Does running on a treadmill get you the same benefit (distance based on time) as running on the road? Among my group there is a suggestion that one would have to adjust the incline of the treadmill (to 1 or 1.5) in order to be comparable to running on the road.
In other words, after 15 minutes of running do I go as far on the road as I do on the treadmill (considering the same pace on both)?
What about a rubberized track? How does that compare to the road or treadmill?
If you had a road made of treadmill material with the same give, perfectly flat, and no wind then they would be the same. They are not the same because the road is harder, has obstacles, is never perfectly level, and there is wind. There is also the fact that 10 kph on the treadmill might not really be 10 kph, i.e, you don’t know how accurate the speed reading is.
The treadmill is not the same.
The reason for setting the mill to 1% grade is to compensate for the belt pulling your foot backward.
Most treadmills have some form of shock absorption built in.
A rubberized track can be softer than the road though it varies widely. Tracks are built to a specified hardness but get harder as they age.
The belt doesn’t pull your foot backward, the belt pulls your whole body backward, the effort required to keep your body from moving backward on a treadmill is the same effort required to move your body forward on the ground. It is easier because it’s a more forgiving surface. (This assumes you are not holding on to the hand-grip, doing that would be like having someone towing you.)
One way the speed could be off is that the motor was weak and the belt slowed down when you stepped on it and sped up as you lifted your foot.
Another reason I saw suggested is that treadmill runs feel easier may be because of the ‘give’ (for shock absorption) you are effectively running down a slight hill.
This always seems to cause a huge debate. I remember reading somewhere that a runners stride changes when on a treadmill.
I am curious if you would know the difference if you where running on a treadmill with the cushion locked out and speed perfectly calibrated for xx minutes, then it was revealed through a cleaver optical illusion you where running on the ground through a hole in the floor and the room was being dragged at your speed.
This cyclical variation in speed each stride could contribute to a significant difference in the experience of running. Maybe this is actually the key difference.
Assuming perfect engineering, and that air effects are catered for, and ignoring silly things like the curvature of the Earth, there shouldn’t be any difference at all (the two scenarios don’t just feel the same - they are the same, at least they are when the runner is up to speed) - in the same way that there should be no measurable difference between standing still on solid ground and standing still on a train travelling at a constant velocity on perfect, flat, straight track.
I agree with this.
But also, speaking from experience, back in the day (years ago, really) when I started running, I ran on a treadmill. I’d set my speed to about 5.8 miles an hour on 0% incline and go for 30 minutes or more. Then I got a handy dandy GPS and decided to start running outside. Holy shit, there was no way I could run at 5.8 miles an hour on a flat outside. It was totally different and much, much harder. Anecdotal, sure, but I’m not the only one among my friends that have experienced this.
I’m not sure I agree with this. (I’m just musing out loud…) Road running requires that you move the mass of your body forward, running on a treadmill requires that you move just the mass of your feet to stay with the treadmill. If a runner could keep their torso completely level (i.e. no bouncing) and ran in a perfectly straight line the difference might be insignificant but I’m not not convinced of that.
I also think that air resistance plays a non-trivial part, even without a wind.
On the treadmill you have to move the mass of your body forward relative to the treadmill belt. This is exactly the same as moving your mass forward relative to the ground.
When you go somewhere on a train, is it only your feet that travel?
One aspect of outside running that may also be a factor that I rarely hear mentioned is the *downhill *portion. Running up an incline, which is often done on treadmills to increase the intensity, is “concentric” muscle work. Running downhill is “eccentric” work and eccentric work has some very different effects.
This is what my group has experienced. Running on the treadmill gets us a quicker time for 1 mile than running on the road. We also find that running on the road is quicker than running on a rubberized track. Sometimes as much as 5-10 seconds per quarter mile.
So my question is, can adjusting the incline of the treadmill even out the differences between treadmill and road?
Track is closer to Road.
I have a membership at the local Y specifically because they have an indoor running track. I ran on a treadmill only a handful of times this year, either when the track was closed or when I was out of town at a hotel.
I love running on the indoor track. And when I get out on a trail or on the road, my speed and distance match the track well within the bounds of normal variation due to all of those mysterious factors that make one run awesome and the next crappy.
I have experienced this as well. My Team in Training group recommending not using a treadmill at all if possible. Not only does it give a false sense of pace, but it also fails to exercise stabilizer muscles which are very important for long races.
There was a good thread on this a while back with links to studies, iirc.
Why hasn’t anyone mentioned an airplane yet?
Surely air resistance is not negligible? Running on a treadmill at 10 km/h is like running on the road with a 10 km/h tailwind. To simulate a realistic 10 km/h run, you need to create a 10 km/h wind on the treadmill.
Sure. Set it at 1% as runner pat mentions and see how you go. If after a few weeks you find the treadmill is consistently easier/harder than running on the road, fine tune the incline.
This is an interesting one. I think you’re right that air resistance would be significant but air resistance has a benefit as well, it cools you down. I get a lot hotter running on a treadmill than I do on the road and that feels like it gives me a performance hit. Is the cooling factor enough to make up for the air resistance? I don’t know. It no doubt depends on the conditions and your personal preference.
I don’t think this analogy applies. To an outside observer the entire train passenger’s body moves but a treadmill runner’s torso stays in the same place.
I don’t think this is right, either. If we imagined the runner was wearing frictionless roller-skates then the movement of the treadmill would not move the runner’s body. If we remove the skates then the runner just needs to move his feet (and legs) to keep up with the treadmill; his body stays motionless.