, don’t swing your arms or criss-cross them uncontrollably. Rather, keep your arms by your side so that your overall body movement is under control. If you choose to jog and run, keep your arms parallel to each other and bent at a 90-degree angle.

Locking your arms on the treadmill bar. While it is okay for beginners to hold the bars while walking, it is important that once you gain some confidence you must walk or jog like you would do outdoors, and lose the “lock grip”. Using the treadmill without holding on to the bars will help increase your fitness level.

Taking giant strides: In a bid to cover more ground, do not sacrifice your form and efficiency by using extra long strides. This is unsafe and can result in you losing your balance and injuring yourself.

Turning up the speed too much. This is just too stupid. If the speed is too fast. you can trip, fall and injure yourself.

Increasing the incline too high. Adding speed, resistance and incline are all good ideas,in an effort to increase your fitness level and burn more calories, but these are things you should work up to./

Sticking with the same routine. If you want to burn more fat, and improve your cardio fitness you should vary your treadmill routine. It may be comfortable doing the same treadmill workout day after day, but over time you'll burn fewer calories as your body adapts and muscles become more efficient. To vary your treadmill routine, change the program. Incorporate hills, use the fat burning program or use the cardio program to keep things different. Other ways you can manually change it up" increase the incline, increase your speed, increase the overall time spent on the treadmill or incorporate high intensity interval training (HIIT). If you use HIIT, use it occasionally and not each time you use the treadmill for maximum effect.

Showing off. Today with internet heros getting million views for stupid stunts, you might be inclined to show off using the treadmill. Juggling while running? Skipping? Running backwards? Dancing? Long jumping? All; bad ideas that can earn you a trip to the hospital or a clip on Jeff Behar Presents: Epic Gym failures!

About the Author Jeff Behar

Jeff Behar, MS, MBA, is a well-known health, fitness, wellness author and anti aging, champion natural bodybuilder (2014 Masters Grand Prix Champion, 2015 California State Masters Champion), and a recognized health, fitness and nutrition expert with over 30 years of experience in the health, fitness, disease prevention, nutrition, and anti-aging fields.

As a recognized health, fitness and nutrition expert, Jeff Behar's has been featured on several radio shows, TV, and in several popular bodybuilding publications such as Flex, Ironman and in several highly regarded peer reviewed scientific journals. Jeff Behar is also the CEO and founder www.MuscleMagFitness.com and www.MyBesthealthPortal.com and a Medical Commentator on exercise for The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, the worlds largest medical academy for anti-aging and regenerative medicine, provides medical professionals with the latest Anti-Aging, regenerative, functional and metabolic medicine.

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— Last Edited by Jeff Behar, MS, MBA, CIH at 2015-06-08 13:27:17 —

Posts [ 3 ] | Last post June 9, 2015, 4:58 p.m.

#1 - June 8, 2015, 4:02 p.m.

BobbyBoomer

I wore out two manual treadmills over the years - actually wore grooves in the steel deck under the belt. I always figured manual was better and they had the arm pulls. I mostly walked barefoot.

I also wore out two elliptical machines.

Then I decided to never buy another machine. I started walking on the road (we live on a dead end street with a hill that rises about 10 feet in 200 or so feet. I found that walking on the road (with good shoes) did my body much better than the machines. My ankles are stronger, my balance is better and my weight went down. I walk about 4 miles in an hour at least 5 days per week (sometimes 7).

I realized I wasted hundreds and hundreds of dollars on exercise machines that weren't doing me as much good as the pavement was. And if I wear it out, the county will fix it at no additional expense to me.

#2 - June 9, 2015, 4:37 p.m.

jbehar

@bobbyboomer I think in many cases Bobby you are correct many machines are not design well and do not provide any advantage over old-school training methods.

However there are some machines that are designed where they reduce the impact on the joints especially the knees. There's an elliptical I use that allows me to do cardio with no pain on my joints yeah if I was to walk or run outside I would not be able to do one 10th as much roadwork.

Also several parts of the country that half the year there bothered by poor inclement weather, whether it snow, rain or excessive heat. In these cases finding a machine that is designed well can't be advantageous and allow people to perform well beyond what they could without the availability of a good piece of exercise equipment.

With that being said however there are many Machines are poorly designed so if weather and your body allows you to perform exercise and cardio the old-fashioned way without the use of machines by all means that should be done.

I think the best solution is to incorporate old-fashioned methodology without the use of machines with occasional use of machines are designed to provide an advantage over not using the machine at all.

As a personal trainer as well besides a competitive bodybuilder, I design programs my clients that use machines occasionally, most of their exercise and cardio is done without the use of machines.

#3 - June 9, 2015, 4:58 p.m.

BobbyBoomer

Of course what is best for one isn't necessarily best for another.

I found that after wearing out my last elliptical and doing the same 4 miles on the pavement, my ankles were soooooooooo tired until I built them back up. This tells me the elliptical wasn't doing as much for my ankles as the street does.

Fortunately I live in South Florida where it seldom gets too cold to walk. In the summer, I just walk early in the day. I also put 1.5 lb wrist weights on.

I'm not looking to be a body builder, just keep healthy. I'm almost 70 and want to be able to walk when I'm 80 or more. The street also resulted in lowering my blood pressure from high 120s to high one-teens, sometimes down to 108 in the morning.

I've never been a gym kind of person, which is why I spent thousands of dollars on manual treadmills and elliptical machines. One treadmill and one elliptical were Nordic Trak and the last elliptical was almost identical to the Nordic (even used a Nordic Power Supply for the computer) and I think manufactured by the same company. Not cheap stuff, but not the most expensive either.

Added bonus to the street is I get to greet my neighbors every day. Sometimes the walk is interrupted by one, but that's a pleasant diversion. A few times a week my wife walks with me, and the road is shorter when you have company :)