Treadmill "steep incline & holding on for dear life" routine

StrongLife

I work out at LA Fitness and am puzzled by a routine I see more and more people doing on the treadmill. They have the incline set to max and hang on to the console instead of running, looks like they are being pulled a skii tow rope. Then they have the speed set to pretty high too. It looks ridiculous...but before I pass judgment I thought I'd ask if there is any validity to what they are doing? Or are they just totally misunderstanding the use of this machine?

lornaloo3

I'll admit I'm curious too.

Lady_Bane

Defeats the whole purpose. It burns some calories....but if they did it at an incline where they didn't need assistance, which is what you are SUPPOSED to do.....they would have better results. Its like when I go on a stair climber, and I get so tired I bend over and rest my arms on the front handles.....its easier for a reason....its cheating.....LOL

Terree_G

I hear you, and I've seen it. But if you're walking up a steep hill, do you have something to hang onto? Nope! So, as another commenter said, it defeats the purpose.

Worse still: those who walk at a (very) moderate pace on the treadmill, with no incline, and still hang onto the machine... but there's that "judgement-passing" thing I try not to indulge in. ;-)

NaomiJFoster

I think they just don't see what they're doing. If you want the incline, that means you should be walking up the incline, you'll be at an acute angle to the surface of the treadmill. But when people hold the rails and lean back they put themselves at a perpendicular angle to the treadmill...exactly as if they'd just left it flat and horizontal. Plus, if their hands get sweaty and they slip...that's going to be a bad fall!

icimani

I would agree with the others - if you're having to hold on for dear life then you're kind of defeating the purpose. Maybe they're just wanting to brag about being able to do __mph at __incline.

About holding on at the lower speed/incline - I've just recently been able to quit holding on while on the treadmill. With my new knees I just didn't feel stable, even at a really low speed. Now that I'm feeling more stable and walking without holding on my calorie burn is much higher and if my heart rate gets too high all I have to do is hold on for a minute or so to get my HR back into the zone. I didn't think holding on made much of a difference, but that sort of says it all to me.

Also, one of the attendants told me that he considers the treadmill the most dangerous piece of equipment in the gym. People get distracted for only a moment - to adjust music, to wipe sweat, to adjust speed/incline, etc etc - and ZIP. They've fallen off the back of the treadmill.

NaurielR

To get the full benefit from a work out on a treadmill, I was told you shouldn't hang on to the rails. The reason is that when you don't hold on, you engage more muscles in your for to keep you upright and stable.

aimeeernest

Haha, I'm totally guilty! In the past I have definitely done this.... Everyone else was! HOWEVER, I started looking at what the people WHO WERE IN SHAPE.... were doing at the gym, and I never saw them do that. So I stopped. One girl at the gym told me it's better to walk at a slight incline for 5 miles than to even run full speed for 1 or do a steep incline for 1, especially when you plan on using the machine for support. She basically said if at all possible, only allow your feet to touch the machine, and if you have to hold on for balance, just touch a finger or two to the handle bars rather than holding on.
Made a lot of sense as soon as i started working out this way. I can definitely tell the difference in challenge.

aimeeernest

i can see why people get confused into thinking it's normal to hold onto something while walking. It feels natural to me because I was often pushing a stroller around for the past 4 years. when i started speed-walking on the tredmill it felt right to hold the bar in front of me. I imagined pushing s stroller.
but I don't anymore. It'd not like pushing a stroller, it's like hanging onto a gas powered stroller driving at 4.5 mph. lol

Pepper2185

Love the tow rope analogy - couldn't have said it better :laugh:

azwen

I was really tempted to say something to a woman next to me who was doing this once. She was hanging on, leaning back. But I didn't know her, and didn't want to offend her.

I increased the incline gradually on the treadmill. Every time I went in, I'd set the incline a bit higher. Now after warming up, I use the maximum incline (15) for most of my walk. I rest my hands on the bars to check my heart rate periodically, but otherwise I let my arms swing by my sides. I also hike on the desert mountains here, so it's no use "practicing" at the gym holding onto a bar that won't be there when I get out on the mountain!

NaomiJFoster

I was really tempted to say something to a woman next to me who was doing this once. She was hanging on, leaning back. But I didn't know her, and didn't want to offend her.

I increased the incline gradually on the treadmill. Every time I went in, I'd set the incline a bit higher. Now after warming up, I use the maximum incline (15) for most of my walk. I rest my hands on the bars to check my heart rate periodically, but otherwise I let my arms swing by my sides. I also hike on the desert mountains here, so it's no use "practicing" at the gym holding onto a bar that won't be there when I get out on the mountain!

Hellow Glendale, I'm Tucson. Desert hikes are the best!

Azdak

I am not sure why people walk this way. There are several of them at our gym as well. I have given up talking to them about it because they get so upset and hostile when questioned, that it's not worth the bother.

Lest there be any confusion--there is NO benefit to this practice. Holding on to the handrails offsets whatever intensity at which you think you are working. Studies have been shown that the actual effort can be reduced by up to 67% when holding on to the handrails.

Not to mention messing up your posture and balance. And not to mention the potential damage you can do to the treadmill console.

The only thing I can think of is some people have a higher fitness level, but cannot get their heart rates up by walking on the level. And they can't or don't want to run. Because they are already at the higher walking speed, they don't consider lowering the speed, and once you start cranking up the incline, it quickly becomes hard to walk w/out holding on.

And doing that type of workout gives you a BIG number on the calorie readout. At some point, I think that people get emotionally invested in their numbers and can't let go (pun intended).

It's actually much better to slow the speed way down and work on perfecting the form to walk up the steep incline. That's more effective than, say, walking 4.0+ mph and 5% elevation. Most people are better off starting at 2.8-3.0 or even lower and then learning to walk at 10%-15%. You can hit some pretty decent intensity and calorie numbers at the steeper inclines.