Are treadmill runs equal to outdoor runs? Is there something gained in doing one over the other?

Its all about control. On a threadmill you control the pace, elevation and conditions. On the road you don't. Try living on the west coast of Ireland and not using one. Its very windy and wet most days. Its demoralising trying to hit paces day after day in those conditions. Sometimes your trying to activate your fast twitch muscles and you simply can't do it outside. It can go days with storms here. If i have a choice i always run outdoors but sometimes its out of my hands

Both treadmills and outdoors have their advantages. This morning when it was 15° and the roads were not plowed, it would have been more beneficial to run on a treadmill rather than spinning my wheels risking a hamstring or some other injury.

That being said I’ve come off long treadmill stints due to the feet of snow that drops where I live to run some fast 5k/10ks in early spring. All fast training done on the the TM.

I scrapped my TM after the motor burned up..So I have no choice to run outside.

Treadmill is far easier.

I have seen people on strava run 18 or 19 minutes for "5k" on a treadmill, but they have never run a sub20 in a real 5k race.

Therefore a treadmill is not a real indicator of fitness.

PRs speak for themselves.

What’s with this imagined moral high grounding attributed to outdoor runners like in the tweet? I’ve never seen either type of runner bash or judge the other. I personally run outdoors because I like to spend outdoor time and running is one sport where cold doesn’t really matter, plus I don’t own a treadmill and wouldn’t care to get one as I can’t afford the storage space nor would it make any sense to pay the money and space cost when a huge draw of running for me is to be able to have a regular outdoor activity all year round. I do have a smart indoor trainer and an indoor rower as road biking and most certainly rowing are not as weather neutral as running.

If I meet a fellow runner who prefers to run on a treadmill, the treadmill would just be a detail and I’d have no reason to judge them for it, rather I’d probably chat with them about all the usual running-related things except for outdoor/winter running aspects.

Yep, this is a perfectly reasonable perspective. As for the tweet, I guess it's simply the nature of those heavily programmed by SM to push out plausible strawmen in an effort to get response and thus a dopamine hit. On my runs with friends outdoors we never talk about treadmills, let alone who might be enjoying using one. Even if someone takes to SM to indicate that they do. People would worry a lot less about what people think about them if they realized how seldom people think about them. Even though the point of SM seems to be to try to distract others into thinking about you. That might be just an illusion.

5758445776 wrote:

Treadmill is far easier.

I have seen people on strava run 18 or 19 minutes for "5k" on a treadmill, but they have never run a sub20 in a real 5k race.

Therefore a treadmill is not a real indicator of fitness.

PRs speak for themselves.

The treadmill wasn’t calibrated correctly.

I personally just hate the treadmill and see it as a necessary evil when the weather is terrible.

5758445776 wrote:

Treadmill is far easier.

I have seen people on strava run 18 or 19 minutes for "5k" on a treadmill, but they have never run a sub20 in a real 5k race.

Therefore a treadmill is not a real indicator of fitness.

PRs speak for themselves.

I run the same times on the treadmill as solo TTs on the track. Then people say yeah but it wasn't a race. Fine.

IMO if you just race track it's fine but any hill strength or trail stability required and you need to train for that.

Treadmills are bouncier than outdoor running, so always put your treadmill on 1% incline to equal out the effort.

Paper above says the biomechanics of treadmill and overground running are very similar. The senior author is director of the National Running Center in Boston and a professor at Harvard Med School.

this is it wrote:

If you're training to hop up and down on a moving belt the treadmill is your best bet.

What about one of those curve treadmills? Where you move the belt? My gym has one of these and it's definitely a game changer.

this is it wrote:

If you're training to hop up and down on a moving belt the treadmill is your best bet.

Maybe that's why the Ingebretsens suck...

In my opinion, not only does running outside benefit stability as there is always some unevenness of the running surface to which your body must adapt, both physically and mentally (unconscious adaptations by the brain), outdoor running requires greater mental involvement (i.e., situational awareness) as far as where the next step will fall, what's ahead on the trail or road, preparation for the hill looming in the distance, and sighting potential hazards such as cars, loose dogs, ice, etc. Running outside is a much more total body experience. I'm biased. I have only ever been on a treadmill once in my over 40 years of running, and that is when I had a gait analysis performed. I admit, I have a bike on a trainer in the basement if weather conditions make it unsafe to run outside.

With a treadmill you learn to run symatrically, because with any different forces on the left and right leg, you move left and right on the belt. This is good for the running economy.

I think is a great tool ( at least a good decent treadmill) . During pandemic lookdown I have trained only on my treadmill . So about 40 days. I need a few days to get the muscles used to the different surface and to all the vibrations that comes from running on the moving belt. Then is great!!! Two big stand fan in front and back or if you have air condition . The heat is a big problem but you ll get use to it. You can drink whenever you want. Music, TV, And then your fantasy is your limit when it comes to workout. Speed wise , I m slower on a treadmill. Example 5'/mile are harder on the treadmill that on the road .I guess is because all the vibrations , ondulations that are shaking my legs , totally different from when we run on a road or on a trail where the surface doesnt move under our feet, while on the treadmill we have all those vibrations and shakes.Maybe is something that need time to get used to. About workout from easy pace runs , recovery runs, aerobic runs, to more quality workout . I love fartlek on a treadmill where i can control everything speed recovery. Hills are great workout too. I find very useful hills where i starts on flat at let's say 8'/mile than after 20 minutes i begin to increase the inclination 3%-5%- 6% - 7% keeping the speed costant at 8'/mile. If at 0% grade at 8'/mile the Vo2cost is 36.3 at 7% grade 8'/mile Vo2cost is55.8 and equivalent at 5.39"/mile pace on a flat surface at 0% grade. Great is also doing hills repetitions of some lenght or time and then recovery at 1% grade at easy pace. And so on . What i find difficult is long repetitions like 2k. 3k or more but thats is something to do with the fact that i find harder on a treadmill to keep a given pace than outside on the road

science confirmed wrote:

this is it wrote:

If you're training to hop up and down on a moving belt the treadmill is your best bet.

What about one of those curve treadmills? Where you move the belt? My gym has one of these and it's definitely a game changer.

https://www.woodway.com/products/curve/

I tried to run on one of those at the gym and couldn't quite get the hang of it right away. It seemed like it would definitely make you work.