Treadmill Walking Mistakes to Avoid and How to Fix Them

Other Popular Blogs

Why People Regain Weight and How You Can Maintain Weight Loss

It’s time to move that ever-growing pile of unlaundered clothes, dust off your treadmill and put that to good use! Did you know that just 30 minutes a day of aerobic exercise can make a big difference in your life? According to a 2012 study, 30 minutes of exercise a day works just as well as an hour of exercise to help overweight adults lose weight.

But before you get on a treadmill, take note of these 6 common treadmill mistakes and how you can fix them.

1. Forgetting to warm up

Warming up allows you to prepare your body for exercise. It literally “warms up” the body. A warm up session should include a combination of aerobic exercises, stretching and strength exercises. Warming up increases circulation to the muscles, elevates heart rate and helps to prevent muscle strain and injury.

You can do these 4 quick warm up exercises from the Cleveland Clinic

2. Not prioritizing safety

Firstly, clip on the emergency stop mechanism or safety key to your shirt or shorts. If this mechanism is pulled, like in the case of a fall, it trips the power to the motor and the treadmill will gradually stop.

Secondly, learn how to properly get on and off the treadmill. Never step on a treadmill when it’s at full running speed! You should start by stepping on the sides. Input the speed at walking pace or at the lowest speed. Step on the treadmill and start walking. You can increase the speed once you’re comfortable. To get off the treadmill, hit the stop button. The treadmill will automatically gradually decrease the speed until it fully stops. Hold on to the handles and place your feet on the sides. Get off the treadmill to a clear area. Lastly, make sure to watch for items that could cause you to trip and fall like undone shoelaces, fallen towel and etc.

3. Holding on to the treadmill handles

You may feel like you can push harder and run faster when you hold on to the treadmill handles but you could also be ruining your running form. Furthermore, it lessens the intensity of the exercise so you may not be burning as much calories as you think. So the next time you run and feel the need to hold on to the handles to keep up, don’t and instead lower your speed to a pace you are more comfortable with. You can gradually increase your pace as you progress.

4. Being too distracted by the TV or your phone

It’s a lot easier to work out on the treadmill when you’re watching your favorite TV show. The big problem is it takes your mind and focus out of your workout. That means you don’t pay attention to your form or posture. Plus, there’s a chance of developing stress injuries down the line. If you’re using your phone to listen to music, resist the temptation to check your messages or social media.

5. Constantly checking the monitor

It’s easy to get distracted and keep looking at the monitor. Whether it’s watching your speed, checking your incline or how many calories you’ve burned off – you have all this handy information right in front of you. The only problem is it also promotes bad posture and walking form. Looking down at the monitor can also potentially cause strain on your neck and shoulders. Plus, the more distracted you are at watching the monitor, the less involved you are in your workout.

6. Sticking to one routine day in and out When it comes to losing weight, the trick is to mix things up to keep your workouts interesting. Vary your speed and incline. You can opt to run at a lower speed but at a steeper incline. This increases your workout intensity and you end up burning more calories despite running on a slower pace. Why not try this 12-minute hill workout from the Precision Running Lab after finding your PR (your best average one-minute sprint pace)?

60 seconds: -3.0 mph under PR pace at a 7 percent incline. Recover 60 seconds walk/jog.

60 seconds: +0.2 mph faster at a 7 percent incline. Recover 60 seconds walk/jog.

Simply Slender

Supplement diet and exercise by regularly cleansing with Simply Slender Master Cleanse!

Simply Slender Master Cleanse helps control appetite, bloating and revs up your metabolism. Get a bottle today!

Summary

Here are 6 common treadmill mistakes and how to fix them.

Forgetting to warm up - Warming up allows you to prepare your body for exercise. A warm up session should be a combination of aerobic exercises, stretching and strength exercises. Warming up increases blood flow to the muscles, it elevates the heart rate, and prevents muscle strain and injury.
Not prioritizing safety - Put on the treadmill’s safety key or emergency stop mechanism before you start your session. Learn how to properly get on and off the treadmill. And make sure to watch out for items that could cause you to trip and fall.
Holding on to the treadmill handles - Holding on to the treadmill can ruin your running form. In addition, it also lessens the intensity so you may not be burning as much calories. If you feel the need to hold on to the handles to keep up, just lower your speed instead.
Being too distracted by the TV or phone - Don’t get too distracted by the TV and pay attention to your posture and form so you don’t develop stress injuries down the line. Resist the temptation to check your phone while listening to music.
Constantly checking the monitor Constantly checking the monitor promotes bad posture and can also potentially cause strain on your neck and shoulders. Plus, the more distracted you are at watching the monitor, the less involved you are in your workout.
Sticking to one routine day in and out - When it comes to losing weight, the trick is to mix things up to keep your workouts interesting. Vary your speed and incline. You can opt to run at a lower speed but at a steeper incline. This increases your workout intensity and you end up burning more calories despite running on a slower pace.

References

"30 Minutes of Daily Exercise Enough to Shed Pounds" - WebMD, August 24, 2012

"Importance of Warming Up before Sport - Sports Injury Prevention" - Sports Medicine Information

"8 Treadmill Mistakes You're Making" - Shape, February 15, 2018

"6 Treadmill Walking Mistakes to Avoid" - MyFitnessPal, August 10, 2018