Among runners, there are two opposing camps discussing about the merits of running indoors, especially on top of a treadmill. One faction is very vocal in its dislike of such manmade contraptions which are very popular equipments throughout spas and gyms.
One other group is equally at home running on treadmills as well as doing their jogging outdoors. These athletes usually do not particularly like one over the other. Usually, the reason why they give on why they use treadmills is convenience instead of preference.
Treadmills tend to be preferred and popular within smog-filled urban areas and outdoor running are enjoyed by those who are in suburban places where pollution just isn’t yet a menace.
Treadmills
There are numerous reasons given by treadmill individuals and fans regarding their preference of the gym’s most-used equipment.
Treadmills are consistent and also well known all throughout. Aside from the safety factor in running in the house, treadmill users like the familiarity part of the equipment. Furthermore, you can set the speed and also the incline of the contraption.
On treadmills, you don’t have to concern yourself with rains, extreme heat, or snow. Within the comforts of a closed indoor space, you can work out in your heart’s content.
You could safely wear your iPods and headphones and listen to your most loved music while exercising. (For relative safety, use of headphones for music listening had been discouraged for outdoor runners.)
Running outdoors
On the other side in the discussion, there are runners who will brave the most inhospitable weather like a heavy downpour instead of run on top of a treadmill.
In them, the visual stimulation in the sights afforded them in their runs adds up to the appeal of outdoor running. A few joggers that can run up to 10 miles outdoors get bored for only a couple of miles over a treadmill.
More treadmill uses
For anti-treadmill runner, there are other approaches to make treadmill use more enjoyable than usual. One can open some seldom-used controls on the machine and utilize them to your benefit.
One way is to include sprints within your workouts. After warming up for about 10 minutes in a leisurely pace, increase the speed and do a sprint for about 2 minutes.
Soon after, slow the pace as well as carry out some jogging for a few minutes right up until your heartbeat comes to about 120 beats a minute. Speed up the machine once again and do a sprint for another two minutes or so.
Yet another way is to make use of the pre-programmed training on most of the new types of treadmills. These kinds of courses comprise various modifications in speed and incline. Joggers who have tried them swear they are no different from those natural elements they meet in outdoor jogging.
One more utilization of the treadmill for runners is by using them to train for faster speeds, say, if you are angling to enter in your local 5K run. Begin by incorporating short sprint intervals in your treadmill running starting up as short as 30seconds of your desired speed.
Once the 30-seconds times turn out to be easy gradually elongate these intervals towards longer and longer time frames up until you can run the entire course at this speed.
Who says indoor running is uninteresting?