All the benefits we receive from running on a track, and many more, we can gain with treadmills. The treadmills are always a busy area of the gym.
1. Cardiovascular Health
Whether we are running or walking we are working that most important of all muscles, our heart. Increasing our heart rate for the duration of a workout will improve our cardiovascular health and endurance.
2. Burn Calories
If we’re carrying an average weight, we will burn about 100 calories for each mile of running. Speed doesn’t matter.
3. Workout Programs
Workout programs which allow us to vary our speed, or run on an incline, can make a session more challenging and interesting.
4. Improved Muscle Tone
We will be strengthening and toning our quadriceps, calves and buttocks. If we don’t use the handlebars we can tone our arm muscles.
5. Low Impact Surface
The treadmill surface is flat and predictable. The soft treadmill provides a more forgiving surface than concrete or asphalt. This is the perfect exercise equipment for those of us who like to do their exercise with at least one foot on the ground.
6. Maintain Joint Flexibility
Whether we are running or walking on a treadmill, this movement on a low-impact surface is most favorable for knees and joints. For those of us with arthritis, we can maintain and keep our joints loose exercising on a treadmill.
7. Safety
We like to run, but roads and sidewalks can be uneven, drivers inattentive and weather prohibitive. The treadmill at home or in the gym looks pretty attractive. No curbs, no sudden hills, and no dogs in pursuit.
8. Monitor Our Form
Watching our form in front of a mirror on a treadmill allows greater personal awareness. This is also our opportunity to test altering our form, like lifting knees higher.
9. Track Our Progress
The digital monitors on treadmills allow us to to keep track of our personal progress in real time. Monitors include displays of time, distance, our current heart rate, and calories burned. This gives us the opportunity to track our data from workout to workout, and see improvement over time.
10. Convenient
Treadmills are convenient on several levels. In the gym they allow all the many benefits listed above, where running or walking can be integrated into a larger workout. In our homes, treadmills can also become that one piece of exercise equipment we can use to maintain our health. In this case one can derive all of the great benefits this equipment can provide without having to travel to the gym. We can run and watch TV, walk and read, or listen to music without earplugs.
