Your heart is pumping and your lungs are breathing, but your heart and lungs cannot see. Your cardiovascular system does not know whether you are walking on a treadmill or walking outside, so if you are exercising for cardiovascular health, walking is the same everywhere. Walking outside has slight differences from walking on a treadmill, such as variations in terrain, but your body will receive the same benefits.
Treadmill
One way in which treadmill walking differs from outside walking is that you do not have to propel your body forward. The moving belt does this for you. A lack of wind resistance is another missing factor when you walk on a treadmill. You can use a 1-percent incline to make up for the lack of wind and to increase the challenge of your workout.
Outdoors
Outdoor walking provides various terrain, which helps to improve your balance. You can vary your routes for a change of scenery when you are not confined to the location of your treadmill. One drawback of outdoor walking is that it is dependent on the weather, so you may not always be able to participate in your workout and you have to dress for the changes in temperature.
Movement
If you are walking to burn calories and lose weight, you will find minimal difference between treadmill and outdoor walking. Dr. Steven T. Devor, associate professor at The Ohio State University, writes for Net Wellness that outdoor walking may burn an increase of less than three percent over walking on a treadmill. A study presented in "Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise" in June 2008 reported that your body uses the same joint motions on a treadmill or outdoors, with a slight increase in joint power when running outdoors.
Workout
You may enjoy a combination workout and include treadmill and outdoor walking in your daily activity. On days when your knees or hips are tender, the cushion of a treadmill deck may be gentle on your joints, but effective for your cardiovascular system. On days when you need a change of scenery, an outdoor walk along a new path including hills may improve your mood and your balance.
References
- Net Wellness; Treadmill vs. Outdoor Running: What's the Difference?; Steven T. Devor, PhD.
- Weight Watchers: Winter Walking: Making it Work; Nancy Rones
- "Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise": A Kinematics and Kinetic Comparison of Overground and Treadmill Running; Patrick O. Riley, et al.; June 2008
- The American College of Sports Medicine: Physical Activity and Public Health Guidelines
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