Treadmill Distance Accuracy

MooseWizard

I have been running on a treadmill. I know the calorie values given can be off, but what about distance? I always assumed that distance would be accurate due to the belt on the treadmill being a fixed length, and speed being the only variable. I have recently purchased an HRM with a foot-pod that measures distance. The reading on my HRM does not gel with the treadmill. I am wondering if I need to calibrate my foot-pod, or is it possible that the treadmill is just not accurate for distance as I had assumed.

Another thing that has been really surprising is my heart rate itself measures differently on the two machines. The treadmill automatically picks up my HRM transmitter when I am on it, so my heart rate is read constantly as well as my HRM recording it. I find the treadmill reports my heart rate at 10-20 bpm faster than what the HRM reports. This is baffling to me since it comes from the SAME SENSOR.

MooseWizard

Nobody knows, eh?

arc918

From what I've heard, treadmills are often very inaccurate on the distance measurement. This is part of the reason why people can easily run at certain pace on the dreadmill, but have a really hard time running that pace outside.