Treadmill Running Tips

Here are some treadmill running tips that will enhance your running experience, whether most of your training is done on the treadmill or bad weather occasionally forces you to train on the treadmill.

Tips for Running on the Treadmill

In order for your treadmill running experience to be similar to the workout you would give your body running outdoors, set the incline of your treadmill to 1.0.

And training on an incline is not just good for you, it's better for your treadmill too, and will help it to last longer.

Treadmill Running Tip #2

Don't hold on to the handle bars. If you feel like you need to hold on to the handle bars in order to keep from falling off the end of the treadmill, your speed is set too fast. Slow down rather than holding onto the handle bars.

Treadmill Running Tip #3

Training on a treadmill can be good for speed workouts because you force your body to run faster than you may be used to, just by setting the treadmill to a faster speed. But if you are just going for an easy run, note that you are more likely to run faster on the treadmill than outdoors. So listen to your body and slow, and don't get yourself stuck in a rut. Slow down or speed up the pace of the treadmill as necessary.

Treadmill Running Tip #4

Always have a bottle of water nearby. One of the nice things about training on a treadmill is that you can have a bottle of water, a towel, some music, whatever enhances your run, ready accessible without having to carry anything. So take advantage of this and always have a bottle of water nearby. That way you can be sure to stay hydrated.

Choosing and Maintaining a Treadmill

There are several factors to consider when choosing a treadmill. Do you need it for running or walking? How often will you be using the treadmill? How tall are you? What is the continuous horsepower of the treadmill? These are just some of the questions to take into consideration.

When it comes down to it, there are several decent treadmills out there that you can get for a pretty reasonable price. But if you're going to be doing a lot of running on your treadmill, you're going to want to go with something of pretty high quality...probably looking at spending around $2000.

Still the benefits of having a treadmill might be worth it. You can go for a run while your child is napping or playing without having to push a jogging stroller, find a babysitter or make a trip to the gym.

But if you are ready to take the plunge and buy a treadmill, please do your research first. Make sure the treadmill you choose is going to work for you. And finally, make sure it has a good warranty plan.

For recommendations and help with choosing and maintaining your treadmill, visit: http://www.treadmilldoctor.com.

This site also gives some great treadmill running tips as well as elliptical machine reviews. If you are able to do a lot of running outdoors, you might consider buying one of these instead, so you have an alternate workout to running. My boyfriend and I love to get on the elliptical together, put on the iPod and work up some friendly competition.

Treadmill Running Program

Workout 1

One speed workout I enjoy is a variation of a run walk program. I run at a normal pace for about half a mile. Then increase my speed anywhere from 0.5 to 1.5 and maintain that for half a mile, then run at a recovery pace (probably about 0.5 to 1.0 less than my normal pace) for another half a mile. Repeat 2 or 3 times.

Workout 2

Start out by warming up for ten minutes. Then begin the workout by sprinting as fast a pace as you can maintain for two minutes, cool down for two minutes, run normal pace for three minutes, repeat 5-6 times. Cool down five minutes.

Workout 3

Run normal pace fifteen minutes. Increase speed by 0.2 and run 15 minutes. Increase speed by 0.1 and run 15 minutes. Cool down five minutes.

Running on the Treadmill versus Running Outdoors

In general running on a treadmill can be boring and won't prepare you well if you are training for a race. When you first make the change from running on the treadmill to running outdoors, you will find running outdoors a bit harder. But once you get used to it, you won't ever want to run on the treadmill again. The fresh air, the variety, I never experienced the runner's high until I ran outdoors.

However running on the treadmill does have it's place. Especially if you have a kid, you are at the mercy of the weather, so a treadmill may sometimes be your only way of training. Not to worry, follow the treadmill running tips given above, listen to your body, be sure to have some water and good music handy and have a great workout.

And remember, whether running on the treadmill, running outdoors, or both, the more variety the better, so mix up your workouts, get in some speed training, hill training, long runs, short easy runs, and some other workouts to besides running.

Happy running!

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