The TREADMILL is so weird: at 7 mph, it seems to be going really fast...

jaguar1 wrote:

Did you find them to be faster or slower than what they show?

Slower, i.e. a 9 minute mile was actually a 7 minute mile.

Way off, and also inconsistent.

Except the trotter was right on but way too expensive.

cftp5400 wrote:

completely ridiculous.

if your uncoordinated and awkward...then you may have trouble running on a treadmill. do you know why it feels faster at a slower pace...? because you're running slower OUTSIDE than you think you are. How many people THINK they are running 7 minute pace on their home route, when in reality it's more like 7:30...

The treadmill is just tellin you like it is...

Running is EFFORT based. If you are running on a treadmill and it's too easy...go faster. I'm guessing you'll discover it can be very very very uncomfortable...

Spot on brother.

I just had my lactate threshold tested, it was exactly what I was running outside (5:15-5:20 pace).

It feels a lot harder for me to do AT runs on a treadmill, which is why I do it. I can be exact on the pace, not slack off, and there's no track around for me to spike up and do 150's on after I get bored (I run the 800).

I love doing this type of work on the treadmill, I can't slack off, and I don't have to worry about weather factors interrupting my training.

I can see my link has been posted here, so I just would like to comment. This seems to be a consistently controversial topic, but it also strikes me, personally, as a fairly obvious and simple issue. To my thinking, it's somewhat irrelevant whether or not the treadmill is 100% accurate. I would imagine in some cases it is not. Some will be too fast at a certain pace, and some will be too slow at a certain pace. In the end, accuracy isn't particularly relevant, if you think about it.

What is relevant is the effort you are achieving. If you believe 5:00 pace is not accurate, and that it is equivalent to 5:20 (or whatever) then go faster or set the incline at a higher percentage. Work harder. It really only comes down to how much EFFORT you wish to exert - not whether your 5:00 was really 5:00.

I can tell you from personal experience that there is never any doubt that the level of effort I exert on a treadmill session is honest and perfectly legitimate. I don't ever feel as if a workout (usually a threshold run) is TOO EASY. I make sure there is nothing easy about it. And inevitably, my workouts translate consistently to a "real" race environment - i.e. on the roads.

For anyone who isn't quite sure if their treadmill is 100% accurate, I invite you to increase the pace.....and when you start to feel completely uncomfortable - that feeling is evidence of accuracy.

I purchased a treadmill to use as part of a treadmill desk. All the videos I have seen suggest 1mph as a walking pace for a desk. That is uncomfortably slow for me so I have been using 1.7mph

Today I measured my natural outdoor walking pace as 4mph. I tried 4mph on the treadmill and it is VERY fast. I kept trying lower rates and 2.4mph on the treadmill feels about the same as 4mph on the street. Very weird.

I guess all your comments sort of explain this. I don't feel like it is "different muscles" or at least not THAT different! So I'm going to guess that it is just not calibrated very well.

I measured my street pace with a Garmin Forerunner 305 which I'm going to guess is more accurate than my Merit Fitness Treadmill.

FYI: I sort of really like the treadmill desk. And I like the idea of not sitting in a chair for hours. But I'm still (about 2 months of use) not as comfortable working as a chair.

Thank you everyone.

as others have noted, i always feeling like i'm over-striding on a treadmill. not a good feeling. i try to avoid them.

i also feel that 8:00 pace on a treadmill feels faster than on the road. on the other hand, i don't think any feel any more tired after running a few miles at that pace on the treadmill than on the road.

i'm happy to report that i only ran on a treadmill once this winter, and i live in the north country. on the other hand, i didn't get in tons of miles.

Whoa, this thread is so tied into the other treadmill one today; anyway, I finally see someone else experienced glute/piriformis pain while on a TM - although I don't think it's related to shoes.

When I calibrated mine, I found the actual pace was about a minute faster than the indicated one, at least at 1mph. It explained why trying to run at "7:20" felt like a tempo pace (for me). Calibration instructions: http://www.bookofjoe.com/2006/02/how_to_calibrat.html

It's a perception thing....when you're on a treadmill, the room stays still, but outdoors, you are moving around your environment. Basically, your brain is tricking you into thinking you are going faster because everything else is staying still relative to you.

midwestrunna wrote:

treadmill running feels really unnatural, it seems like you can easily run faster by pushing yourself upward more so that the belt runs more while you are in the air. not really the same as running outside.

Mentally, I cannot stand running on treadmills, it just seems to last forever. I have been living in the midwest all my life and have encountered only a handful of days where it was bad enough weather to not be able to run outside.

Sweet Jesus...

It's the EXACT same as running outside. There is no difference physically running outside or inside except in two ways:

1) there is no draft

2) the belt and deck are of a different material then gravel, dirt, concrete, or any other surface.

The actual running mechanics themselves are completely identical to running outside. You cannot jump more upward so the belt moves further with each stride and conserve energy.

I agree, 640 pace on a treadmill is like 600 pace outside, 7 flat pace is like 630 pace ect... I also noticed it hurts my back to run on the treadmill

LACARPETRON DOOKMARRIOT wrote:

I agree, 640 pace on a treadmill is like 600 pace outside, 7 flat pace is like 630 pace ect... I also noticed it hurts my back to run on the treadmill

I only wish I had this experience.

I always find mill tempos slightly harder, but repeats are notably easier.

My boss has told me & I believe it that whatever pace it says u are running on the treadmill u are prolly goin' about 30% faster for it doesn't take into effect how much force u are applying. That's why u will see heavier women or men "shuffling" at a setting of 8 when u have it set at 6 or so & u know that u are running way faster because u are more efficient & powerful than the hobby jogger. I trust him for he has almost 50 years of running under his belt as well as a 49 second 400, 4:16 mile, & a 30 minute & some change 10k...

Treadin' 30% wrote:

My boss has told me & I believe it that whatever pace it says u are running on the treadmill u are prolly goin' about 30% faster for it doesn't take into effect how much force u are applying. That's why u will see heavier women or men "shuffling" at a setting of 8 when u have it set at 6 or so & u know that u are running way faster because u are more efficient & powerful than the hobby jogger. I trust him for he has almost 50 years of running under his belt as well as a 49 second 400, 4:16 mile, & a 30 minute & some change 10k...

Yea bro, it works something like that. I think there is like some subatomic deceleration in there too. Someone explained it once...complicated shit dude.

jaguar1 wrote:

Did you find them to be faster or slower than what they show?

I have a Nike watch that measures distance based on cadence. On an indoor track it comes within .01 or .02 for a mile, i.e. I run a mile and it says I ran anywhere between .99 and 1.01 miles..so I assume it is pretty accurate.

On most treadmills at my gym, if I run a 9 minute mile by the treadmill, my watch says that I'm running anywhere between 8:20-8:30. And for distance my watch tells me that I ran 1.00 mile, but the treadmill .90 to .95 miles.

Heart rate is a little less accurate (because I start looking at some chick bouncing on a stepper or pretending I'm Galen Rupp doing a post-race workout and my hr goes up) but it more or less tells me the same thing - that treadmills aren't accurate.

Well, if you view the treadmill and runner as a closed system, a treadmill at higher speeds will potentially be doing a greater proportion of work than the runner. You're not really pushing yourself forward at a high pace, but rather just maintaining position on an unstable surface.

Treadin' 30% wrote:

for it doesn't take into effect how much force u are applying.

That doesn't make any sense. If you're applying more force in the right direction efficiently, then you're going to go faster, the same as running outside.

JoeGarland wrote:

When I calibrated mine, I found the actual pace was about a minute faster than the indicated one, at least at 1mph. It explained why trying to run at "7:20" felt like a tempo pace (for me). Calibration instructions:

http://www.bookofjoe.com/2006/02/how_to_calibrat.html

That's a measurement, not a calibration.

A calibration would be matching the readout on the treadmill to the speed.

I have verified the speed on my treadmill by putting the front wheel of my bike on it and checking against the bike's speedometer. It was accurate withing .1 mph across all speeds. That being said, I still think it "feels" faster at 7.0 than the running same speed on the ground.

Dude it's more THAN, different way THAN, THAN it should, etc.

Then = a moment in time

Than = a method of comparison