Treadmill v road running - which is lower impact?

emmab0902
emmab0902 Posts: 2,338 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have been getting into running and had built up to 5k unti last week when I somehow ended up with a tender spot below one knee (sort of on inner shin).

That last run felt great at the time and was my best time, so not sure what went wrong unless 30 mins of intervals on bike before the run had fatigued muscles too much.

Anyway I plan to start back running tomorrow and wondered whether road running or treadmill running is lower impact??

Replies

  • FFfitgirl
    FFfitgirl Posts: 369 Member
    Personally the treadmill has more give when you land on it. Running on the road is a lot harder on your legs
  • Abbdul
    Abbdul Posts: 103 Member
    obviously road running is tough, you can run miles on treadmill but road is the real test. I easily run 3miles on a treadmill but on the road hardly manage 2miles.. i think treadmill is easy coz the running area is smooth(which u dont get on real road), air pressure,friction etc etc
  • jakeVScalories
    jakeVScalories Posts: 107 Member
    idk abot this one, everyone says road is worse but i really screwed up my acl on a treadmill doing nothing abnormal. the road has always been kind to me, id say its a preference but im sure theres some science to it.
  • vick9180
    vick9180 Posts: 144 Member
    idk abot this one, everyone says road is worse but i really screwed up my acl on a treadmill doing nothing abnormal. the road has always been kind to me, id say its a preference but im sure theres some science to it.

    I agree with this post. While a treadmill has a little more give when you land, it can also limit your stride, which can lead to other injuries. The roads are tough too, especially since a lot of them are crowned to allow water to run off, so sometimes pain from road running is related to one leg having more impact than the other. Grass would be the easiest on the knees, but can be hard if you find a hole to twist your ankle in. So really, I don't think there's one right answer...it's just about which do you feel is the lesser evil.

    In the meantime, make sure to ice that tender spot after each run and at least once or twice more throughout the day. You'll know if it's something to worry about if the pain doesn't ease up as you run. Just take it easy and go by how you feel as you rehabilitate your shin/knee.
  • emmab0902
    emmab0902 Posts: 2,338 Member
    I ran 5.5k on treadmill tonight (30 mins) and felt zero pain while running. Little niggly afterwards but surely if it is ok DURING run then it's ok??
  • theshow4jsu
    theshow4jsu Posts: 380 Member
    I learned the hard way about road vs treadmill. Started running on the treadmill, got up to running 4 miles. Entered my first 5k, and couldn't run the entire race. So I started running outside. It makes a world of difference. I have a friend who is a trainer and he said to best simulate outdoors running on a treadmill is to set the incline at 3%. This has helped when I run indoors. The treadmill is definitely easier on your joints than running outside. Your knee issue sounds like it could be a mild case of patellar tendonitis. I had it flare up on me a month or so back, bought a cho-pat brace and used a heating pad and ice with a little massage and it went away in about a week.
  • emmab0902
    emmab0902 Posts: 2,338 Member
    I guess everyone is different as one of the top placing ironmen (woman) only ever trained on the treadmill and stationary bike!
  • carrieous
    carrieous Posts: 1,024 Member
    treadmill is lower impact but your problem may be your shoes. They need to be replaced every 6 months or 500 miles.
  • capnlizard
    capnlizard Posts: 73 Member
    You could have also developed shin splints....

    http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003177.htm

    Those were the worst part of high school and college sports. I also second the suggestion about replacing your sneakers; you may have just kind of gotten to the end of the line with the pair you have been running in.

    Good luck and hope all feels better soon!

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