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pietasterp · 03-03-2022, 03:21 PM

Great job everyone on this thread for staying on the horse (or getting back on it as the case may be)!

One thought I had recently (while bored out of my mind running a quick 1.75 mile lunchtime trot) was in terms of energy expenditure when jogging/running, my entirely subjective take on 'difficulty' or strenuousness ranks something like this:

Running outdoors on city streets > running on a track > running on a treadmill

My impression of running on treadmill is that it is significantly easier than running outside in real world conditions, but I'm not sure anyone has ever actually looked into/quantified that (if it's even true). For one thing, the surface is perfectly level (even if you put some slope on the machine), and more importantly, the nature of the machine sort of 'dragging' your trail leg backwards means that you don't so much have to 'push-off' with the trail leg as you do just make sure your front leg gets forward quickly enough. Also, there's no wind resistance (or minimal).

I'm definitely not saying running on a treadmill is not worthwhile; nothing could be further from the truth. This is just where my mind wanders when I'm trotting around town trying to get a sweat going so I'm not on my rear-end all day long.

03-03-2022, 03:21 PM	#23
pietasterp All Star OVR: 13 Join Date: Feb 2004	Re: 2022 Fitness Adventure Great job everyone on this thread for staying on the horse (or getting back on it as the case may be)! One thought I had recently (while bored out of my mind running a quick 1.75 mile lunchtime trot) was in terms of energy expenditure when jogging/running, my entirely subjective take on 'difficulty' or strenuousness ranks something like this: Running outdoors on city streets > running on a track > running on a treadmill My impression of running on treadmill is that it is significantly easier than running outside in real world conditions, but I'm not sure anyone has ever actually looked into/quantified that (if it's even true). For one thing, the surface is perfectly level (even if you put some slope on the machine), and more importantly, the nature of the machine sort of 'dragging' your trail leg backwards means that you don't so much have to 'push-off' with the trail leg as you do just make sure your front leg gets forward quickly enough. Also, there's no wind resistance (or minimal). I'm definitely not saying running on a treadmill is not worthwhile; nothing could be further from the truth. This is just where my mind wanders when I'm trotting around town trying to get a sweat going so I'm not on my rear-end all day long.