Talk:Treadmill

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[edit] momentum

I am not too informed on the science - but could someone write something about momentum, or lack thereof - how this affects the speed you run on treadmill... --[[User:OldakQuill|Oldak Quill]] 19:28, 20 Oct 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Load motors?

"Some treadmills have load motors" — What does this line mean? Should that be "loud motors"? Coffee 05:45, 30 October 2005 (UTC)

Help me please:

can some one let me know as what features must be looked when buying a tread mill?

I don't knwow any thing about the treadmill but am willing to buy one for me.

rajkantsharma@yahoo.com


[edit] removed claim about professional cyclists

Removed: "When professional cyclists are tested they will use their own bicycles (instead of a bike machine) on a treadmill." When professional cyclists are tested they use their own bicycles on an indoor trainer, not a treadmill. FreplySpang (talk) 00:30, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

The fact that the treadmill is moving and not the runner makes no difference in a physical sense. What matters is that the runner is moving relative to the treadmill, just as a runner on the ground is moving relative to the ground. Since people have difficulty with this concept it helps to do some thought experiments: xD

  • The floor of a bus is also moving very fast relative to the ground but it doesn't take a herculean effort to walk to the front of the bus, nor is it easier to walk from the front to the back while it is moving. The same can be said about an airplane.
  • Picture a very, very long treadmill, like they have at airports in the form of moving walkways. Stand on the treadmill but don't run. You will move along with it. To get back to where you started you'll have to walk/run at the same speed as the treadmill and it won't feel any different than walking on the ground at the same speed for an equal amount of time.

There are tiny differences, like the energy it takes to get up to speed, which is minimal, and the force of wind resistance, which is a true difference. Also, treadmills can be quite soft and springy, but some running tracks are soft as well. That people agree that running on a treadmill is easier than running outside is a topic that belongs in the realm of sports psychology. I invite others with a grasp of basic physics to help put this myth to rest.

I think that difference between running on a treadmill and running outside is not a topic that belongs in the realm of sports psychology. For example, I can simple jump upright on a treadmill and this move will be the same as running, because in both case I will move with the same velocity with respect to treadmill. When I move by all means with respect to treadmill my centre of gravity is moving with treadmill velocity. But my motion is more complicated than centre of gravity motion. Human body has more degree of freedom than one.72.245.155.59 22:19, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

No, you can't jump onto an already fast-moving treadmill and instantaneously start running, if you are unable to accelerate that quickly. You will fall back (I've tried that). Anyway, in this case, being unable to accelerate is due to the friction by which the belt drags your shoes back, not to inertia, as your momentum will stay constant with respect to an inertial reference frame (such as the ceiling). --Army1987 19:50, 4 January 2007 (UTC)
Running on a treadmill is much easier than real running. The runner is not moving with regard to the treadmill, it is the belt which is moving, and the belt is moving due to the electric motor. The only parts of the runner which are moving are the legs. Real running requires acceleration of the whole body mass. And running up a gradient is only difficult on a treadmill because of the awkwardness of the gait; running up a hill requires that the runner moves their body weight against gravity. Jonathan Webley 14:33, 15 November 2006 (UTC)
This only occurs when accelerating. Marching at a constant speed on a horizontal treadmill is the same thing as doing the same on a road, except for air resistance and the fact that the surface of the belt is more regular than asphalt. And anyway, when walking (as opposed to running), inertia plays a very small role compared to friction (as you can accelerate from zero to the max speed you can reach without running, and decelerate from that to zero, within not much more than one or two steps). There are significant differences only in the case of quick accelerations, as, with respect to an inertial frame of reference, you have to gain momentum and kinetic energy only in the case of the road ant not in that of the treadmill. --Army1987 19:50, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Another Disavantage

One disadvantage to running on a treadmill is that the machine pulls your foot back instead of you physically doing the work. This isn't really a big deal for long distance runners, but highspeed treadmills for sprinters only allow your to do half the work. When you put your foot down the machine pulls it back so all you have to do is pull your other foot forward, which means that you don't apply the pushing action of the back foot that you get running on a track or road. (- College Athlete) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 74.133.208.136 (talk) 03:42, 11 February 2007 (UTC).

When you're running on a road, and your foot touches the pavement, does the road not tend to pull your foot back the same way a treadmill would? Think about coefficient of friction and normal force (gravity times mass when standing still). 72.223.90.137 04:05, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Running outdoors vs. treadmill

If you run on a treadmill at a constant speed, that SHOULD be about the same as running outdoors. I have heard that setting the treadmill to a 1% incline should make up for the lack of wind resistance. My experience is that running fast on a treadmill is amazingly easier than running outside. The question is, why? (The person above who thinks the explanation is psychological seems to not be a runner who has had this experience.) Basic physics says that they should be about the same. It is hard to believe that the shock-absorbing features of the treadmill make that much difference. Is it possible that the makers of the gym equipment are cheating, intentionally mis-calibrating the equipment to make people think that they are doing better than they really are? Has anyone ever tested the true speeds of treadmills? Are there any good websites that go into all of these complicated details? Do serious runners train on treadmills?-69.87.204.41 23:32, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

I think the treadmill allows you to run at a near-constant speed and much of the inefficiency of running comes from letting yourself slow down and having to accelerate again. Perhaps if you established that the treadmill was actually moving at say, X feet per second, and you set it high enough so that you'd be running fast enough to be able to replicate it fairly smoothly outdoors, it would be a fair comparison? Also, if it really does turn out to be easier, I'd just increase the incline or speed, depending on what seemed to simulate it better. If your HR is up, it's up. Training the muscles needed specifically for running, as a sport, is a different matter. Actually running might be the best way to train for running. 72.223.90.137 22:28, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
On a big fancy treadmill at the YMCA, I can run at a sustained 9MPH, mile after mile -- or even faster! It would be wonderful if I could run that fast outside, on the street -- but I doubt that I can. Running outside is better in many ways, but running on a hard surface seems to wear out the joints, could be a serious problem. (Most of us that run outside do not have access to special soft running track surfaces.) So training at least some on a treadmill seems like it would protect your body from damage. But it would be good to understand the relationship between the two forms of training better, to be able to train inside for races outside. They are both "running", but there seems to be some subtle, mysterious difference.-69.87.204.227 12:42, 11 April 2007 (UTC)
I have just started exercising on a treadmill and am pretty amazed by my own performance (ie that I can perform at all), as someone who has always pretty much panicked when required to jog "IRL". At my absolute beginner level, I believe the difference is primarily psychological: you have absolute control on a treadmill, at any point you can 'change the landscape' in response to any desire or discomfort, and in are in a relatively secure environment (if in a gym, surrounded by professionals) - this I think provides a sort of 'safe space' that enables you start with a better feeling of confidence and maybe even push yourself a bit more. Yes, if you run, you can stop if you get tired, but I think we tend to treat a real hill as a stronger obligation (ie more 'face' to lose if we stop) than a number on a machine. Also, no matter how far or fast you run on a treadmill, you're no further from home than when you start out! That has to add to the sense of reassurance.
On a more physical note, I don't think anyone has mentioned the physical effort in the changes of direction involved in outside jogging: corners, dodging pedestrians, crossing roads etc. From my very fuzzy memory of physics I believe a change of direction is equivalent to an acceleration from an inertial standpoint? And would engage different/more muscles (eg obliques?)? Running round a track would effectively involve constant change of direction and thus at the very least engage a larger set of muscles than treadmill running and at most if my physics is right a perpetual change in velocity?124.170.238.154 (talk) 05:22, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Relaxed running

Because running on a treadmill is a very different situation, the user can focus on relaxing, or different parts of the body, or changing their form/motions -- very different from running outside, possibly useful for Chi Running.-69.87.204.41 23:32, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Holding on

The option of being able to hold on to a treadmill may be an advantage, if the user is in need of that help. But from a physics/energy/calorie point of view, it completely changes the exercise -- sort of like being towed.-69.87.204.141 18:18, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Running bad for knees?

I heard that running on treadmill is bad for your knees, or is it only if you have a knee injury? (my mom's doctor told her not to run on treadmills 'cause she hurt her knee)

[edit] Plane Treadmill problem.

Plane on a treadmill.

Can it take off? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Colinspocket (talk • contribs) 10:19, 7 December 2007 (UTC)