Top 4 Treadmill Mistakes

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Just for fun today we’re going to go over the top 3 deadly treadmill mistakes that people make.

These mistakes are things people do that either lessen the effectiveness of your workout or put you in danger for injury or both.

I’m sure you don’t make these mistakes yourself – however I guarantee that the next time you go to the gym you’ll see at least 1 person if not more doing them!

 

#1 Walking on An Incline – But Clutching the Console For Support

We’ve all seen this before – the person walking at a 15% incline but hanging on to the console for dear life! Guess what? You’re not actually burning all those calories that the console says you are!

It’s better to walk at an 8% incline for example and not use the handrails at all (or just lightly for balance) than to walk at the full 15% and clutch the handrails for support.

 

#2 Not Wearing the Safety Key

Ok, I know it’s a pain – but you really should wear the safety key included with your treadmill. Just attach it to the bottom of your tshirt and forget about it.

It may seem like a pain – but if something goes wrong, let’s say you miss your footing or for some reason the belt speeds up for no reason and you don’t (it’s happened to me before), the safety key can save you from serious injury.

 

#3 Walking Backwards

I’ve seen this done at the gym more times than you’d expect. While it’s a mystery to me why people would want to do this – they do it often and it’s just not safe.

And talking to my personal trainer, I have it on good authority that it’s doesn’t really do much either.

If you want to crosstrain – pedal backwards on an elliptical, but forget about it on the treadmill. It’s too easy to trip, fall and hurt yourself.

 

#4 Showing Off For the Ladies (Ahem…Guys!)

This one can be funny to watch – but it can be dangerous as well. You’ve probably seen this as it happens every day in health clubs around the world.

Some girl who runs for an hour every day of her life (and is in the shape to prove it) is running on the treadmill. Some guy (who clearly does NOT run an hour every day of his life) gets on the treadmill beside her – and the grandstanding begins.

He suddenly feels as if he’s got to go twice as fast and 3 times as hard as her.

And before you know it he’s red-faced, sweat-soaked and wheezing like he’s going to have a coronary any second. But hey, he went faster than her so I bet she’s impressed right?

Wrong. Guys, we ladies understand you want to impress us. And we are impressed – we’ll even be impressed if you go at your own pace on the treadmill.

But we are less than impressed when you are clearly showing off and having to outdo us on your treadmill. And we’ll be even more disgusted if we have to interupt our workout to administer CPR to you.

Gentlemen, trust me – you don’t have to outdo us ladies. Just go at your own pace, please. It’s safer that way.

 

So those are 4 common treadmill mistakes to watch out for. Steer clear of these mistakes and you’ll get a better, safer workout!

Do you know of any common treadmill mistakes? Leave your comments below!