Treadmill Running

By Dr. Michael Cerami

Aggghhh! I know a lot of people don’t like it but it’s an evil necessity when the weather turns bad. Here’s what I do to minimize the drudgery.

Use a good treadmill. 

• There’s a dramatic difference between a quality treadmill and one that’s seen it day or past its prime. If you are at the gym, try to pick the newest one available and make sure you try a few different styles as you make prefer the feel of one manufacturer more than another.

Warm up:

• Spend 5-10 minutes getting accustomed to the feel of the treadmill platform. When you are ready to start your workout you’ll have your joints “calibrated” to the rebound.

Distraction:

•   I like to listen to music or podcasts when I run as there are plenty of options to motivate or distract you. I would caution you to NOT spend the entire workout focused on one thing like the TV or iPod as the transition to outdoor running in the Spring can be challenging after months of visual stimulation.
• The newer treadmills have some great technology that will mimic outside topography so you can actually run your favorite loop or design your own workouts with a little effort.

Form:

•    Don’t turn into a hamster. Break up your workouts with different areas of focus. Form, speed, stride rate can all be addressed on the treadmill.

Comfort:

• Bring your towel, sweat band, water bottle and use a good fan if you will be running for more than 30 minutes. You won’t be cooled as much indoors as you would outside so you’ll need some extra help moving the air past you keeping the equipment from getting gross.