On the treadmill: the good and the bad

Five good things about treadmills:

• Excellent all-weather facilitator of cardiovascular exercise


• Allows for precise control of speed and slope


• Reduced impact on skeletal structure compared with running or fast-walking outdoors


• Cuts the boredom factor, as treadmills allow for reading, watching TV or conversation


• Most treadmills provide useful data on the exercise session: calories burned, "distance" traveled, heart rate

Five bad things about treadmills:

• Consistent pace is artificial, providing limited training benefits for running in the real world


• Overly mechanical experience can be downright boring


• Some increased risk of cardiac incidents since naturally tiring elements such as wind, heat and road resistance do not come into play


• Risk of repetitive injuries if used exclusively and to excess -- vibration of the entire body has been linked to lower back problems. Also, body alignment and posture can be negatively affected


• No natural injections of vitamin D! Go outside!