Hi all,
I have a wife hell-bent on purchasing a treadmill. I'm not
so sure. She and I are both relatively fit and are in our
mid 30s (living in Sydney, Aust).
Here's the thing... my running has always been outdoors in
good shoes on both tarred road and bush tracks. These days I
can comfortably cover 12 kms in about 45 minutes (~ 7.5
miles or 6 min/mile) so am not quite the runner I was. I
don't really have a 'regime' and have never bothered with
heart rates but do work hard on a loose twice per week basis
with the aim of maintaining fitness.
My wife is looking for weight loss (she's already slim and
reasonably fit) and wants the flexibility that a treadmill
offers. She's also keen to improve fitness and cardio.
Some points:
- is a treadmill with ECG/interval capability likely to lead
to better results for moi, assuming I use it properly and
perhaps 3 times a week? In other words, is ECG/interval
capability worthwhile on a t-mill?
- filtering the sales blurb - we should expect less personal
wear and tear but won't experience the same results as
outdoors - a compromise for its flexibility/convenience I
suppose. Is the main value of one of these things in that
it leads (forces) you to complete the training program
that you choose (ie. you follow it)?
- wanting to buy something reasonable - 20 km/h and heart
rate (??), 3hp continuous motor is going to cost us about
$3,000 AUD. Assuming regular usage - money well spent?
Currently looking at the Healthstream "Sphere" - see http-
://www.fitnessgeneration.com.au/products_home_fs_healthst-
ream.htm (you'll have to scroll down to the second item).
- I am interested in improving my cardio/running capacities
but being a bit old school, need convincing that t-mills
can offer much beyond convenience.
I realise many of these points are wishy-washy but I'm in a
few minds about the whole thing and would like to hear some
perspectives. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Cheers, Dave (and Lisa)
P.S. Oh, did I mention we live on the edge of a
national park??
Good info. here
http://www.runnersworld.com/home/0,1300,1-52-
72,FF.html?site=RunnersWorld
Jim
Dave Ello wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I have a wife hell-bent on purchasing a treadmill. I'm not
> so sure. She and I are both relatively fit and are in our
> mid 30s (living in Sydney, Aust).
I took the liberty of moving the important comment first.
> P.S. Oh, did I mention we live on the edge of a national
> park??
duh, and you're asking about a treadmill. geez ;)
I can't give you any specifics regarding treadmill quality,
etc., but just a few general comments.
Treadmills *can* be a very effective training tool. The
poster child cited here frequently is Christine Clark who
used one for a large part (not all) of her training for the
US women's marathon trials for the Sydney Olympics. For her,
it was a time management issue (job, kids) plus firm footing
in Alaska winter as well as heat acclimation for the trials
that were unexpectedly warm. In general, I don't know what
pct of each she does in past, present, or future, but she
does have some trail running experience and obviously runs
on roads and tm.
If you lack hills of certain slopes, length, you might be
able to use the tm to fill those gaps in your normal
training - or not, depending on what you have available.
However, many tm doesn't have negative slopes, and at most
they're probably in the 3-5% range. In a class, we have
gotten negative slopes by putting a a 4x4 or something
under the back.
As you mentioned, tm will provide a relatively forgiving
(compared with paved routes), unvarying surface to run on,
which may be less likely to beat up your body than roads. It
will not use the broader range of motion of feet and ankles
that a trail would. It will provide a non-icy footing year
round, although that may not be an issue for you.
Indoors does provide some shelter from air quality issues -
like smoke from nearby bush/forest fires or whatever other
local issues you may have.
One value of tm is to do standardized fitness tests (how far
you can go in 6 min or at certain hr, etc), which might be
of value to both you and your wife if main goal is fitness.
You'll have relatively constant environmental conditions.
I've never used the programs on any, but they do enforce
whatever pace/effort you want whereas there can be some
drift on roads, trails.
If your goal were to improve trail running, then I would
only count on tm for the cardio aspects since it just
doesn't work all the muscles, imho. But since you're
primarily just interested in fitness, it would probably
be adequate.
>I don't really have a 'regime' and have never bothered with
>heart rates but do work hard on a loose twice per week
>basis with the aim of maintaining fitness.
Depending on your objectives, you may or may not want to use
the hr aspects, but it sounds like it might be beneficial
for fitness. I run trails outdoors year round in Alaska
(assuming not black ice and I can get to trail head safely).
I train completely by effort and log my runs by hr. For
overall *cardio* (not necessarily muscle group strengthening
or benefits like mitochondria, capillaries, etc), that
allows me to interchange running, snowshoe running, xc
skiing, hill hiking, mt biking, parts of indoor cross-
training class, etc. (I only log approximate distances.) I
take a very simple approach for zones - easy, below LT/VT
(use hard breathing as inicator), at or above LT/VT (don't
usually go here intentiontially yet since I'm a beginner).
And that approach works regardless of temperature, wind,
footing, activity, etc. It really simplifies things instead
of having to mess around with paces that will vary so much
with those conditions.
>
> My wife is looking for weight loss (she's already slim and
> reasonably fit) and wants the flexibility that a treadmill
> offers. She's also keen to improve fitness and cardio.
>
> Some points:
>
> - is a treadmill with ECG/interval capability likely to
> lead to better results for moi, assuming I use it
> properly and perhaps 3 times a week? In other words, is
> ECG/interval capability worthwhile on a t-mill?
I'm guessing it probably would, as long as you got one with
fast enough speeds and enough incline capability to add
decent hills.
If you have a fitness center or gym near you where you could
try a tm a few times, it might give you a better idea if a
tm does what you want. Having one at home offers
convenience, but if it doesn't provide the workout you like,
it may end up just sitting there while you're outside
running in the fresh air and scenery. Although it sounds
like your wife might be a steadier user regardless.
FWIW, I'm primarily an outdoor person, but did appreciate
the warmth, brightness, and firm footing of using a tm a few
times a year in local fitness center when we'd have black
ice conditions in Alaska winter. With better clothing,
headlamps (torch), and snowshoes with cleats (still don't
work on black ice, but trails don't get the ice of roads), I
seldom feel a need to use a tm anymore, and it's just too
different from normal running for me. You may have to
substitute your local running conditions for mine ;)
However, even now, I have *almost* considered using it for
longer slopes than what I can get locally, but have not been
willing to sacrifice an outdoor run for it, esp. since I
couldn't get a downhill of adequate steepness on tm. It
would have value for fitness tests also, but I just gauge by
how much easier my hilly trails are to run.
Treadmills are a tool that have a place.
>
> - I am interested in improving my cardio/running
> capacities but being a bit old school, need convincing
> that t-mills can offer much beyond convenience.
Yes, they can offer something beyond convenience as
indicated above, *but* whether they are worth the money for
a good tm (and maintenance) vs what you might be able to get
in a local gym or fitness center (hours of operation may be
a concern), you'll have to decide.
Dot
--
"Success is different things to different people" -Bernd
Heinrich in Racing the Antelope
Hi Jim,
Many thanks for the pointer. I had done some research on the
site but now my better 1/2 has also followed your link to
treadmill enlightenment!
Cheers, Dave
"J.A.M." <willowsjames@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:DUUdc.8207$F9.26@nwrddc01.gnilink.net...
> Good info. here
>
> http://www.runnersworld.com/home/0,1300,1-52-
> 72,FF.html?site=RunnersWorld
>
> Jim
Hi Dot,
> I took the liberty of moving the important comment first.
>
> > P.S. Oh, did I mention we live on the edge of a national
> > park??
>
> duh, and you're asking about a treadmill. geez ;)
Yes indeed. I guess this has been the biggest obstacle for
me to get over. However, with some reading and your comments
I can see how there could be a place for one with us,
especially with winter and very short days coming our way -
Lisa won't run (wisely) in the Nat. Park alone and I'm often
busy early morn/late afternoon.
Thank you for a most thorough and informative reply. I now
feel ready to accept my wife's purchase decision and hope
that I too will benefit from it. I guess I see it now as a
useful tool to be used in concert with outdoor work that
will erase excuses related to weather/time of day etc.
Perhaps over time I will learn more about the integration
of heart rate training into other areas of my fitness -
cycling etc.
Again, a *big* thanks for your time and I will send you an
email about our progress!
Regards, David (and Lisa)
<snip
Videotape her on a treadmill, and then show her how silly
she looks while she's using it. I just saved you over a
thousand bucks. You're welcome.
