Running: Treadmill vs. Outside
Posted June 20, 2008 at 01:30 PM by Donnell Peavy
Section: His Fitness, Cardio Training, His Health, Physical Health, Lifestyle Health
I recently talked to a friend of mine who took up running as his primary means of getting in shape. He would run daily on the treadmill and eventually worked his way up to running a little over two miles non-stop. One eventful day, he was feeling his Wheaties and decided to run outside because the weather was nice. He told me that he was panting, drenched in sweat and did not finish the entire two miles. “But I have been running two miles easily,” he told me. He was perplexed as to why he suddenly seemed to have lost his stamina. His experience is not unique by any means; I hear this rather frequently, actually.
The main issue is that a treadmill is a flat surface – there are no bumps and no hills. Also, treadmills are used indoors. Consequently, there is no wind resistance. Yes, wind resistance is an important factor and must be accounted for. If you don’t believe me, try running into the wind on a blustery day. Or better yet, buy a parachute and run with it open and strapped to you. It’s normal for people to keep a pace which is .3 - .5 miles faster on a treadmill than while running outdoors. Can this difference be accounted for when running on a treadmill? Sure it can. For starters, you can run at a faster pace.
Next, add an incline. Quite obviously, you can’t set wind resistance on a treadmill, but you can add resistance by running uphill. Keep it even more realistic by running a course with hills as opposed to a manual flat course. This will simulate running up hills and on uneven surfaces. Keep in mind that you are indoors- with no wind, there is no breeze to dissipate the sweat via evaporation. You will remain hot longer and will dehydrate faster. Keep water with you at all times. Running on a treadmill definitely isn’t the same as running outdoors. There is no scenery, there are no hills and there is no wind, but you can enjoy yourself all the same. Lace up your shoes, turn on your mp3 player and tear up the tread.




The Final Sprint
On December 2, 2008
Water Damage Repair said:
Dude.. I am not much into reading, but somehow I got to read lots of articles…