The Trouble With The Treadmill

The treadmill is a tempting option when the cold weather begins to bite, but it shouldn’t completely replace your outdoor running

As the cold weather and longer nights set in, we all tend to hibernate a little.
Moving our training to indoor sessions on the treadmill is one of the easiest switches people frequently make.
Is this potentially a recipe for muscle imbalances and injuries? It’s certainly worth thinking of the implications of training exclusively on treadmills before you embark on a winter indoors.
When we run outside, the ground beneath us does not move; it provides a solid surface that opposes the forces placed upon it by the sole of your foot. Running outside, we use our hamstrings, glutes and lower back muscles to push off against the ground.
When we run on a treadmill, however, the ground underneath us moves freely away from the foot. The problem here is that when the foot has nothing to push against, it just flows away from the body effortlessly. The hamstrings, glutes and lower back are no longer required to produce large amounts of effort, so they activate far less.
“Why is that a problem?” I hear you ask.
Well, your glutes are one of the major stabilisers of your spine. If they are not firing, then you are creating a situation where your quads and hip flexors are doing all the work.
If you spend an entire winter indoors, then start moving outside in the spring, you have created a big risk factor for injury by over-recruiting your front muscle groups and under-recruiting your rear muscles.
I see a lot of hamstring tendon problems in March and April due to hamstrings suddenly being asked to switch from doing 10K indoors to 10K outdoors. Your cardiovascular system will cope, but your muscular system will not.

3 ways to avoid muscular imbalances

1. Train smart: do shorter sessions outdoors to avoid the worst of the bad weather
2. Cross-train: use bad weather as an excuse to go and work on your deficiencies (weak core, poor flexibility, etc)
3. Mix’n’match: try to limit your treadmill sessions to 50% of your total running time