5 Treadmill Mistakes People Often Make

If you have been working out on the treadmill but with not much of a positive outcome, you're doing it wrong. For the less-informed beginners, a workout session on the treadmill is great for your heart. The running increases blood circulation throughout your body and so there's less pressure on your small heart. Additionally, treadmills are a good way to build hamstring and quadricep muscles. If you are looking to lose weight, a run on the treadmill will also help you burn calories. But, there's a small catch. You need to be patient and work regularly for at least 40 minutes to get positive results. Most importantly, you have to do it the right way.

Here's a look at the 5 most common mistakes everyone makes while they're on the treadmill.

1. No warm-up

A direct-run on the treadmill without a warmup can mean serious injuries. Warming up boosts blood flow in your system, which is much more than the flow while we are sitting or just standing. This also increases the oxygen supply to muscles, allowing to you perform better, more easily.

2. Looking at your feet

When you look down while running or walking on the treadmill, your hips poke out behind you. This means that you are straining your hips, spine, knees and the back of your neck and misaligning your body from its regular shape. Your body should form a straight line from your head to feet while you workout, so look straight ahead. Otherwise, you could also lose balance.

3. Slapping you flat feet down

If you put your feet flat on the belt, chances are that you will strain the ligaments and tendons in your feet into a fracture. When we do this, our body leans backward and angle created with the forward moving belt strains our back and hip muscles. Aim to land on the ball of your foot or the midfoot and not the heel when you run on the treadmill.

4. Holding the bars

This is practically like cheating in the exercise. Running and walking requires you to move your arms and the rest of the upper body also. When you hold the bars, you restrict movement to just your legs and so burn lesser calories. A part of your body weight is supported by the bars and so you have to carry lesser yourself.

5. Too long strides

Rule number one while you run is to take short and fast steps. When you try to cover too much space on the belt, you risk efficiency and speed. Also, you use too much energy while taking longer steps and so it is impossible to workout for longer. Match your speed to 3 steps per second for ideal results.

Also read 10 Barriers to your weight loss goal.

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