Holding the handrails on treadmill?

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if you think I'm going to slow or holding on or even if you think I look stupid.

Maybe I do it just to annoy you.

^i love her ^

I hold on mainly for balance. It has to do with the moving surface. I can walk just as fast outside, and do so if the weather permits. But I just don't feel steady/comfortable on the treadmill. It might be because I don't do it very often, I prefer other forms of cardio but sometimes the treadmill is my best option.

As for cheating myself, getting on the treadmill and burning calories beats the alternative. I'm way ahead of sitting on the couch. I wear an HRM and log the actual calories burned, so holding on doesn't mess up my calorie/eating program.

And really, why does anyone care whether or not I hold on to the rails? It's my body and my workout. MYOB.

I lightly hold on to the rails when using a treadmill, elliptical or an arc trainer. My balance sucks, my proprioception is worse, and if my bad leg suddenly collapses I can probably catch myself with my good leg if I have the input from my hands on the rails.

It may slightly reduce the intensity of my workout, but it keeps me from getting injured and means that I can use the machine.

I also tend to hold onto the handrails. Does it cut down on the efficiency of the workout? Certainly. I usually discount half of the calories that the machine says I theoretically burned off, anyhow.

I might look like a lazy idiot to others, and frankly, I don't care.

I hold onto the rails because there is a very real difference for me between me walking over stationary ground vs me walking on a treadmill (moving ground).

When I am walking on terra firma, if I fall, I fall where I am. When I am walking on a treadmill, if I fall, the "ground" (treadmill belt) will still be moving. There is always a risk of injury when one falls, but the risk is increased if one falls and then, through the wonders of the moving treadmill, is then thrown off the back end of the machine - and potentially into some unsuspecting passerby.

Am I that much of a "klutz"? Not usually. On the other hand, I've made some slight adjustments in the way I walk, because my right hip drops more than my left hip, my left shoulder is measurably higher than my right shoulder, I have previously torn my MCL, fractured one of my patellas, and I have almost no bursa remaining in my left knee.

And that was before some "distracted driver" plowed into the back of my car last year while I was stopped at a stone-cold red light, adding a few bulging disks and one herniated disk in my lower back to my situation. After eight months of physical therapy and now ongoing chiropractic care, I'm just starting to exercise again.

There are times when I am walking, even from the bedroom to the kitchen or the living room, when a sharp pain will sometimes stab through my lower spine. It is severe enough to cause me to nearly freeze in mid-step. It occurs without warning; I can sometimes go now without it happening for several days, or even a week or two. And then, without warning, it reappears. The risk of injury when the pain stabs through my spine while on a moving treadmill isn't something I take too lightly.

Having my hands on the rail allows me to push through so that whichever foot is in the air, I move to that side of the treadmill and put that foot down on the casing edge of the treadmill, completing the step that had begun when the pain first hits. I bring the other foot off the treadmill belt. It is literally two half-steps - one for each foot - that gets me off the moving part of the treadmill with the least amount of movement necessary, so that I can wait for the pain to pass, which it usually does after a few moments.

That is much easier for me to do, rather than to try to stop the treadmill and then walk off the back after it comes to a halt.

To those exercisers who look at me and assume I am lazy, uncoordinated, or have other disparaging thoughts about why I exercise the way I do, oh well. If I go flying off the end of a treadmill and fracture another kneecap, it will be me who is back on crutches, not the people who don't like the way I exercise.

I'll always listen to ways to exercise more efficiently - but not at the cost of safety, given my current physical limitations. And if others can't accept that, too bad.

They are cheating on the exercise. The only time I've needed to support myself is when I trying to change the speed from 9 (sprint for me) to 4 (fast walk) when doing HIIT training.

Good for you for not needing support. Some of us do. I also use crutches for balance when walking. Holding onto rails on machines isn't "cheating" myself any more than using crutches is.

I'm guessing you don't understand how experienced trainers look at cheating. Cheating on an exercise means you are doing something other than performing the exercise at a full capacity. There are valid reasons to do this. As you noted, it was for balance. Others cheat on exercises to break through a plateau (typically in weight lifting) or to perform an exercise without aggravating an injury. That said, if you could work past your balance issues and not grip the rails, you would get more from the exercise (e.g., stabilization muscles).

But maybe these people are all doing the right thing and I'm doing it wrong. That's why I want to know if there is an informed reason to do it.

As you noted, it is a balance/comfort issue. It does change their walking/running dynamics. It is best to not hold on.

I thought there were a few good answers out there. Not sure why you focused on the argument that erupted around the question rather than those of us who tried to provide an answer.

you're welcome. is there anything else we can help with?

Sure, you could answer the actual question I asked and not assume that I just want to be a big meanie. I seriously want to know if there are any conditions / reasons for a death grip approach to the treadmill, or if people just don't understand how treadmills are supposed to work -- or if *I* don't.

I've noticed some people holding on to the handles in the front as if they are concerned about being dragged off the back of the machine. That strikes me as something that could really mess with a person's running mechanics. I guess if all you are concerned about is burning some calories maybe this could work, but I'm concerned that it might lead to injury. I'm just wondering if anyone has actually read something or been advised that it is a good approach to the treadmill.

I've also noticed people who hold on to the side railings and seem to be actually trying to hold themselves up, perhaps so they don't put as much weight on their feet. Again, what I'd like to know if this is an approach that is recommended by trainers / physical therapists, or if this is a workout that people just bumble into.

I can certainly understand folks who have balance issues wanting to use the handrails occasionally for that, but it would seem to me that holding on with a death grip wouldn't really help in that case. Often it seems to be hindering balance.

But maybe these people are all doing the right thing and I'm doing it wrong. That's why I want to know if there is an informed reason to do it.

There are lots or reasons to use a treadmill.

You use it to run. Huzzah.

I use it to finish 'fatiguing' my muscles and to cool down.

Others use it as a form of physical therapy.

Others use it as 'time out' so they can listen to or read a book. Or play a game. Or watch a movie.

After my knee surgery I would come into the gym on my crutches, and then use the side rails instead of my crutches.

Some people don't go to the gym to work out 100% efficiently every time.

Just because you use a machine in a certain way, it doesn't mean that's the only way to use it, or that someone is using it 'wrong'.

Depends on the person; I'd like to think most do it for balance. Although others seem to do it because they're going too fast/too steep of incline so instead of slowing down or decreasing the incline they hang on for dear life. It really annoys me... especially since people walk/run in their every day lives without holding onto something... so.. yeah.

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I have a very partial paralesys on my right side. You have to look at me very hard to notice it. I loose my balance when I walk too slowly or too quickly. I need some space around me to feel comfortable. I don't have that space on a treadmill so I hold on to the rails. My treadmill has inclinations as high as 40%. When I walk uphill, I grab on to the rails really hard because it is really demanding. When I was in shape, I could walk as fast as 4.5 mph but I had to hold on to something. I know that it is better for your body to let your arms swing but if I really want to exercice hard, I absolutely have to hold on to the rails.

In my opinion, someone will use a crunch or anykind of help if he needs it. When I am not walking too quickly or going uphill, I prefer to let go of the rails. It is a more natural thing to swing your arms then to grab on to something.