What Does the Treadmill Do for Your Body?

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Treadmills are a good option for people who cannot go for a run due to lack of time or because they do not want to be outdoors. This machine has its own benefits for the body, in addition to being an alternative to gyms.

One of the main contributions of running on the treadmill is to improve cardiovascular health, thereby reducing the risk of developing heart disease. It is also of great help to increase resistance and lose weight if it is complemented with a good diet. Other benefits that treadmill will do for your body, such as:

Strengthen your legs muscle
Help lose belly fat
Strengthen your heart
Prevent Osteoporosis
Improve your cognitive function
Improve your emotional state

It is a great moment to invest in an inexpensive model to have one at home.

Table of Contents

How to Use a Treadmill?

To get started on the treadmill and before starting your training, become familiar with the console’s function, especially with start and stop buttons. To make the task easier, you can use the user manual as a guide. Usually, this includes images indicating the function of each button.

Now, follow the next steps:

1.- To start, make sure the treadmill is not in an incline position.

2.- Hit the quick start and stand to the side of the treadmill. Do not start while standing on the belt as this forces the engine and burns it faster. Also, it will be easier for you to start walking without falling because the speed is low. Remember to hold onto the handles.

3.- Once you are stable on the treadmill, feel free to increase or decrease the speed according to your comfort. When you feel more confident, you can perform the predefined workouts that the treadmill offers.

4.- Now that you have caught the rhythm, let go of the handle, stand up straight, and run without fear. In any case, if you want to stop the treadmill, it is advisable to slow down the speed first before pressing the stop button to avoid accidents.

5.- To avoid dizziness, it is advisable to run facing forward.

6.- Make sure you know where the emergency button is.

7.- Be aware that it is possible to feel a little off-balance when you first run on a treadmill. You are learning a new motor skill, and it may take a few workouts to get completely comfortable on the treadmill.

If you need something more specific, you can:

Initial 10 minute warm-up on high speed.
25 minutes at a medium pace, maintaining a maximum heart rate of 70%
5 minutes of brisk walking or light running, depending on your fitness level.

What Are the Advantages of Using a Treadmill?

Its use is straightforward.
These machines have a stable and safe surface compared to the sidewalk, which helps to avoid accidents.
You can control the speed and many other features depending on your needs.
You can change the terrain. By simply changing the treadmill’s incline, you can go from running or walking on flat ground to climbing a mountain.
The consoles usually bring predefined training programs or customize them according to your goals.
Different people can use the treadmill without having to make adjustments.
You can find treadmills with different features, sizes, and brands.
The weather is irrelevant. You can train at home regardless of the weather conditions.
You can count your own mileage and set goals to exceed them every few days.
It helps to avoid heart disease, diabetes, weight loss, etc.
Exercise on a treadmill gives you better rest, better mental health, and a better mood.

What Are the Disadvantages of Using a Treadmill?

Depending on its features, the machine can be expensive.
Running is not good for people with back, knee, hip, or ankle problems.
Some machines can be large.
Needs maintenance from time to time.
Not all treadmills are silent.

What Do Treadmills Do for Your Body?

Running on the treadmill can give you more benefits to your body than walking since running for at least 30 minutes every day you can burn up to 400 calories, thus allowing you to lose weight apart from toning your muscles. Let’s see in more details:

Strengthen Your Legs

You can increase your strength due to the physical effort you apply, either by walking or running on the flat surface or if you incline it.

Running strengthens the quadriceps (located on the front of the thighs), calf muscles (calf muscles located between the knees and ankles), hamstrings (located on the back of the thighs), and glutes.

You Lose Weight

In 30 minutes, you can burn about 400 calories. If you do this exercise using the incline, weight loss will be more effective as you can burn 500 calories.

Lose Belly Fat

By using the treadmill, you strengthen the leg muscles, but it also helps you with abdominal fat since when running, you also press on the abdominal muscles to maintain the correct posture.

Strengthen Your Heart

This is the main muscle that we work with when we use this machine as it allows us to perform good cardiovascular workouts that help us increase our heart rate, strengthen our physical condition and endurance.

Prevent Osteoporosis

As you know, regular physical exercise is highly beneficial for general health, and running on the treadmill is a great way to maintain a completely healthy musculoskeletal system.

Muscles, ligaments, tendons, bones, and joints are strengthened, something ideal to tone up.

Especially, it has been pointed out that the traction force produced on the bones is excellent in preventing the loss of bone mass that occurs due to aging and other conditions that weaken the bones, such as osteoporosis.

Improve Your Cognitive Function

Another benefit of exercising on the treadmill is the improvement of cognitive function. When running on it, the blood flows more quickly to the brain, which results in a significant improvement in both memory and concentration.

As you can see, this machine’s use will also help you develop your mental capacities and, of course, to feel much more active.

Improve Your Emotional State

In addition to physical benefits, running on a treadmill will also be reflected in your emotional state.

It is a great alternative to stay emotionally stable, release tension, and free yourself from the stress or anxiety that you accumulate day after day.

And, of course, all this will make you more relaxed and face the next day with more optimism and positivity.

Final Words

Walking and running are two of the complete exercises for health, and although for many, it is often difficult to leave the house to do them, with a treadmill, there is no valid excuse.

The treadmill is one of the sports fitness machines with many advantages. It is easy to store, but you can organize your time to do exercises at home, have healthy habits, and improve physically and mentally.

Investing in a treadmill is investing in your health short and long term.

FAQs:

#1. What Are the Benefits of Running on a Treadmills for Your Leg?

Treadmills that have the ability to incline help the development of strength and muscles in the legs.

Also, if you want to slim your legs, running on the treadmill is the best thing to do.

The treadmill will keep your legs active, which means that it is the ideal device for those who have a sedentary lifestyle.

#2. What Are the Cardio Benefits of Using a Treadmill?

Among the main benefits of running on the treadmill, we find those related to your cardiovascular health.

When you train on the treadmill, you exercise and work a lot of muscle groups in the body (arms, legs, hips) on a repetitive basis; and this increases the heart rate and the respiratory rate, being excellent for improving blood flow throughout the body and strengthening the heart.

That is why it is considered a great activity to prevent cardiovascular diseases and reduce blood pressure.

#3. Is Using a Treadmill Good for Losing Weight?

Running on the treadmill regularly is an excellent way to burn more calories and, therefore, control your weight and take advantage of it to lose those extra pounds you want to lose.

Many treadmills also have a calorie counter incorporated, so you will be able to know what your caloric expenditure is while you do the training and at the end of it.

For example, by running for 30 minutes, you will burn 400 calories, and if you run using the incline feature, you can burn 500 calories.

#4. Is Running on a Treadmill Good for Losing Belly Fat?

Yes, but for that, when you run, you must contract the abdomen muscles, and if you incline the treadmill, you will work the abdomen much better.

The way to get the best results from the treadmill is to do high-intensity (not maximum) intervals, and by taking short breaks to recover, you will maximize your calorie burn.