Fitness: Has a treadmill winter ruined you for pounding the pavement? – Montreal Gazette

It was a treadmill winter, with icy, snowy or extreme cold conditions forcing even the most resilient runners to log their miles indoors. Now that the sidewalks are clear, it’s time to head back outside. But will all those treadmill miles make it difficult to get back to pounding the pavement?

The answer lies in understanding the difference between running on a treadmill and on the streets of your neighbourhood and whether you can turn those differences into advantages.

If you’ve ever run on a treadmill, you know that it offers a very different workout than one done at the same speed and distance as outdoors. Some of those differences lie in the perception of the workout, with most runners telling you that treadmill miles feel harder than mileage accumulated in the fresh air. But what’s of real concern to runners heading into their competitive season is whether those treadmill workouts helped or hampered their ability to hit the road with speed, power and fitness.

A team of Australian researchers wondered the same thing, so they reviewed 34 studies that compared running on a treadmill to running outdoors.

“Despite the widespread use of treadmills, there remain concerns about whether treadmill running is a valid surrogate for the physiological demands required during overground running,” said the researchers.

Acknowledging that treadmills control for speed, incline and weather conditions, all variables that make every outdoor run just a little bit different, the first issue the researchers tackled is whether the common practice of matching outdoor conditions by raising the treadmill’s incline to one percent is justified. Based on the belief that a slight incline compensates for the added wind resistance runners face while outdoors, the Australian researchers debunked the practice. Their findings suggest that for all but the fastest of runs (13-16 km/h), measures of performance like VO2 max were the same on a zero percent grade as compared to the same run outdoors.

So if running on a treadmill and running outdoors demand the same degree of aerobic power, why does it feel so much harder to run on a treadmill? According to the researchers, the answer lies in your speed.

As long as runners kept to a moderate pace, heart rates and perceived exertion were lower on a treadmill than running outdoors, but as speed started to build heart rate and the rate of perceived exertion increased to levels higher than those reached at the same speed running outdoors — a finding that surprised the researchers.

“The difference might relate to participants feeling less comfortable when running at faster speed on a motorized treadmill,” suggested the researchers. “The greater perceived effort might also relate to greater increases in body temperature during treadmill running because there is less relative air movement that can reduce body temperature due to evaporation of sweat.”

This added feeling of discomfort while training on a treadmill, especially at higher speeds, corresponds with the researchers’ data stating that runners tend to run faster and longer outdoors as compared to running on a treadmill. Also at play here is that treadmill runs lack the distraction factor of the outdoors, which means that runners become overly focused on their feelings of fatigue and are more susceptible to boredom while running on a treadmill.

The researchers also wanted to investigate sprinting. However, they were unable to find any consistency between studies, which made it difficult to conclude whether sprint training on a treadmill was as effective as sprint training on land. Perhaps the difficulty rests in the challenge of replicating the effort it takes to speed up and slow down on land vs. the time it takes to toggle the speed button up and down while on a treadmill — something everyone who has tried to run intervals on a treadmill understands.

Another factor not tackled by the researchers, but noted by many runners, is that treadmills are easier on the joints than running on pavement or asphalt, which can lead to discomfort and early fatigue those first few long runs outdoors in the spring.

So, what do runners need to know if they foresee more treadmill winters in their future? Here are some treadmill facts that can make your next indoor run more effective.

• Unless you plan on simulating hill running, keep your hands off the incline button and enjoy a zero grade run.
• Keep in mind that treadmill runs tend to be slower and shorter than outdoor runs, so adjust your training schedule accordingly.
• Give your joints a break and transition gradually from treadmill miles to outdoor miles
• High intensity sprints and longer workouts done closer to maximum effort are more uncomfortable on the treadmill, so find an indoor track to do speed work.
• Use the treadmill to do what’s tough to do outdoors, maintain a consistent pace or incline, and leave longer runs for days when you can benefit from the distractions offered by the sights and sounds of your neighbourhood.