Joggin on the Treadmill

OK, this is silly, but I need some help trying to run on the treadmill... yeah I just typed that. I walk fine and do mostly uphill at a steady pace, but when I try to jog it's like I forget how. Where am I supposed to land with my foot on the back or front? I think I have been jogging on the front of my feet to prevent the machine from shaking too much. Jogging feels very unatural on this machine, of course when you've never jogged before it could explain it. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

you should google jogging posture.

i land on my heel first

Try gradually picking up the pace until you get to a jogging gait. (don't know if gait was the word I wanted to use but couldn't think of anything else.) you will be walking really fast and eventually get to the point where jogging feels natural. You are probably having that issue if you are tall because the speed and length of you strides are coinsiding, you need to figure out what speed it is for you that, that happens at.

Problem might be the speed as well? I find for my stride 4.0 is a fast walk, and 5.3 is a jog. If I have it inbetween these speeds - so too fast to walk and too slow to jog properly, I get spaghetti legs and forget how to do it altogether. haha!

I agree....there is sort of a range for me 4.5 to about 5.5 that is too fast for walking and too slow for running. I will also sometimes switch up between landing on my heels vs. the balls of my feet if my lower legs start to get tight.

How tall are you? Do you fit on your treadmill? I have a cheap one that I got from Walmart for around $300 and it's great for me, but I'm 5'3" my husband tried to use it and almost fell off, he's 6'3" he literally cannot run on it b/c his stride is so long his foot comes off the end. That might be why you feel awkward on there. If you can walk, use it for walking and take to jogging outside.

Height is def not my problem...lol...5'7"

Lol, well it was worth checking Good luck!!

OK, this is silly, but I need some help trying to run on the treadmill... yeah I just typed that. I walk fine and do mostly uphill at a steady pace, but when I try to jog it's like I forget how. Where am I supposed to land with my foot on the back or front? I think I have been jogging on the front of my feet to prevent the machine from shaking too much. Jogging feels very unatural on this machine, of course when you've never jogged before it could explain it. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

Hi -

Lots of good posts in response to your original query. I also want to say this: The treadmill itself makes a big difference, and I know this from experience.

You mentioned that one of your concerns is that you think you land on the front of your feet to prevent the machine shaking too much. This goes directly to the way your treadmill is built. I didn't know this until we had to replace our treadmill a few years ago. We originally had a model from Sears purchased several years ago; at the time, it was their top-of-the-line and cost about $1000 (a lot of money at the time). But, it shook quite a lot when I ran on it. It finally died, so I researched treadmills (I'm a believer in Consumer Reports) and went shopping and tried out different treadmills. I now have a lovely treadmill that hardly vibrates at all when I run on it, and it is *so* much nicer on my body.

Like I said--lots of other good information here in the other posts. I just wanted to chime in that the treadmill itself might be a factor.

Good luck to you, and congrats on getting into running! Over the years I've found it to be the best form of exercise for me, personally, in controlling my weight (and my stress).

Coni