Kill your treadmill

[DCarp]

Great article on Gawker today about the evil that is the treadmill. Love this quote:

Going to the gym and heading right for the treadmills and trudging along for 30 minutes is little more than a reversion to childhood gym class behavior, a simplistic reaction to a stimuli (the gym) with which one has few coping mechanisms.

http://gawker.com/5925224/kill-your-treadmill

What do you think?

[EightDigit]

I think it's all about how you use it. Personally, I hop on and knock out 3/4 of a mile or 5 minutes (whichever comes first) on the treadmill before I start lifting. But on my running days, it's always outside unless the weather is absolutely terrible.

That being said, I'm of the same opinion on this matter as I am on religion... "do whatever helps get you through the day". Some people just have some weird block around going for a run outside (my last ex was one of them) but can knock out 45 minutes on the treadmill with no problem.

[Toph821]

I'm one of those people who enjoys running on a treadmill and has this weird thing about running outside, unless it's obscenely early in the morning. Also, you can't watch "Weeds" while running outside, and that is a must for me.

[Corbab]

I like the treadmill because it keeps my pace consistent, so I can get my steady-state cardio in without exhausting myself. It's not ideal, but if I was to do the same time/mileage outside, I'd end up speeding up and burning myself out before really finishing the workout.

[ETFnerd]

hahaha... i didn't know my treadmill was alive... also didn't know that treadmills had the capacity for good or evil... thought you needed intent for that... i learned so much from reading this article... i have this meat slicer at home... can you tell me if that's evil... also please confirm for me that my pull up bar is the mother teresa of exercise equipment... thanks in advance...

[progress126]

I use the treadmill to warm up before squats. No more than 10 minutes (if that) at about 2.5-3 miles per hour on an incline as well. Nothing fancy.

[Corbab]

hahaha... i didn't know my treadmill was alive... also didn't know that treadmills had the capacity for good or evil... thought you needed intent for that... i learned so much from reading this article... i have this meat slicer at home... can you tell me if that's evil... also please confirm for me that my pull up bar is the mother teresa of exercise equipment... thanks in advance...

I think it's sort of a zombie type thing. It's there in the flesh, and it's moving, but it's not really thinking anything along the way.

[Church]

I like the treadmill because it keeps my pace consistent, so I can get my steady-state cardio in without exhausting myself. It's not ideal, but if I was to do the same time/mileage outside, I'd end up speeding up and burning myself out before really finishing the workout.

I get what you're saying about the treadmill. Have you tried running outside for a week or two just to see if you'd adjust?Because I've found I actually prefer running on solid ground. I could knock out 2 miles in 17 minutes on a treadmill, but couldn't run down the block. And I was looking for function, I wanted to be able to RUN if I had to. And I've also found interval sprints to be a far more effective form or training (they took my time to run 910m from 4:45 to 3:55 in a couple weeks). And intervals on a treadmill are difficult to plan and dangerous. Cuz I alway plan to go my top speed for a certain distance, but if I can't make it I can just slow down, that's harder to do on a treadmill. It's also nice to get out and see the neighborhood, look at some nature, hear the birds chirp. It's a very calming experience.

[signalguy]

The author seems like a douche. It's not really advocating treadmill runs vs outdoor running rather removing running from your workouts. Some folks like to lift heavy things but I prefer running really long distances. While it's not ideal, I get about 30% of my weekly mileage from the dreadmill. It's just not safe to run around my workplace at 5am, so the air conditioned gym is a good fit.

[KellyElizabeth]

I like my treadmill. I love my outside running, the air, how pretty it is and just being outside. Sometimes though the weather doesn't agree with me...lightening, hail, sand storms, heat to 110 degrees by 7 am, or what have you, so I like having the option to still run my all rather than foregoing the workout all together. Plus, when I lived on my own, my room mate (male) had a near heart attack when I told him I was going out for a run at 5 am. We live near a site where a gal met a bad end with a bad guy in the trees whilst running :-/

I think it all depends on how you use the treadmill. If you're just getting on and lagging away then it's no bueno, but if you're using it to your full potential (or it's full potential) then I think it's worth it.

[Mike Pants]

Mark's Daily Apple has me very sold on not using cardio for anything other than warm-up. I haven't used running in my routine in many months.

[Zorch]

Treadmills and stationary bikes/bike trainers are great for running in specific situations:

-The weather outside sucks(brutally hot/cold, rainining, road is an icy deathtrap)

-You don't have safe(i.e. low-traffic) roads nearby to run on

-You want to run at night, but the neighborhood nearby isn't particularly safe

-For *biking* sprints/hard intervals, I feel much safer going 100% on a stationary setup

Versus the advantages of going outside:

-for running, doing sprints on your own is vastly preferable, since you don't have to deal with speed "lag" that every treadmill has

-moving scenery is more interesting and more relaxing

-it's free

-for biking, a properly-fitted bike will generally be more comfortable/ergonomic than the stationary units at the gym.

-The "barrier to entry" is lower - it's easier to walk our your front door and start running, than to get in the car and drive to the gym.

-There's no temptation to quit halfway through, since you'll still have to run/walk home.

The treadmill/stationary bike has its uses - mostly running at night/in bad weather. Or if you're combining running and lifting into one session, it allows you to do them in one location at your gym.

[Raikas]

That was some obnoxious smugness there!

The author writes

"I go to the gym four times a week, two days of cardio and two days of weights," they say, as I put on a Scream mask in order to better emphasize how angry I am with their life choices. Here's a thought, genius: instead of doing two real workouts and two fake jogging treadmill quote-workouts-unquote per week, why not do four real workouts and zero fake treadmill workouts per week?

Who gets angry about other people's life choices (aside from the ones that endanger other people)? Even if you consider low-speed running/jogging "fake" (and the author clearly isn't talking about runners who generally train outdoors and move inside when the weather turns, calling them cultists instead), who cares? If they're happy, good for them.

That kind of pointless snobbery baffles me.

[Wicked Pixie]

Mark's Daily Apple has me very sold on not using cardio for anything other than warm-up. I haven't used running in my routine in many months.

It might seem crazy to those who like to lift heavy things (don't get me wrong, I LOVE getting stronger) But there ARE people who run because they love running. I LOVE running too.

There comes a point when you (people in general) should just learn that it's really OK to enjoy moving your body. To demonize running because some fitness guru (I don't mean that as an insult, MA is amazing!) doesn't do it or advocate it, is just wrong.

/end rant

[msuroo]

It might seem crazy to those who like to lift heavy things (don't get me wrong, I LOVE getting stronger) But there ARE people who run because they love running. I LOVE running too.

There comes a point when you (people in general) should just learn that it's really OK to enjoy moving your body. To demonize running because some fitness guru (I don't mean that as an insult, MA is amazing!) doesn't do it or advocate it, is just wrong.

/end rant

+1

Even MDA acknowledges this - offering tips on training for/fueling a marathon, for example.

[KellyElizabeth]

You say you like the treadmill? You don't like the treadmill. Nobody likes the treadmill. It's a clackity mess. It makes you tired while also removing any sense of panache about the way you're becoming tired. Real runners don't even like treadmills. Real runners run outside. They only use treadmills as a last resort, like eating the dead body in the life raft to survive. If you were a real runner, you would have read the headline on this post and immediately agreed with it. "Of course treadmills suck!" you would exclaim, huffing and puffing up some mountain trail as sickly-sweet energy goo dripped from your lips in a disturbingly semen-esque way.

He then goes on to say the phrase "Ugh runners," like when you're in high school and you hear the phrase "Ugh Freshman, cheerleaders, choir people, drama geeks, football players, brains," etc etc etc. It just sounds so mean and smug.

I do love running, I love my treadmill, I love my outside runs, I love my running shoes. I also love my yogalates, my kettle balls, my zumba and my bike riding.

I don't enjoy strength training, I don't enjoy aerobics, or the idea of p90x or insanity or a million other things out there, but I don't pick on the people who do. I think the point is that if you're making an effort to get healthy and better yourself even on a "clackity mess" like a treadmill then everyone should support them. Whether we personally like the exercise or not.

Okay rant over

[Corbab]

The author seems like a douche.

I've found that most of the content on Gawker and it's sister sites is comprised of douches running their mouths about some thing or another they don't like.

I get what you're saying about the treadmill. Have you tried running outside for a week or two just to see if you'd adjust?Because I've found I actually prefer running on solid ground. I could knock out 2 miles in 17 minutes on a treadmill, but couldn't run down the block. And I was looking for function, I wanted to be able to RUN if I had to. And I've also found interval sprints to be a far more effective form or training (they took my time to run 910m from 4:45 to 3:55 in a couple weeks). And intervals on a treadmill are difficult to plan and dangerous. Cuz I alway plan to go my top speed for a certain distance, but if I can't make it I can just slow down, that's harder to do on a treadmill. It's also nice to get out and see the neighborhood, look at some nature, hear the birds chirp. It's a very calming experience.

I like running outside, but I'm using the treadmill as stand-in cardio when I miss rowing for one reason or another. Running isn't my main gig, just a convenient add-in on occasion. My treadmill pace is almost twice as slow as my road pace, but I go for a lot longer and work up a sweat, which is all I'm really trying to do.

I do my sprints on the erg, as I'm much more interested in those times than my running times. My current plan only has sprints once per week for now, mostly just to stay in the habit.

[Wicked Pixie]

He then goes on to say the phrase "Ugh runners," like when you're in high school and you hear the phrase "Ugh Freshman, cheerleaders, choir people, drama geeks, football players, brains," etc etc etc. It just sounds so mean and smug.

I do love running, I love my treadmill, I love my outside runs, I love my running shoes. I also love my yogalates, my kettle balls, my zumba and my bike riding.

I don't enjoy strength training, I don't enjoy aerobics, or the idea of p90x or insanity or a million other things out there, but I don't pick on the people who do. I think the point is that if you're making an effort to get healthy and better yourself even on a "clackity mess" like a treadmill then everyone should support them. Whether we personally like the exercise or not.

Okay rant over

And I officially LOVE everything that you just said here!

[Wicked Pixie]

and I'm not enjoying it much either way, so I might as well not enjoy it without getting lost.

I giggled, sorry! This sounds like a rationalization I would use!

[KellyElizabeth]

Thank you! I love running too. I'm just starting to get into other things but I stick to my jogging and my yogalates.