Stay Injury-Free on the Treadmill

Runner's World recently published an article Stay Injury-Free on the Treadmill and after reading it, I feel that as one who trains regularly on a treadmill, I need to comment on some of the points they made.

1) Speedwork on the treadmill:

because the treadmill keeps moving even as you tire, you may overstride—land with your foot too far ahead of your body—as you attempt to keep up with a too-fast belt

Though this is also true when you do speedwork outside on a track or pavement. They claim that in order to bail you need to push buttons, whereas on the track you just slow to a stop. Well, to make it apples to apples, I think you'd need to just stop moving your legs on the track to see what happens. Just kidding, don't do that. When it comes to bailing, all you have to do is grab the handles and jump up on the frame. It takes a half of a second. Try it at a slow speed and you'll see how fast it is to bail.

I've even done Tabata style workouts as an experiment. Stand on the frame, set it at 12 mph, jump on and don't fall off for 20 seconds, then jump onto the frame for 10 seconds. You can do it. Just be safe and don't get hurt. No, I no longer do these - they're too tough.

Treadmill Intervals at a 12% incline while watching a TV Episode

But I digress, yes, don't slam your heels into the treadmill deck. Try to slap the belt with the ball of your foot, but gently. Also learn to lean forward from the bottom of your butt. Don't hinge at your navel, which is what most people do. If you're tight or weak you'll want to fold at the navel. Try to keep your back straight and tilt from the bottom of your butt. Try to feel that and keep your attention on it. If you lose your form, slow down or stop.

2) Bored, cut workouts short:

reserve your favorite books, podcasts, movies, or playlists for your treadmill time. Studies show that music lowers perceived effort, so you feel less tired than you would without tunes.

In general, I prefer to think in terms of time on the treadmill, rather than miles. I'll even set the display to not show miles and just do my speed and my time. There is great value in doing an hour or two in Zone 2 heart rate. One of my favorite tricks is to have a movie or TV season lined up in Amazon Prime Instant Video or whatever your favorite streaming service is. If you are doing an 85 minute movie, you'll be on the treadmill for 85 minutes. Works great for me. I think you should try it.

There are a couple of points I think are important to add to their article. If you train on a treadmill a lot share some of yours. Thanks.

When I'm not on the treadmill in the winter I'm outside in the snow running