Dreadmill or greatmill? The pros and cons of treadmill running

You may have read my previous blog post about trail running and guessed I favour outdoor running. I am first to admit that I don’t enjoy running on the treadmill, but I am keen to remain objective. I know some people who do enjoy running on the treadmill (my husband is one of them!) and I believe the treadmill has a role to play in a training programme provided you mix it up with outdoor running. Hence I wanted to give a low-down on treadmill running this week to highlight pros and cons so you can decide for yourself. Note I am only referring to pros and cons of motorised treadmills in this post as this is the type you will most commonly find at the gym. Manual flat-belt treadmills are more suitable for walking, although curved treadmills are now making an appearance and I provide further information on these further down this post.

Treadmill Pro #1: Good for inclement weather

If you live in or are visiting a location that knows weather extremes like freezing cold and burning heat, then hitting the treadmill may be a good idea. I have run on snow and ice before in temperatures reaching -12 deg C (10 deg F) when living in Boston and training for the London marathon, but realistically you need to be suitably equipped with studded shoes and have a bit of experience with these conditions in order to avoid minor or even major injuries. If it looks too slippery, the treadmill may be a much safer and more attractive alternative. Similarly, running in extreme heat is a bad idea due to the risk of dehydration and heat stroke. There again, the treadmill is your friend.

Treadmill Con #1: It makes running feel easier than outdoor.  

Treadmill are sheltered from the weather, their surface is even and they typically are motorised so you don’t need to work as hard as you would when running outdoor. However, you can offset some of this by adding a 1% incline during your treadmill workout, as it has been shown to have similar physical benefits as running outdoors.  Also bear in mind that the fact that treadmill running is easier than outdoor running may be a good thing if you’re recovery from injury for example, or if you just wouldn’t consider running outdoors for whatever reason but would consider the treadmill (a treadmill run will almost always beat no run).

Treadmill Pro #2: Great for interval training

A good training programme should include some speed work, and this is likely to include some interval training. However, if you live in a busy town and don’t have a big enough park, interval training may require crossing some roads, and that’s where it becomes a bit tricky and potentially unsafe. If you have to worry about the traffic you will most likely struggle to focus on your training session. Or even if you find a nice flat footpath to do it, there may be some people or animals in the way, which would require you to swerve and cause distraction at best. A good alternative is to perform it on the treadmill. Most of them now include an internal training setting where you can set your easy pace speed and faster speed so you just have to run. No excuse to skip this speed work session now!

Treadmill Con #2: Treadmill has no downhill

Downhill running is hard on the muscles, so no downhill is great for injury prevention, but when training for a race it is essential that some training is done outdoor with actual downhills to fulfil the principle of training specificity which I mentioned in my previous blog post on trail running, especially if the run is likely to be hilly. If you forgo downhill training altogether you’ll very likely get injured on race day.

Treadmill Pro #3: It spares your joints

The treadmill surface is a good shock absorber compared to hard bitumen or similar surfaces. As a consequence it’s kinder on the joints. So once again, it may be a good idea to include treadmill running in your training if you are recovering from an injury.

Treadmill Con #3: It always works the same muscles

The treadmill is pretty much the opposite of trail running as far as muscles worked are concerned. Whereas the variability of the trail terrain mobilises a greater number of muscles than road running, treadmill running mobilises a much smaller number of muscles due to the surface and the constant environment. That means that doing all your running on a treadmill may lead to more overuse injuries than if you were varying your workouts by including some outdoor running and trail in particular.

Treadmill Pro #4: It’s a safe environment

So you may be living somewhere pretty safe but not well lit at night for example. On a very dark night, safety will become an issue, not only if you’re a woman, but also if you’re a man and can’t see where you’re placing your feet as you then risk an injury. Yes, a torch can help, but you may just be more confident and comfortable running at the gym. I don’t blame you.

Also, you may be travelling for work in a new location that you know little about. Besides the risk of getting lost (especially in a remote location with weak GPS signal), you may be unsure about how safe that area is. I’m all for exploring new places with running if possible, but if you’re at all concerned then the gym’s treadmill may be a safer bet.

Treadmill Con #4: It can be boring

I remember running 10 miles on a treadmill once. I have never done anything past maybe 45min since, and to this day I don’t know how I managed to run on a treadmill for that long. As I said, treadmill is definitely not my first choice as a running environment. But to be fair, there are ways to jazz it up, from watching tv (my husband can do a fairly decent workout if rugby is on that day), listening to music, listening to audio book (I don’t personally know anyone who has done this, but surely this must be doable), listening to a podcast (you can even make it all about running by listening to a running podcast - I recommend in particularly Tina Muir's Running for Real and RunnersConnect's Run to the Top series if you’re in need of inspiration). If you’re lucky you may even have a gym with treadmill facing outdoor with a nice view (unlikely in the city, but hey never mind!).

A few additional things to know about treadmill running:

1.  Like for everything else, there is some good practice for treadmill running, that may minimise your risk of injury. In addition, holding on to the handrails whilst running on the treadmill is a bad idea. Not only it will affect your biomechanics, but it is also potentially unsafe. The handrails are only designed to help you get on and off the treadmill and should not be used for anything else.

2. Although outdoor has been shown to be beneficial for mental health, there are some tricks you can use indoor as a recent study has demonstrated that running on the treadmill in front of a picture of an outdoor setting is beneficial to mental health.

3. As I mentioned previously, curved manual treadmills are starting to make an appearance in gyms with the aim to address some of the traditional motorised flat-belt treadmills’ physical shortcomings, and have be reviewed by sprint coach Derek M Hansen in this article.

Happy treadmill running!