I can’t believe I have to write the phrase, “How to walk on a treadmill,” but it is very clear that people need to read/hear it.
How can so many people not know how to perform the most fundamental movement there is? Go to any big, open gym and watch rows and rows of people not walk properly on the treadmill. It’s amazing that so many people think that holding on while walking on the treadmill is the proper thing to do.
Think how ridiculous it would look if people had to hold on to something wherever they went or whenever they moved about; the mall, the ballgame, walking down the street, playing basketball. Hanging onto the side rails of a treadmill while walking on a steep incline at a fast pace is a waste of time – and it looks ridiculous.
You would think people would realize something was amiss as they struggled to keep pace with the machine – as they hold on for dear life – and maybe slow down or decrease the incline. Or here’s a radical thought: how about members of the gym’s training staff make an effort to point out to clients the errors in their treadmill walking ways?
I know, that’s crazy talk.
If you accept the idea that working out on the treadmill is a viable option to walking and running on terra firma – which I do not – surely you must accept that holding on or altering your gait in any way diminishes the effectiveness of the exercise. So, if you don’t hold on when you walk on a treadmill you will give yourself the best chance to get the most out of your treadmill experience.
When people hold on they are either walking at a pace that’s too fast or on an incline that’s too steep, which leads to other form problems like leaning leaning back. You defeat the purpose of the exercise when you hold on.
Setting the speed and incline higher doesn’t provide any magical benefits if you have to hold on to keep up. And if you’re too lazy to walk fast enough to keep up without holding on either get the lead out and pick up the pace or slow it down and walk at a speed that you can handle.
The treadmill is just a machine and cannot do the exercise for you; it can’t deliver benefits without you making an effort. You don’t hold on while walking around in life so stop holding on when walking on a treadmill.
Not sure why you feel the need to be so rude in this article, but I did not enjoy the negative tone of this.
Great idea. I’ll just find a 15% incline slope that’s about 2 miles long in my area and won’t need to use a treadmill. Thanks for the article. Never thought of looking for 2 mile tall mountain.
Holding on the treadmill is the most ridicoulous thing going on. Common sense should people its wrong way to exersise and they are wasting their time!
my brother bought one of these shake weights and he swear by it. but the only thing that has I’ve been able to clue in on whether or not it works or not he say he feel a burning in his biceps triceps. I agree with one of the other writers that just because you feel something don’t mean that it is a beneficial something. The people coming out with these so call instant fitness and body building devices is making millions while the ones that bought it have it tucked away somewhere in dark dingy basement or the back of the closet to ashamed to tell friends yeah I fell for that gimmick and it don’t work. when will people learn that there is no instant way to get fit or gain muscle mass you have to work at it and work hard and you have to be motivated. the reason I’m giving it a thumbs down is because I have tried countless of these items and so far none of them has worked. wake up America and world we have gotten so hooked on technology that we have got downright lazy. maybe this device work maybe it don’t but they surely won’t be getting my money until there is concrete that this device really work. Oh and last thing iso exercises do work but on a minimal scale