Why the Fat Isn’t Coming Off Despite All Your Treadmill Walks
The reason you haven’t lost weight from all that treadmill walking will shock you, but it can easily be remedied.
Why is it that you haven’t lost a single pound or have experienced only marginal weight loss, despite months on end of walking on a treadmill?
If it’s not the No. 1 reason that prevents people from weight loss despite loads of walking on a treadmill, then it’s certainly the No. 2 reason:
Holding Onto The Machine
Yes, that’s right. One of the biggest saboteurs of weight loss attempts is holding onto a treadmill.
Ironically, with so many men and women struggling to lose weight, desperate to burn body fat, the weight loss saboteur of holding onto a treadmill is extremely prevalent.
Now before I go on about how to solve this problem, I need to emphasize that this article targets the general population of treadmill users in a gym, rather than exceptional populations such as the visually impaired who would need to hold on.
When I see hoards of people holding onto a treadmill while walking, I see able-bodied men and women, many in their 20s and 30s, who will often trot up the gym’s staircase without a problem to do some dumbbell work on the second floor.
One faithful treadmill-holder whom I had observed was a martial arts instructor!
What — he could throw kicks in the air but needs to hold on when using a treadmill???
I’ve witnessed these trainees participating in group fitness classes and even doing barbell squats!
So as you can see, physical handicap does not play into this.
People with physical handicaps, in fact, rarely use treadmills — at least at gyms; I’ve seen them on the stationary bike, elliptical machine and rowing machine.
If you haven’t lost weight despite spending months and months walking on a treadmill, your question to yourself should be:
“Where are my hands while I’m walking?” It should NOT be, “Why am I cursed with fat genes?”
NO, NO, NO! This won’t cut it. Hold on for temporary balance checks, but not for the whole “workout”!
When you swing your arms, your body must work harder to prevent falling off the moving tread. This means more calories burned = weight loss.
Holding on removes work from many important muscles, including those of the core!
Perhaps in desperation to lose weight, you’ve been using a faster speed and/or higher incline.
Guess what: A faster speed or higher incline means a tighter grip by your hands! You will not lose weight this way.
Holding on burns 20-25 percent fewer calories.
The calorie display is inflated because it’s determined by the speed and incline, not the trainee’s effort level!
Pretend you’re walking outside next time you use a treadmill. What would your hands and arms be doing?
Then do that. If you think you can’t, then set a slower speed and/or lower incline until you can swing your arms.
If you want to lose weight from walking on a treadmill, it just doesn’t make any sense whatsoever to keep the upper half of your body paralyzed as a result of holding on.
In addition, “Reaching a plateau in weight loss often indicates that a change is needed in the program,” says Jacque Crockford, MS, CSCS, an ACE certified personal trainer and an ACE exercise physiologist.
“Begin jogging on the treadmill, increase incline, add intervals, introduce strength training. All of these are great ways to get over a weight loss plateau.”
Jacque Crockford is also the exercise physiology content manager at ACE (American Council on Exercise) and has been an personal trainer for 15+ years.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
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Top image: Shutterstock/Kzenon
Treadmill: High Incline Holding On vs. Low with Hands Off
Here’s the answer to the question of which is more effective: holding onto a treadmill at high incline or letting go at lower incline?
Many people wonder which is more effective for weight loss and fitness: using a high incline while holding onto the treadmill, or using a low grade but then not holding on at all.
The answer is basic: Holding onto a treadmill during an incline is never better than letting go.
Now, if you want to get argumentative about this, you can always compare holding onto the highest incline at 4 mph to not holding onto a 2 percent grade at 1 mph.
In this unfair comparison, the holding-on version will burn more calories.
But let’s be fair and real about what to compare.
A fair comparison would be a 15 percent incline at 3.5 mph while holding on, matched up to a 7 percent slope at 3.5 mph with an arm swing.
The lower angle with hands off wins hands down for calorie burn, weight loss and cardiovascular training.
You don’t need science to know this.
Try it yourself:
For 10 minutes, “walk” at the highest incline at 3.5 mph while holding anywhere on the treadmill. How do you feel?
On another day (so that you don’t use the first part of this test as an excuse for how fatigued you get during the second part), walk the 7 percent incline at 3.5 mph, without any holding on; swing the arms naturally.
Sustain this, no holding on, for 10 minutes. How do you feel?
Your first rating of fatigue level will be far lower than your second.
This is because the second part of this test (lower incline, hands off treadmill) is more demanding on the body, much more demanding indeed.
The calorie readout will be higher with the higher incline.
Do not let this dupe you into thinking that a high incline session while holding onto a treadmill is better than a low incline without holding on.
The only reason the calorie total will be bigger is because the total is determined by the steepness of the incline, not by how hard you’re working on the machine.
To prove this, walk level at 2 mph for five minutes while holding on, then note the calorie total.
Now, hold 5 lb. dumbbells in each hand and again walk level at 2 mph for five minutes.
You’ll burn more calories walking while holding 10 pounds than walking with your hands on the machine, yet the treadmill’s calorie total will be precisely the same!
Letting go at a lower incline means that more muscles will be forced to work: low back, abs, hamstrings, glutes, calves, quads and more.
When you hold on, even at high incline, many of these muscle fibers are deactivated.
This is a fake vertical position that’s being generated by gripping the front of the treadmill.
The result? Significant subtraction of workload from your lower body.
In fact, even a 4 percent incline at 3.5 mph without holding on beats out the high grade while grasping the machine.
Holding on encourages bad posture and poor biomechanics and can result in repetitive stress injuries to the hips and shoulders.
“A high incline puts more of a concentration on the muscles in the leg,” says Dr. Charles J. Pelitera, assistant professor of kinesiology and coordinator of the Health/Wellness Program at Canisius College of NY.
“When one is holding on, they reduce the tension and thus the opportunity to add an overload and thereby more development.
“The effect of no hands in a low incline and holding on in a high incline will not be the same because of the simple concept of gravity and the role it would play in resistance.”
You now know the many reasons why a lower incline without holding onto the treadmill is far superior to a high grade while keeping your hands on the machine.
Dr. Pelitera is the owner of Pelitera Fitness Consultants, which specializes in athletic training, weight loss and strength training.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
Do You Know Your Treadmill Etiquette at the Gym?
There’s a surprising number of ways to be rude with treadmill use at the gym; chances are you’ve breached one of these rules of etiquette with the treadmill.
If you’re a treadmill user, it’s so important to be aware of treadmill etiquette.
There are so many ways a person can be inconsiderate when using this particular piece of equipment at the gym.
In no particular order, here are the top treadmill etiquette infractions that I’ve observed over the years, at many different gyms (these behaviors are universal):
Leaving the treadmill up at a high incline after exiting it.
Instead, reset it back to zero for the next person.
Leaving germy junk in the treadmill’s cup holder.
This includes used tissue paper, empty cups and bottles, and gum wrappers. Yuck.
Using a treadmill that, due to a malfunction, creates a loud squeaky noise.
This typically occurs even when several other machines are available.
The noise signals that the equipment needs servicing and thus, should not be used.
Before using a treadmill, turn your headset off, in the event that a loud headset would muffle the machine’s squeaking. This way you’ll know if there’s a problem.
Creating a loud, squeaky noise by allowing your feet to strike the juncture of the tread belt and machine’s base up front.
This only happens when people hold onto the equipment, a bad habit that’s not even necessary beyond the brief heart rate check or to momentarily steady yourself.
Jogging like an elephant.
Ironically, these guilty joggers are not heavy people! Often, they are lean, and the speed isn’t necessarily fast; sometimes it’s 5 or 6 mph. So why do they sound like elephants?
Though some treadmills have defective belts that create thunderous noise no matter how delicate the user, I have witnessed plenty of times someone’s feet slamming with each stride, yet on that very same treadmill, I have witnessed other users, including heavier ones, make a fraction of the noise while using the same speed or faster.
I’m banking that these users figure that the louder their feet are, the harder or more effective the workout.
But hitting your feet hard to the tread will not increase the effectiveness of the workout.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
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Top image: Depositphotos
Should You Hold Onto Treadmill During Sprints or Hard Runs?
Find out why you won’t get results by holding onto a treadmill during sprints or hard runs.
One of the biggest mistakes in exercise is that of holding onto a treadmill, even when the user is “sprinting” or running hard at a fast clip. I’m a certified personal trainer.
I see this quite often: The user cranks up the speed at a zero incline, grips the bar in front and “runs” for a brief period, then slows the speed and releases their hands during their “recovery.” This is not the proper way to conduct interval training.
I like to point out the case of a lean, attractive woman who worked out from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. Monday through Friday.
Her workout included 7 mph one-minute runs on a treadmill, during which she’d plaster her palms around and over the top of the console.
Because of her tanned, lean physique, many naïve people thought she was doing things the right way.
She actually spent a lot of time on the treadmill, plus lots of time strength training. She watched what she ate.
But this didn’t excuse her from committing such a blunder on the treadmill.
Because her body was so used to that steel-hard clasp of her palms at 7 mph, there’s no way this would carry over to running outside where there’s nothing for her hands to latch onto.
Think about it: The harder or faster you run, without holding onto anything, the more your abs and low back become engaged, along with your butt and leg muscles.
This is why competitive short-distance runners have killer abs and wonderful glutes!
If you hold onto the treadmill (front bar or behind top of console), then the faster the speed, the tighter your grip will be.
The more locked up your arms and shoulders are, and the more deranged the motion of your hips are, the more you’ll set yourself up for possible future hip strain.
The foot strike becomes unnatural, increasing risk of plantar fasciitis (heel pain). The entire gait pattern becomes warped and will not carry over to running, especially sprinting, on the basketball court or outside.
There is a HUGE difference between sprinting while holding onto a treadmill and sprinting naturally with an aggressive arm pump.
Shutterstock/Den4is
“By not holding on the treadmill, you will raise the heart rate without having to increase speed,” says Jacque Crockford, MS, CSCS, an ACE certified personal trainer and an ACE exercise physiologist. “It is also not safe to hold the treadmill while running, as it can cause more balance issues or tripping.”
Listen to someone running very fast on a treadmill while gripping it. Their feet slam down with each step.
That’s because the gait pattern is disrupted. Their lower body is not keeping up with the fast speed.
What’s happening is that the bones in their arms, and their hand grip, are providing significant assistance.
If you cannot run a speed without holding onto a treadmill, then that speed is too much for you, be it 7 mph, 12 mph, 14 mph or 5.5 mph. Everyone, even top athletes, has a speed limit.
Sprint as hard and as fast as possible without holding onto the treadmill.
If you can do this for only 15 seconds, that’s good! This is your work interval.
Sprinkle in several of these intensity intervals during a walk or slow jog. By definition, a sprint is supposed to be very brief.
Jacque Crockford is also the exercise physiology content manager at ACE (American Council on Exercise) and has been an personal trainer for 15+ years.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
How Obese People Can Use Treadmill Desk to Reduce Sitting Time
If you’re obese, don’t let that stop you from using a treadmill desk to help offset the “sitting disease,” which is as dangerous as smoking.
If you’ve been thinking of getting a treadmill desk to discourage excessive sitting while doing computer work, but are reluctant because you’re obese, I have good news.
And that is this: Obesity is no deterrent to using a treadmill desk. As a personal trainer, I’ve worked with many very overweight clients, and plus, I use a treadmill desk, so I know all about this device.
How Obese Walkers Can Adapt to a Treadmill Desk
Initially use the device for 10 minutes at a time, or even five minutes if that’s all you can tolerate, and set the speed to 0.5 mph and a zero incline.
Do not hold on if you’re simply reading off the computer screen. Use of the mouse and keyboard will necessitate resting your forearms and portions of your hands on the structure, but when you’re not using the mouse or keyboard, swing the arms.
This is very important; one reason is because a natural arm swing will encourage good posture, proper gait, and engage the low back muscles.
No matter how soon you may become uncomfortably fatigued, this is no reason to give up the pursuit of using a treadmill desk. Simply step off of it when fatigue becomes overbearing and take your usual seat.
The caveat of switching back and forth is that you’ll need to keep transferring your computer back and forth, unless you have two computers: one at the treadmill desk and one at your sitting station.
Time your sessions using the treadmill desk:
Set a timer for five, 10, 15 or more minutes. Don’t overdo it at first. Don’t try to walk any marathons.
Sudden prolonged walking in a sedentary obese individual can result in strained feet, hurting heels or sore knees.
Wear comfortable shoes. If your shoes are not comfortable, don’t try to tough it out. When using a treadmill desk, always wear supportive walking shoes.
If your lower back begins aching, do not hold onto the machine (again, the exception for arm/hand contact is when you’re using the mouse or keyboard.
If your lower back begins aching, step off the machine and take a break from it. An aching lower back simply means that the muscles are fatiguing from getting worked. Over time these muscles will adapt!
Obese individuals should walk as much as possible.
Obese people can benefit from a treadmill desk and should not let their size discourage them.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
30 Percent Treadmill Incline: How Not to Hold On
Here’s a simple way to reap maximum benefits with a 30 percent incline, which can be achieved only if you do not hold onto the treadmill.
You may think you’re getting an amazing workout by using a 30 percent incline on a treadmill, but if you’re holding onto the machine, you’re cancelling out the effects of this generous slope.
I know what you’re thinking: “How can anyone walk on a 30 percent incline without holding on? They’ll be thrown off!”
Have you not ever walked up a steep hill outdoors? Were you holding onto anything?
And certainly, you’ve walked up flights of stairs countless times without grasping anything for support. Why should an angled treadmill be any different?
If your entire body is leaning back (like a water skier) while you’re holding onto the front bar with straight, locked-out arms at an incline — and you release your hands in that position — then yes, you’ll fly backwards off the machine.
How about standing straight (no leaning back) as you walk, so that your body is vertical?
Reduce the speed so that the tread isn’t whizzing under your feet at such a high incline.
NOW let go. You won’t fall backwards any more than if you were walking outside up a 30 percent hill.
How Not to Fall Off a Treadmill at 30 Percent Incline Without Holding On
Again, keep your body vertical — as you would when walking up a staircase, which is actually angled more steeply than 30 percent.
When you climb a staircase or steep hill outdoors, your body is vertical, which is why you don’t fall backwards.
Apply this practice to a treadmill that’s set at 30 percent slope. Set the speed to 1 mph and start walking with your arms at your sides.
If you’re free of any neurological disorder that impairs balance when walking, you will not fall off at such a slow speed.
At 1 mph, walk 10 minutes at 30 percent incline without your hands making contact with the treadmill.
What seems like a crawl is actually comparable to the pace that you’d choose if hiking in the mountains on a similar grade.
Even WITHOUT the backpack, you probably would NOT exceed 1.5 mph sustained on this angle of a hill — which appears to be close to 30 percent.
Because you’re now vertical, with significant ankle flexion, you should feel the entire backside of your lower legs working.
If you remain vertical while holding on (which would require a continuous pulling against the bar with your hands), this will relieve the work from your legs.
Thus, a vertical body while holding on with a “tugging” grip is NOT the same as a vertical body while walking hands-free. NOT THE SAME!
With your hands off, you may also soon start feeling a burn in your hamstrings,.quads and/or low back, especially if you slightly increase the speed.
All these signs mean that your body is out of condition for high incline walking.
Holding onto the treadmill will not condition it, not in the least, never, even if you’re tugging yourself into a vertical position.
To set the treadmill at 30 percent, speed at 3 mph and THEN hold on is just plain insanity.
Now, if 1 mph proves to be unchallenging, then raise the speed to 1.5 mph and see how five minutes of that goes without holding on. Experiment to find the speed for which you can sustain.
The only way that you’ll gain fitness benefits from 30 percent incline work on a treadmill is if you mimic walking up a same-grade hill outside. And how would you walk outdoors?
Stockfreeimages/Kapu
1) Body vertical
2) Hands not holding onto anything
3) Pronounced hip and knee flexion due to the acute angle formed by your vertical body to the hill before you.
These three features must be duplicated on the treadmill, and the only way to do that is to keep your hands off the machine (except for brief heart rate check or brief, temporary steadying while you adjust the speed, wipe sweat or sip water).
It’s extremely unrealistic to think you can walk a 30 percent incline at 3 mph without holding on.
To sustain this pace hands off requires exceptional cardiovascular and musculoskeletal conditioning. So just because you’re not this advanced doesn’t mean you should hold on!
Instead, go down to 1.5 mph or 1.2 mph or whatever — and let go. If this is too difficult, go down to 1 mph. Remember, you’re at 30 percent incline; you can’t expect to move like a mountain lion.
Using a 30 percent incline without hanging onto the treadmill will force adaptations in your core, hamstrings, calves, Achilles tendon, quadriceps and other muscles.
If you hold on, you’ll be wasting your time. If letting go is too exhausting, you’re going too fast, even if it’s “only” 1.5 mph.
Another Option
“There is a slight learning curve to using a treadmill without holding on,” says Dr. Charles J. Pelitera, assistant professor of kinesiology and coordinator of the Health/Wellness Program at Canisius College, NY.
“This refers to proprioception or knowing where your body is in space. A person who is not in ‘shape’ should be encouraged to not hold on — and they can work on a progressive routine that ‘weans’ them off of holding on.
“Have them start off by trying one minute with hand contact, one minute without, and begin to decrease the hand contact time and increase hands-free time as they progress along. Confidence and consistency play a large role in this.”
Dr. Pelitera is the owner of Pelitera Fitness Consultants, which specializes in athletic training, weight loss and strength training.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
Taking Heart Rate on Treadmill: Continuous Holding Not Necessary
People have often told me that the reason they keep their hands on the front bar of a treadmill is to have a continuous heart rate reading.
Keeping your hands on the treadmill’s heart rate sensors is bad for your workout for many reasons.
It produces an artificial walking environment. The natural walking gait consists of some degree of arm swing.
Holding on disrupts natural movement and can cause “molding” of forward posture (a very bad thing) in tall people, who must slump forward to keep their hands on those heart rate sensors.
The disrupted gait results in several additional negative issues:
-Significant reduction in calorie expenditure. The calorie reading is generated by the treadmill’s motor (and incline), not by the person using it.
-Significant subtraction of workload; activation of key muscle groups is inhibited.
-Potential repetitive stress injuries in the hips, which ballistically move to compensate for the locked-up upper body.
-Deactivation of the body’s balancing mechanism; the exerciser will actually experience reduction in their ability to balance when walking outside on uneven surfaces.
-Rise in blood pressure. If you’re gripping tightly to the heart rate monitors while using a fast pace, this will, indeed, raise blood pressure.
Continuously holding onto a treadmill for heart rate can also lead to obsessing about heart rate.
Before you know it, you’re constantly checking the reading, fixating too much on this element.
Besides, do you really know with absolute certainty if the treadmill’s heart rate reading is even accurate?
A better way to take heart rate is to pause on the machine (feet straddling the tread) and place your finger to your neck or wrist, and count the beats.
Even though you’re standing still while doing this, it’ll still give you a good idea.
If you have doctor’s orders not to exceed a certain heart rate, keep in mind the following:
Continuous tight holding onto the heart rate sensors will raise blood pressure.
Figure out the speed that keeps your pulse below the doctor’s limit, then simply continue at that pace and swing your arms.
Shutterstock/Khakimullin Aleksandr
To ensure that your pulse will not exceed the limit despite this maintenance pace, check it five minutes later.
Check it every 10 minutes for peace of mind. This means every 10 minutes, your hands are on the sensors for 30 seconds, versus continuously: a whopping difference as far as exercise efficiency.
You can learn to take your pulse while walking naturally by lightly placing your fingers on your neck.
Finally, some treadmill models will cease to operate unless you keep your hands on the heart rate monitor.
Switch the program to avoid this problem. If the machine keeps giving orders to hold on, and will continue operating even if you let go, then just ignore the computer’s orders and swing your arms.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
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Top image: Freepik.com
Scared to Run on a Treadmill? Solutions
You must read this if you’re fearful or reluctant to run or even slowly jog on a treadmill.
Just about anybody can jog, run or sprint on a treadmill, even if they’re intimidated.
I say “just about” because some orthopedic conditions are not compatible with any kind of running.
However, fear of a treadmill is never a solid reason for being unable to use this cardio equipment, and as a former personal trainer, I worked with several people who were a bit uneasy about running on something that was moving beneath their feet.
Your intimidation of this large, sometimes very noisy equipment can be overcome with some easy steps.
Get on the treadmill and do just that: Take easy steps. You don’t have to run the first time you get on a treadmill.
However, be warned about a disastrous mistake that many trainees engage in: holding onto the equipment.
- There is absolutely no need to do this.
- Don’t look around at other treadmill users and think, “Gee, everyone ELSE is holding on, so it must be the smart thing to do.”
Don’t follow the herd. You are the tiger, in charge, empowered and passionate about your fitness goals!
Step on the machine and begin with a comfortable speed; start walking, swinging your arms.
Model: Sharon Smith, 71
If you begin feeling dizzy, slow down. Do not hold on. You must force your body to adapt to this new stimulus.
This new stimulus will force neurological adaptation very quickly. Focus on good posture, which can be achieved only by swinging your arms.
Swing them naturally, as you would if walking the same speed outdoors or even from the gym’s lobby to your car.
At some point you will feel comfortable enough to begin running on a treadmill.
Shutterstock/Travelerpix
This may not occur during your very first session, and it needn’t. However, if you feel ready to begin running during your first treadmill workout, then do so.
- Do not fear falling off.
- Set the speed at 3 mph if you’re still intimidated by the treadmill.
Jog at 3 mph and keep your eyes straight ahead. If you feel like drifting your attention to a TV screen, that’s fine, as long as you feel in control of your balance.
I know I sound like a broken record, but do not fall prey to any temptations to place your hands on the rails or elsewhere. This will set you backwards. It will shut off opportunities for your body to adapt.
Fitness and weight loss are achieved only when the body is forced to adapt to an unfamiliar training stimulus.
Another way to overcome treadmill intimidation is to jog or run for only brief periods, alternating with walking.
Sharon Smith has been in the fitness industry for 25+ years and specializes in the over-40 client.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
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Top image: Shutterstock/Iam_Anupong
How to Balance on a Treadmill Desk
Learning how to balance while using a treadmill desk is easier than you think.
As an avid user of a treadmill desk, I’ve read of other peoples’ concerns with this device, and actually came across a posting in which the user was asking how to keep their balance.
The purpose of a treadmill desk is to alleviate the body from the harmful effects of prolonged sitting.
You will not burn a lot of calories walking 3 mph on a treadmill desk while holding onto the machine.
Save the calorie burning for the gym or a regular treadmill (don’t hold on), and reserve the desk device for the purpose of avoiding lots of sitting.
How do you balance on a treadmill desk?
Start out at the slowest speed. Don’t feel you must go 2 mph if you’re new to this instrument.
My treadmill desk starts at 0.4 mph. This is unbelievably slow, but if you have issues with balance, start this slowly.
Then gradually, as your body’s balancing mechanism adapts, increase the speed — say, to 0.6 mph, and see how you do.
If you get in the habit of holding onto the rails, your balance will always remain compromised because it won’t have a chance to adapt.
The only time you should hold on when using a treadmill desk is when you’re using the mouse or keyboard, in which case, there will be natural arm and hand contact with the machine.
But if you’re simply reading some e-mail, the latest news or watching a video, there’s no reason to hold on.
If balance is an issue, this isn’t inherent in the treadmill desk; it’s inherent in your body’s lack of adaptation to a moving tread.
The only way to adapt is to walk with a natural arm swing, to promote a natural gait and good posture: the way you’d walk anywhere from point A to point B.
If you’re doing a lot of scrolling, the scrolling arm/hand will be making contact with the machine’s desk portion.
I advise placing the other hand in a similar position on the desk portion to even things out.
But when there’s NO mouse or keyboard use, keep both arms at your sides and swing in correlation to the speed you’re walking. This is the natural way for the body to move.
If you feel like you’re going to fall off or lose your balance, lower the speed.
If you have a balance issue at the slowest speed, then resist the temptation to cling onto the machine. The best way to walk on a moving platform is naturally.
If you feel like you must struggle to maintain your balance at the slowest speed on your treadmill desk, keep struggling, because struggling makes the body more efficient by forcing it to adapt.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
Holding onto Treadmill in Front with Incline: Why This Fails
Clinging to the treadmill in front while using even a high incline is bad for the body, even if you have a condition; here’s why.
Often, the user “walks” in a tugging motion.
This incorrect use of a treadmill is a choice, even though the user may think it’s physically necessary.
The only time tugging on a treadmill is necessary is when you have the speed set too fast for what you can handle!
The woman below was tugging like mad when I took this photo. Her feet were slapping down with each step.
I asked an orthopedic surgeon with over 40 years’ experience what she thought of this.
“Just looking at this photo, I can’t imagine how this developed,” begins Barbara Bergin, MD, board certified orthopedic surgeon at and co-founder of Texas Orthopedics, Sports & Rehabilitation Associates.
“It strikes me as a weird, mechanically unsound mode of exercise, akin to walking deep knee bends with weights in the hands, or kettlebell jumping jacks.
“These are exercises designed to somehow give an extra bang for the buck, but often result in repetitive stress disorders.
“This is likely causing a kind of leaping gait, as the person tries to pull themselves up, and then they drop to the surface.”
Dr. Bergin also notes that aggressive or forceful tugging can cause repetitive strain injuries in the lower body.
Though the man in the top image, and the woman in the second image, were doing their make-believe walking at a fast clip with a tight hand grip, this doesn’t mean that the solution is to loosen the grip or try not to slap down the feet.
Even with a more relaxed body or a slower speed, “It’s certainly unnatural,” cautions Dr. Bergin, “and it seems like it would put some strain on the shoulders, as well as higher impact pressure on the legs. It’s so far from natural human movement.
“The closer we get to natural walking, the better.”
Does this mean that walking on a treadmill without holding on is still bad for the body?
No, of course not. For instance, walking without holding onto the front or anywhere else pleasantly forces the body into correct gait patterns and posture.
What if it hurts somewhere unless you hold on?
This means that the discomfort, whether it’s in a foot, hip or low back, originates from weak, unconditioned structures that are not being given a chance to get strong because you keep holding onto the machine!
Holding on deprives that area of beneficial work!
A very effective way to strengthen weak areas is to make them work in a capacity that they’re not efficient at: walking an incline without gripping the treadmill.
Usually, any discomfort that arises, when one uses an incline without holding on, is located in the low back.
When you continue to hold onto the front bar, these neglected low back muscles will continue to be weak.
Letting go of the front bar will force these muscles to adapt and become stronger, because they’ll be forced to keep your spine upright (body vertical).
If you have a bad knee or painful feet, maybe you shouldn’t even be on a treadmill until the problem resolves.
If it’s permanent, then holding on may make the situation worse, in that holding on, even during a high incline, skewers gait pattern, making you walk with an unnatural gait that puts unnatural stress on the hip joints.
The hips over-rotate to compensate for the immobilized upper body.
The human body naturally swings an opposite arm with the opposite leg while walking — and even crawling.
When you hold onto the treadmill, especially when this involves a tugging motion from the front, unnatural forces are applied to the pelvis: not good.
In addition, the foot strike is altered, which can lead to or aggravate foot issues.
I’ve worked with many personal-training clients who were perfectly healthy yet held onto a treadmill simply because they thought they’d fall off otherwise.
What is the solution?
SLOW DOWN. Don’t think for a moment you’ll sacrifice some of the workout if you reduce the speed and LET GO.
Fast speed does not equate to a good workout if you’re gripping and pulling with your arms.
In 100 percent of the cases, my clients remained steady on the tread after freeing their hands, and immediately felt many more muscles being worked.
Nobody stumbled, let alone fell off.
Other Reasons Holding on Is Bad
- Zero improvement in balance; it may even get worse.
- Stabilizer muscles will be ignored.
The calorie counter will run up the same numbers whether you hold on or pump your arms. This little computer is based on only two metrics: speed and incline. It cannot tell the difference between a 300 pound man or a little mouse on the tread.
Holding onto the treadmill’s front bar, console or even side rails during an incline will sabotage your attempts to reach your goals.
Dr. Bergin is a general orthopedist, surgically and conservatively treating all manner of bone and joint conditions. She enjoys educating patients so they can emerge stronger than they were before their orthopedic injury or surgery.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
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