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There’s good news and bad news about treadmills. “It’s great that so many
Americans are using them (about 37 million, according to recent Sporting Goods Manufacturers
Association statistics),” says Jay Blahnik, a two-time American Council on Exercise
Fitness Instructor of the Year. “It’s just too bad that we don’t know how
to use them.” His conclusion: Most tread users burn far fewer calories and get less
fit than they ought to.
For the last two years, Blahnik has studied hundreds of treadmill runners for his
“Trekking on Treadmills” program, a class he designed in conjunction with
Star Trac treadmills. He has been particularly surprised by two findings: First, fewer than 10 percent of people alter
their machines’ speed or incline buttons as they run, and second, people run far
differently indoors than they do outdoors.
The bottom line? “People run slower than they should, warm up incorrectly, get injured,
and burn fewer calories,” says Blahnik. Here are his tips for getting the best use out
of your treadmill.
Set the incline at 1%. To duplicate the effort of flatland running on a treadmill,
angle the deck slightly. This approximates the effect of wind resistance while moving forward
outdoors (there’s no air friction indoors because you’re stationary) and mimics
outdoor body lean (you often run more upright on a tread because the ground, not you, is
moving). It’s a fact: It’s easier to run at a 0% grade on a treadmill than on flat
ground outdoors.
Run faster. Blahnik found that half of all tread users fool themselves by running at
walking speeds of 4 to 5 mph. He says this plodding pace, known in the trade as “fake
jogging,” is less comfortable and burns far fewer calories than running 6-plus miles per
hour. In fact, Blahnik claims that “fake jogs” burn less fat than same-speed
walking, which requires many more strides and far more sweat. Even if you are cruising at
legitimate running speed, Blahnik advises you try turning it up a notch. “If you regularly
run at, say, 7.2 mph, try 7.5—you might find that it puts you in a better groove,”
he says. A good final check to see if you are running fast enough is the “talk
test.” According to Jeff Zwiefel, the director of National Exercise for Life, you have
reached the correct effort zone when you find it hard to sing or hold a conversation during
exercise. If your breathing isn’t labored, it’s too easy; if you can’t talk
at all, it’s too hard.
Lengthen your stride. Many treadmill runners, subconsciously afraid of kicking the
tread’s engine cover, often take shorter-than-normal strides. Fact: Long strides increase
your running speed. Get them by pretending to “swallow” the tread belt, says
Blahnik— thinking of your legs as jaws opening wide to bite, say, a double-decker
veggieburger.
Run more frequently, more minutes. Treadmills’ built-in shock absorber makes
indoor running less stressful on your joints, so your body can handle more workout time with
less risk of injury. A safe way to ramp up for a 10K or marathon is to increase your indoor
mileage.
Run soft. For unknown reasons, runners tend to run flat-footed and land harder on a
treadmill than outside. To replicate your outdoor motion, consciously try to make the
“sound” of your impact softer.
Warm-up properly by starting with a steep walk. A proper warm up is essential before
running, and the treadmill provides the ideal features if used correctly. Here’s how to
do the “active calf” stretch—the best pre-run stretch for protecting against
strains: Start walking at 3 mph., at a 10% grade, then slowly increase speed and decrease slope
until you reach what Blahnik calls “breakpoint”—where you begin walking
awkwardly like Groucho Marx. You should reach breakpoint after about 5 to 10 minutes of
walking. For most men, breakpoint will be about 5- to 5.5 mph at 1% incline.
Proper workout pace. Once you reach breakpoint, you have a decision to make: Do you want
to run or walk? If you want to walk, lower the speed by 0.5 mph; this is your fastest
comfortable walk. If you plan to run, raise your speed 0.5 mph from breakpoint; this is your
slowest comfortable run. Then gradually ramp up your running speed to workout pace.
How fast to run? If you lack a heart rate monitor, the “talk test” is a
low-tech way to tell if you’re working hard enough, according to Zwiefel, the director
of National Exercise for Life. If you have labored breathing while you sing or hold a
conversation during exercise, you’re in the correct effort zone. If your breathing
isn’t labored, it’s too easy; if you can’t talk at all, it’s too hard.
Warm down. Always warm down, says Mike Katon, the fitness director of the Cooper Fitness
Center in Dallas. Start with 5 minutes of low-intensity aerobics and stretching, even more if
you are older than 40. A similar slowdown and even more stretching at the tail end of the
workout aids recovery and greatly enhances
flexibility.
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