Life is not a treadmill

A question I hear from clients is “Do you recommend the treadmill or walking on the pavement?”  Look, I have nothing against treadmills.  In most fitness centers the treadmills are set up where you can watch TV and surf the web in the comfort of a controlled environment.  Can’t beat that!  However, for someone who is looking to improve stamina, lose weight, train for a 5K event or tone their legs, consider this.  When you are walking on a treadmill, the “ground” is coming to you.  All you really have to do is pick up your feet.  As long as you do so at the pace the treadmill belt is moving, no harm done.  You can even run a long distance on a treadmill, hey as long as there is something good on TV, we could stay all day! 

To transition from treadmill running to pavement running, the greatest discrepancy is propulsion.  On a treadmill you do not have to propel yourself across the surface.  The surface comes to you.  Even with hills you are still not propelling the weight and force of your body forward.  This is a rude awakening for the runner who trains 8 weeks on a treadmill to run a 5K and then on race day can’t make the first mile.  The training surface and the race surface were not the same.

Are you training on the treadmill of life.  Letting things comes to you at their own speed and pace.  Your life really doesn’t take a lot of effort, ever.  Well, life is not a treadmill.  You have to move yourself and propel yourself to do and be and live.  Hit the road!  Climb some hills, take some turns, but be moving.