Exercise-goers around the world have fallen in love with treadmills. They are stood in one place, namely the gym or home, and can walk as far as they please. Some treadmill models even have elevation changes, speed adjustments, challenge meters, and a whole plethora of things to do and ways to do them.
Walking to jogging, even running, is permissible on a treadmill. You can just as easily leave off a session and get back to your other tasks; especially if the treadmill is at home. This saves time and travel costs.
If the weather’s bad, a treadmill keeps you walking without missing a beat. This is one of the greatest advantages that treadmills can bring to your exercise regimens.
But the growing concern is if treadmills have any distinct benefits to actual outdoor walking. If you are inside an air-conditioned room with one of these marvels, are you getting the fresh air you need? You can tread in an open-air well-ventilated room but are you still getting enough fresh air and sun?
Benefits Of Walking On A Treadmill
Whatever the weather and your choice of health enhancement (calorie burning, losing weight, gaining heart health, etc.), treadmills can target varied portions of your body. If you know what they do, you can set up exercises to do them.
The Upper Body
On some treadmill models, built-in handles help you focus exercises on your upper body. It’s a simple pull-back maneuver to your shoulders and back out again, alternating it with your strides much like walking normally.
If you are new to treadmills, you will lose your footing without a little initial practice. That said, take up treads with handles only after you have gotten used to the way the belt moves at your speed preference.
Diversify these exercises with a few light dumbbells, about 2-5 pounds each. You can perform overhead presses and biceps curls as you tread.
The Incline
Treadmills can change angles. They do not have to be flat all the time. You can get quite the uphill jaunt simply by altering the angle on a treadmill. Workout intensity greatly improves with inclines. More calories are certainly burned and different muscle groups come in focus, like glutes and quadriceps.
With steeper inclines, keep your walk durations short but intense; much like interval training. Inclines are amazing for cardiovascular (heart) health.
Primary Muscles
These muscle groups include thigh hamstrings, calf soleus and gastrocnemius muscles, glutes, quadriceps, and flexors at the hip. There are of course other muscles that come under the ‘primary’ category, but these are abdominal ones.
Treadmills can work them well. With ace abdominal muscle growth, your lower back will find excellent support. This improves walking as time goes by and you get better at working these muscle groups. For stronger and better definition for muscles, you can alter the speed and resistance on treadmills.
Calorie Burn
Aside from muscle building exercises, treadmills are outstanding for burning calories. For an average 160-pound person, going 3.5 miles per hour can result in burning about 300 calories. Mayo Clinic’s observations in these regards have proven true.
Bodies burn fat in different ways and in different places. When you take to the treadmill, do not assume your thighs and love handles will be first to go. This depends on your physique and other factors. There are varied fat-loss sequences, but either way you still burn calories and if you stay treading, you will lose total body fat in remarkable ways.
Conclusion
Challenge yourself to better and more intense treadmill workouts. Use inclines and weights to your advantage, including resistance settings in treadmills, not to forget handles on some models. Several users have reported massive fat loss and muscle honing results with regular treadmill use.
