- There are important differences between a treadmill workout and a track or road workout. As Owen Anderson explains on the Peak Performance website, when running on a normal running surface, the leg muscles provide constant forward propulsion for the upper body. When running on a treadmill, your leg muscles are not used to propel your body forward. They are used to stabilize your upper body in a balanced position. The treadmill takes some of the workload off your legs, but does it make the workout ineffective?
- Despite the fact that treadmill workouts decrease the workload for your leg muscles, there are excellent cardiovascular benefits. The deciding factor should be your exercise goals. You don't want to train on a treadmill if your goal is to compete or participate in marathons or other events. As a competitive athlete, it would be necessary for you to train in conditions as close as possible to those you will encounter while competing. Training on the treadmill would make you slower than those training on the track or road.
- If your goal is personal fitness and you have no intentions on competing against others, the treadmill is a very effective tool in helping you reach your goals. When we think of a treadmill, we think of cardiovascular fitness. The most important element in cardiovascular fitness is achieving and maintaining your target heart rate. A treadmill workout might not condition your legs as well, but it can get your heart rate up and assist you in keeping it steady.
- If you are already at an advanced fitness level, you may notice that you have to increase the speed on the treadmill to a speed faster than your normal track pace to achieve the same heart rate. As long as the target heart rate is achieved, you can be certain that you are getting the best possible exercise for your heart and cardiovascular system as well as for calorie burning and weight loss.
- What do the experts have to say about this? Anderson says, "It is almost always better for serious athletes to train in real conditions rather than on the treadmill when given the choice. Working out on a treadmill in a controlled environment is better than slipping along on icy roads, plodding through snow drifts, fighting gale-force winds or battling with high heat and humidity, but it is unlikely that treadmill training can improve running economy as effectively as overground work."
