Speeds on Treadmills vs. Outdoors
By Therese Iknoian
Yes, there is a difference!
One thing is certain in the science of treadmill workouts: When someone is on a treadmill, he or she doesn't have to fight air resistance or wind to move forward. If you don’t have to overcome any resistance to go forwards, logically then you aren’t working as hard.
Think about it: If someone jogs 6 mph (10-minute miles) outdoors, then comes indoors and can suddenly jog 6.3 (9:30 miles), he or she hasn’t gotten more fit overnight. The lack of resistance (no wind, no forward locomotion through the air) allows them to move faster with less effort.
But if you want to use the same effort indoors as outdoors, then you have to do one of two things:
- Increase speed. Perhaps more difficult since it forces faster movement.
- Increase resistance. How? Without air resistance, you’l need to rely on the incline button. This is the safest method.
To achieve a speed on a treadmill that would be more equal to the one that could be achieved outdoors, set your treadmill to a 1-percent grade. The slower someone goes below 6.0 mph, the less of an incline they need, while the faster one goes, the more of an incline you might need. Some really speedy runners might want to try 2 or even 3 percent.
This change in speed is one reason heart rate monitoring can be so important indoors. That way, you rely on your true effort, rather than a speed that may not relate to your effort.
One note: Without the air breezing past you to cool you down by evaporating sweat, you will lose more fluid and electrolytes, feel hotter, and could overheat more quickly. Be sure you drink extra fluids. Use a fan in the room if need be to add some air movement.
But any air movement by a fan won’t increase your effort. The scientists have tried that one. Even with a stiff breeze from a fan, the effort was still lower at comparable speeds since the treadmill use still didn’t have to move through it.
