Treadmills vs. Indoor track

I run on the treadmill for the same negative reasons you wrote for running outside. But I think you get a WAY better workout running outside. I think its like night and day and Id like to find out why myself.

Remember when you run on the tread, be sure to raise the incline up a few to mitigate the reverse-forward pounding your knees receive when running on a surface thats moving. It helps.

 

I agree, raising the incline (I use a 1 setting, whatever that means) is a good idea. I read in a men's fitness magazine that it gives you a comparable workout to outdoor running. My time/distance has been very close between track and treadmill since I started raising it.

Indoor tracks are usually small, so they are a bit boring to run on. I know treadmills don't go anywhere, but at least you can watch TV or other people. I rotate between treadmill, outside, and eliptical trainer (cross-trainer). I'd run outside every day if my knees and the weather would allow. The x-trainer really gives my knees a break. I would definitely use the indoor track to do some sprints, but I get a fairly varied speed range with the treadmill whether it's building up for 5 minutes (i.e. speed 5-9, moving up one every minute) or doing 1-minute sprints (10-11) and resting for one minute.

 

Didnt know that raising the incline gives you a comparable outdoor run. Always thought it was for the moving surface thing and how thats bad for your knees.

What are your thoughts about the xtrainer? I never feel like that thing is working for me.

I usually jump on a lifecycle.

 

treadmills get boring after a while i prefer out doors or track.

 

I've always hated treadmills and feel I get a much better workout on a track... but if it's a pretty bad quality track (ie: getting shinsplints...) then i'll prob stick to a treadmill. There are 2 indoor tracks where I am but one of them is great so I don't really have to worry about it.

 

First let me say this advice is coming from a former collegate runner (CC, indoor and outdoor track) who despite his love of the game, can't play soccer to save his life so take it for what its worth.

If your only options are an indoor track and a treadmill I would go with the treadmill. One thing you have to consider with an indoor track is, unless you've found a full size (400 meter) indoor track, they are only 200 meters long. That means you are turning quite a bit, the amount and frequency of course depends upon how far you are running and how fast. When you turn on the track, especially if it isn't banked, you have a tendency to lean quite a bit, this puts an unnatural amount of stress on your inside knee, hip, ankle, etc and can lead to injury. I personally know of several guys from my former team who ran into this problem. If you do decide to run on the indoor track and have the option of doing so (some clubs won't allow it) alternate days of clockwise and counterclockwise running, that will help a little.

Nothing, of course, compares to running outside, that's going to be your best workout. One more tip, if you run outside, avoid pavement as much as possible. Try to find a trail somewhere, the jarring from pavement can also lead to some problems, the last time I had an x-ray done on my foot the doctor couldn't even count all the little "bones" in there caused by the countless, tiny stress fractures that had healed in my feet.

The problem you run into with a treadmill is you have to run a lot faster and a lot farther than normal to get the same workout. You aren't really doing all the work on a treadmill, all you have to do is put one foot in front of the other and, for the most part, the treadmill moves them. That and people get into the habit of watching TV or reading a magazine or something like that, if you can read while you run, you aren't running hard enough. If you do the treadmill, do the eliptical and stairmasters also.

Another thing to think about is a little cross training, take a spinning class or something like that. If you're running during a long soccer season a little cross training like a bike will allow the joints and bones and ligaments and all that good stuff a bit of time to heal up while still building some endurance and strength. Another good activity for that is swimming, swimming is the single best workout for endurance and total body strengthing. I started swimming when I was in highschool to stay in shape between CC and track seasons. It killed me at first but I developed muscles I never even knew existed and my lung capacity/strength was unbelievable.

Anyway, like I said, I'm not a pro or anything, but those are just a few, ok a lot of my opinions on this. Good luck.

 

Sorry, one more thing about this, if you want to build some endurance a mile really isn't far enough. But whatever you run a constant speed isn't going to do much at all. You need to vary your speed, do some Fartlichs (yes, it is pronounced fart lick, ha ha). If you do them outside, run a total of 2 miles or so, run at a nice, steady LSD (Long Slow Distance) pace, then every 400 meters or so, sprint for 100 meters. As you get stronger, increase it to 200 slow, 100 fast. Then eventually go from one telephone pole to the next slow then sprint to the next, slow to the next, etc. You can do this on a treadmill, but it would be a real pain to do it.

 

Do interval training on the track. Personally, I hate the treadmill and I never feel like I get a full workout from it. Plus do some weightlifting and crunches and pushups type stuff. Interval training is great for burning fat and staying in shape.

 

Thats interesting HawkClaw I live in Wisconsin too and go to the Y. I personally prefer the indoor track because treadmills gave me knee problems, but both have there advantages and disadvantages.

 

Acceleration running can be used to improve endurance and speed.

Acceleration running is a form of interval training, which involves a gradual increase of pace from a walk, to a jog, to a stride, and then to a sprint before returning to a recovery walk.

Each change of pace should take place over a similar distance. For speed and anaerobic work the distances for each pace could be from 10 to 20 yards and for aerobic endurance the distances could be from 100 to 200 yards.The walk segment should be slow enough to allow the player's heart rate to drop below 130 beats per minute.The number of repetitions will depend on the player's fitness level .You should work until you are tired, but not exhausted.

Overload can be applied by either increasing the number of repetitions or decreasing the time taken for each run. The rest period depends on heart rate recovery and must not be shortened as a means of overloading the player.

You could incorporate a ball whilst doing some of these exercises with this method of training which stresses both anaerobic and aerobic energy systems. It is a good training method for pre-season and early season training and I highly recommend it.

Acceleration running is a good training method for cold weather because the gradual increase in speed is less likely to cause injury to cold muscles than a sudden change of speed.


FARTLEK TRAINING

Fartlek training is a relaxed adaptation of interval training and is a good
aerobic and anaerobic for off-season and pre-season.

Fartlek training (literally "speed play") is normally done
in groups led by a member of the group. The group sets off on a cross-country run at an easy pace. The leader who can be changed periodically, varies the pace from
time to time with short, intense sprints, and fast middle distance runs of up to a half mile in length.
Recovery periods, tempo, and speed are up to the leader's discretion and can be adapted to suit the terrain, like a sprint up a hill, or a zigzag run between fallen leaves. This is a good aerobic and anaerobic practice for the off-season and pre-season and should be a fun "follow-the-leader" game.

During the Fartlek training the leaders must allow some recovery breaks between the intense routines. This will allow the players to do more work at a high intensity before tiring.

courtesy my HS team's website

 

treadmils are sooooo boring.

 

Running small laps on indoor track is no better. I personally prefer outdoor running whether it is raining or not.