Treadmill Run
Running on a motorized treadmill at a set speed and incline, landing under your hips with short, quick steps.
- Primary muscles
- Quads, Glutes, Calves
- Secondary
- Hamstrings, Abs
- Logged as
- Session: time, plus what the machine shows, such as distance and calories
Loads from YouTube only when you press play. The video is by an independent creator.
Why do it
The treadmill lets you run in any weather with exact control over pace and incline, which makes it ideal for intervals and steady runs at a target speed. The moving belt does a little of the work for you, so many runners set a small incline to make it feel closer to running outside. Logging every speed and incline change keeps sessions comparable. Clip the safety key on every time; it stops the belt if you fall behind.
How to do it
Clip the safety key to your clothing and start the belt at a slow walk while you stand on the side rails, then step on.
Raise the speed in small steps to your running pace and run tall in the middle of the belt, landing under your hips with short, quick steps.
Keep your hands off the rails while you run; holding on takes work away from your legs. Raise the incline for hills instead of leaning forward.
Slow to a walk for the last minutes before you stop the belt. Log each speed and incline change as you make it, and copy distance and calories from the display at the end.
Common mistakes
Holding the rails
Gripping the rails or console takes work off your legs and wrecks your stride. Let your arms swing naturally.
Overstriding
Long strides that land in front of your body brake every step. Take short, quick steps that land under your hips.
Leaning forward for hills
Raise the incline instead of leaning into it; leaning only strains your back.
Skipping the safety key
Clip the key to your clothing so the belt stops if you slip.
Sets, reps and progression
How many sets you do and how close to failure you take them depend on your goal and your week, not on the exercise. These guides cover it:
Alternatives that train the same thing
Same movement, a different angle or piece of equipment.
