I guess its time to get controversial right off the bat. I want to prefix this entire blog by stating that if your goal is specifically based on running performance, this argument is not touching on that issue. What it will be going over, is how the average person stepping foot in the gym trying to lose weight should avoid the treadmill at all costs. As a trainer who has worked in a gym for over 10+years, I can confidently say that I have never seen a piece of equipment that’s so popular, but yet do so little and continue to stand the test of time.

I had to ask myself, why is the treadmill so popular? Then after a very shot time of working in a gym I began to notice a pattern. I’ll sum it up by painting you a picture. A person who hasn’t worked out in years / has never worked out, sums up the courage and determination to get a gym membership and begins their very first workout. They walk in and are unsure of what exercises to do / how the machines work / see a lot of people in excellent shape doing intimidating exercises in the free weight area. They then see a treadmill available. Its extremely simple, just press the green go button and all of a sudden they are working out. So you may ask, what’s wrong with that ?

One of the many reasons I have such issues with treadmills as a weight loss exercise is that people spend a huge amount of time on it, while isolating their entire upper half. If I ever was training a client who only workouts 1-3 times a week, wants better body composition and weight loss, and I ignored all upper body work for an entire workout, I would be absolutely setting that client up for failure. Weight loss comes from an increased metabolism, and the best overall way to boost your metabolism is increasing lean muscle mass from head to toe. To me, coming in and doing 1-3 “fat loss workouts” on a treadmill per week is no different than the 16 year old boy who only works chest and biceps, or the person who works abs five days a week but eats 4,000 calories per day. You can’t expect full body results by continually working the same area You may be asking, so what’s wrong with someone coming and just doing the treadmill if they don’t know what else to do ? I’ll always be the first person to say any exercise is better than none (unless it results in injury), but after seeing this for years, here’s what usually happens. Remember that person who kept pressing the green go button every time they came in? They have done the hard part of making time and coming in to the gym, but its been 2 months now and they simply aren’t seeing any results. They get very discouraged and eventually give up on the gym for the near future. I can confidently say that the number one reason someone would be most likely to continue going to the gym
is if they see results.

Which brings me to another reason why I think the treadmill shouldn’t be included in mostworkouts. For the amount of time people spend on it, they could be doing a high intensity interval training workout that will yield way better results, and can be done in a much shorter amount of time. I have tested this theory many times, and for a simple 15 minute workout operating at high intensity and little break times, it dramatically increased my clients performance and body composition across the board, as compared to gym goers who stuck to their 25-35 minute treadmill sessions. I would like to raise the point that a high intensity workout can be done on the treadmill, but your average gym goer
isn’t doing this. Most of them are running at a moderate pace for a long period of time. Don’t get mislead either about the difference between high intensity vs. difficult exercises. Usually the high intensity exercises are simple to perform and most people can do them. Squats, sprints, presses and rows etc.

One mechanic I have always disliked about the treadmill is how it eliminates one of the actions performed to run. Have you ever noticed its easier to get a better time on the treadmill than if you were to actually run outside? I always take my clients for runs outside for our warm ups instead of putting them on treadmills, and they tend to always get more tired doing so. Outside, in order to run you must
a) push off the floor, and b) lift your leg forward for your next step. On a treadmill however, that push isn’t needed, you are simply lifting your legs while the floor moves underneath you. It inherently eliminates one of the two motions needed to actually run.

I can only justify using the treadmill under a very specific set of circumstances that ill mention rapidly in order to cut down time

-an alternate to running outside when weather conditions pose a threat (extreme heat / cold)

• a means of counting caloric deficit for body building
• rehabbing from an injury
  -used to measure specific cardiovascular output ( training programs included)
  -a short warmup under ten minutes used to increase blood flow for a workout
  With all that being said, I cannot wrap my head around how people still use the treadmill at such
  a high rate. Take any other machine or workout program that yielded such a terrible weight loss / body
  composition return and people would avoid it like the plague. Unfortunately the simplicity of use, and
  comfortability the treadmill make it a high use piece of equipment in every gym. If you are starting up
  after a long lay off in the gym, please try to avoid it and instead perform other exercises that may seem
  more intimidating at first, but will be a much more effective way to accomplish your goals.