Treadmill Mistakes You’re Probably Making

The treadmill is a great tool for getting a cardio session on indoors, but too often people aren’t using them to their max, which sometimes includes just making careless choices. Here are some common treadmill mistakes you’re probably making.

Holding Onto the Handles

Those side handles can be helpful for catching your balance and all that, but you shouldn’t be holding onto them (or the center console) during your workout. When you do you transfer some of the energy your body would be using to stabilize your body and therefore you end up working fewer muscles and burning less calories. If you’re putting on the incline it should be just at the point that you feel the challenge of walking up the hill, but not so steep that you need to hold on.

Your Arms are Going Crazy

If your arms are on a separate agenda than your feet or the rest of your body you might be losing unnecessary energy dealing with them. It’s just not efficient to throw off your gait by swinging your arms around. If you use all your energy in your arms, you just won’t be able to workout as long. Try to keep your arms efficiently by your sides without tensing them up, and keep a steady natural swing thing going on.

You Don’t Have a Plan

Hopping on a treadmill, pressing start, and zoning out isn’t going to be the most effective use of your time. Any workout no matter how routine requires an attention to detail and a commitment to make it great. Otherwise, what’s the point. You don’t have to come up with anything too complicated, but do have a time or distance goal, and aim to step those goals up when they get easy. Adding in intervals is a great way to stay engaged and also shoot up your heart rate and your calorie burn. The more attention you can put into it, the more likely you’ll be to actually walk away feeling like you accomplished something.

You’re Wearing the Wrong Shoes

Wearing the wrong athletic shoes is a common error. Function should always be chosen over style to make sure that you’re preventing injury and also getting the maximum benefits from your workout. Running shoes often have a different kind of sole and support system than other shoes. This is important to keep in mind because the shoes are specifically designed for the activity. A running shoe for example, could cause an ankle roll in a dance class because of the difference in movement.

Your Posture Is Off

First of all, looking down at your feet while you run is not the proper posture. You can strain your neck and end up tipping yourself forward while you run which throws off your alignment. Instead look straight ahead with your chest and shoulder area opened up, not hunched. Leaning too far forward can actually cause an increase in back pain, and we can all do without too much of that in our lives.