Although the weather is warming up outside, you may still opt to jump on a treadmill for exercise if it’s late at night or the weather isn’t complying with an outside run. A treadmill certainly offers some convenience over an outdoors run, but it can also increase your injury risk if you’re not used to running on a treadmill. With that in mind, we wanted to use today’s blog to share some tips for keeping your injury risk low when using a treadmill.
Lowering Injury Risk While Treadmill Running
When we talk about lowering your injury risk while running on a treadmill, we’re not just talking about taking steps to prevent a fall-related injury. People slip or trip on a treadmill all the time, but that’s not the only source of injury. In fact, repetitive stress injuries from running on a treadmill are much more common than a fall-related injury. The following tips with take into account all different types of common treadmill-related foot and ankle injuries that we see.
1. Start Slow – Don’t just crank the speed up to a high level and jump on the treadmill. Help your body ease into activity and stress by walking at a lower speed. Walk for a couple minutes before you gradually turn the speed up to your desired intensity level. This ensures that your muscles and soft tissues can more easily make the transition from an inactive to an active state.
2. Mind Your Posture – Your balance and center of gravity may be slightly different than when you are running on the ground, so make it a point to evaluate your posture as you run and keep your spine in a healthy alignment. If you’re hunched forward or leaning back, stress will be channeled differently through your spine, hips, knees and feet, which can cause issues for these areas and joints. Keep your head above your shoulders and look straight ahead. Craning downward to watch a Netflix series on your iPad while you run can throw the rest of your body out of whack.
3. Shoe Choice – Make sure that you are wearing the right shoes for the activity. Don’t just run in any old shoe, make sure that you wear shoes that are specifically designed for running. Some people tend to land harder when running on a treadmill compared to outside, so you’ll want a comfortable and supportive running shoe to help disperse this stress.
4. Vary Your Workouts – It can be easy to get into a groove and end up on a treadmill a number of days in a row, but you want to vary your workouts a bit. If you’re always stressing the same muscle groups and not giving them much of a rest period, you will be at a heightened risk for repetitive stress injuries. Mix in some upper body workouts or do some core strengthening exercises so that your legs, knees, feet and ankles all get some time to recover between sessions on the treadmill.
5. Minimal Incline And Resistance – Treadmills can allow you to tweak the incline or resistance you experience during a workout, but don’t overdo it with these settings. Running with too steep an incline or too much resistance will put significant stress on your feet and your Achilles tendon, which can increase your risk of tendonitis. Start with very small tweaks to incline and resistance and gradually adjust as your body proves it can handle this increased strain.
And if you develop new or worsening foot pain while running on a treadmill, don’t just try to push through the pain. Instead, connect with a specialist like Dr. Silverman who can put an end to your discomfort and get you back to running without pain. For more information, or for help with a different foot or ankle issue, reach out to his office today at (952) 224-8500.
