5 reasons why i'm Against Treadmills
1) Treadmills are not fun! That’s why commercial fitness facilities have to strap TVs and iPod hook-ups to them to create a diversion to the monotonous work that your body is performing day after day
2) Treadmills are performed in a relatively small range of motion, not allowing an exploration and practice of high-quality movement. Also, treadmills have a predictable speed and surface which doesn’t challenge the proprioceptive system to respond quickly to changes in surface level/shape/etc. I believe this has a direct correlation to sprained ankles and other foot dysfunctions due to poor dexterity and reactivity (along with the type of footwear chosen, of course. Why not do cardiovascular exercise that encourages moving your joints through all ranges of motion? Some of the best group exercise classes do this and it kills two birds with one stone by getting cardiovascular fitness covered along with improved joint mobility, motor control and awareness, and strength.
3)If you live in California, there is no reason why you can’t exercise outside 90% of the time. The benefits of being outside far outweigh the risks. There may be some hurdles to overcome in big cities, but the excuses stop there. Sunlight exposure is a good thing for Vitamin D production which we know helps with mood and bone health; fluorescent lights from being inside, however, are not conducive to the aforementioned.
4) Treadmills negate the work of the body’s posterior chain musculature (glutes, hamstrings, back extensors, etc.) by actively pulling the legs behind the body from the powered belt, instead of having the body’s musculature do the work. This reinforces flexed postures which contribute to posture-related health detriments like back pain, knee pain, shin splints, and migraine headaches, to name a few. There are treadmills that are not powered, which would be a better alternative since they force the body to use it’s posterior chain.
5) Treadmills are expensive to purchase and expensive to maintain. Thousands of dollars are spent purchasing new and repairing old ones. This cost could be subsidized by what some smart gym owners have done by attaching the treadmills to a power generator and using the human kinetic energy to cut down on energy consumption. However, the maintenance fees still stand. What if we used that money to fund more group exercise classes, cut down on personal training fees for clients, and perhaps gym membership fess as well? The possibilities for diverting this unnecessary revenue succubus are endless.
If you currently run on treadmills, i encourage you to try running for a week outside to see and feel the differences. It’s all around a better choice, and yes, you CAN bring your iPod with you.
CR
p.s.-what’s even worse is that we’re now exposing our pets to the woes of treadmill usage…
WHY ARE THEY SO POPULAR?!!!
I have another thing to add to the list.
6) They make it so that you don’t set your own cadence.
You can pick 5.5 mph exactly if you want. However, should you ever go run outside you won’t know how fast you are going and can quickly lose pace because you are getting winded. Why are you getting winded though? You have been training on that treadmill for months. Probably because you are going too fast, then too slow and everywhere in between. Being able to set our own cadence is a skill that takes training. Training that is not provided by a treadmill.