Treadmill workouts offer a host of benefits, making them a popular choice for both casual exercisers and serious athletes. These benefits span from convenience and safety to health and performance improvements.
Unlike outdoor running, treadmills provide a controlled environment where you can exercise regardless of weather conditions, ensuring consistency in your workout routine. Let’s find out the benefits of treadmill workouts!
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Improve Your Heart Health
Treadmills are great for heart health. They give you a good cardiovascular workout, which can make your heart stronger. They’re especially good for people with high cholesterol or heart problems. Treadmills can show symptoms of heart disease that you might not notice otherwise.
Aerobic exercises like treadmill workouts can lower your risk of heart disease and strengthen your heart. They also reduce blood pressure and make your heart more efficient at pumping blood. Doctors often recommend these exercises for people with heart issues.
These workouts also help control cholesterol, reducing the risk of blocked arteries. They increase good cholesterol and decrease bad cholesterol in your blood.
Simulation of Race Conditions
There’s a common concern among runners that treadmill workouts don’t accurately mimic outdoor running. However, research suggests that treadmills are indeed effective in simulating outdoor conditions.
This makes treadmills valuable tools for race training.
Runners can adjust the treadmill to match their goal race pace, allowing them to focus on maintaining speed without constantly checking a watch. This ‘set and forget’ approach simplifies workouts.
Good for Weight Loss
Running on a treadmill is effective for weight loss. It burns fat quickly but is gentler on your knees and joints than running outside. Treadmill workouts burn calories faster than many other exercises. For even quicker results, you can run longer and faster.
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) on a treadmill is another great way to lose fat fast. Lower-intensity workouts also help, but the results come slower than with HIIT.
The CDC recommends 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise each week. Walking or jogging on a treadmill can burn 400-600 calories in about 4 miles.
Strengthen Your Muscle
Treadmills aren’t just for cardio; they also strengthen your muscles like your glutes, thighs, and calves. You can adjust your workout to meet your goals. For example, inclining the treadmill works your calves and glutes more, helping to tone and build muscle in your legs and buttocks.
Treadmill workouts involve different muscle groups, not just your legs. Your back and abdominal muscles also get a workout. So, you can tone your stomach too.
You also get a light workout for your back, shoulders, and arms as you swing them while running. For a more intense workout, you can hold weights while using the treadmill.
Mental Health
A study published in the Lancet found that regular exercise can decrease depression. People who exercised regularly reported fewer days of depression per month. Another study showed that 30-minute sessions on a treadmill significantly reduced depression symptoms in participants.
Treadmill running triggers the release of endorphins, which are chemicals that boost happiness and reduce stress, depression, and anxiety.
Also, exercise increases brain sensitivity to norepinephrine and serotonin, hormones that help alleviate depression and stress.
Enhances Brain Health and Memory
Exercise can slow the decline in thought processing speed and memory recall that often starts after age 30.
Fit individuals show fewer reductions in brain areas responsible for memory and learning, suggesting robust brain tissues.
Cardiovascular activities like treadmill running promote blood flow to the brain, stimulating hormones that encourage brain cell growth. This helps the hippocampus, which is vital for memory and learning, and reduces the risks of diseases like schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s.
Regulates Blood Sugar
Regular treadmill exercise can reduce the risk of chronic diseases like diabetes and is crucial for regulating insulin, especially in Type-2 Diabetes patients.
Exercise enhances insulin sensitivity, helping both diabetic and non-diabetic individuals use insulin more effectively. Aerobic exercise has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity by about 20%.
Improves Sleep Quality
Cardiovascular activities increase the release of melatonin, the sleep hormone, leading to better sleep quality.
Exercise leads to energy depletion, which stimulates recovery during sleep. It also raises body temperature during the workout, which then drops during sleep, improving sleep quality.
Offer a Safe and Convenient Way to Work Out
A treadmill offers a safe and convenient way to exercise at home, particularly beneficial for seniors.
Regular walking on a treadmill can improve cardiovascular health, maintain mobility and balance, boost mental health, manage weight, enhance bone density, and promote better sleep.
It’s a straightforward form of exercise and a key part of a healthy lifestyle. Treadmills allow seniors to stay active regardless of weather conditions.
When choosing a treadmill, seniors should look for models with shock absorption and cushioning to protect joints and prevent injury.
Other important features include a low step height for easy access, a wider and longer deck for safety, and safety features like handrails, emergency stops, and safety keys. Treadmills that are simple to operate are also more senior-friendly.
Measurability of Workout
Treadmills come with a console that tracks workout statistics.
This feature is particularly useful for runners who want to repeat specific workouts or monitor their progress over time.
It provides a straightforward way to assess improvement and maintain consistency in training.
