Treadmills are more than a substitute for running when the weather is bad. How long you should run on a treadmill depends on your personal goals. Treadmill training offers benefits to you if you are trying to stay physically fit or lose weight. If you're more ambitious and want to prepare for competitive races, and even marathons, you can make good use of treadmills as part of your training program.
Description
A treadmill is an exercise machine consisting of a looped or "endless" belt. You run on the belt at a speed and incline you choose using a control panel. Treadmills can monitor your pace, distance run or walked and even your heart rate. You can buy treadmills for home use or use one at a gym. Before you start, familiarize yourself with the controls. A treadmill won't automatically slow or stop when you do, so knowing where the stop or pause button is located is essential to safe use.
Fitness
If you are interested mainly in exercise for physical fitness you can use a treadmill exclusively, according to Running Planet. The Mayo Clinic states that you should engage in physical activity at least 2.5 hours each week, broken into several daily sessions. For example, a 30-minute walk or run on a treadmill five days a week is a good basic workout program.
Weight Loss
The Mayo Clinic points out that you must burn about 3500 calories to lose 1 lb. of weight. How many calories you burn in an hour of running depends largely on your weight and the exercise pace you set. For example, if you jog at 5 mph on a treadmill, you will burn 584 calories an hour if you weigh 160 lbs. or 728 calories if you weigh 200 lbs. You can determine how long you should run on a treadmill by dividing 3500 by the number of calories you burn per hour and multiplying the result by the number of pounds you want to lose.
Benefits
Treadmills have some advantages over walking and running outside. Avoiding extreme heat or inclement weather are the most obvious. However, you also reduce the risk of foot, leg and joint injuries because you are running on a cushioned, smooth surface. You don't have to worry about crossing intersections, wayward dogs and other common running hazards. The ability to set a predetermined pace on a treadmill makes it much easier to keep your exercise intensity at a desired level.
Competition Training
If your running goals extend beyond basic physical fitness, running on a treadmill can play an important role in your training. You get the same advantages the physical fitness runner gets. In addition, you can use the treadmill features to precisely manage speed training. For example, you might set a fast pace for 2 minutes, then slow down for a short time before repeating the speed segment at the same pace for exactly the same time. This is a common training technique called interval training and is well suited to treadmills.
Considerations
Running on a treadmill isn't exactly like running outside. You'll need to keep your normal running form and avoid looking at the readouts on the control panel too often. You do not benefit from a breeze since you aren't actually moving and you may sweat more as a result. Competition runners don't get experience with wind resistance and other natural weather factors. In addition, if you want to train for long road races, you'll find the treadmill somewhat limited. You cannot set most treadmills to run downhill, and you don't get to accustom yourself to uneven road conditions. For the most part, you will want to do at least some of your training outside for these reasons.
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