There are plenty of treadmill naysayers out there. Most point to the obvious fact that treadmills are horrible on the knees. But, I beg to differ. It is quite possible to run on a treadmill and mitigate the up-and-down jarring motion as you would running outdoors on a lovely nature trail. If you have poor running form outdoors, chances are you’ll have poor running form indoors! As for me, I’m a fan of running, and I don’t really care if it’s indoors or outdoors. As long as I can get my daily two miles in. And we’ve all heard the reasons why we should NOT run on a treadmill (mostly from running purists), but today I want to explore some great reasons WHY you should run on a treadmill.
Here are my 9 reasons why you should run on a treadmill
(1) You don’t have to worry about getting hit by a car.
(2) You don’t have to worry about precipitation
(3) You’re never cold!
(4) If you get too tired or injured midway through the run, you’re not stuck a mile out on some random trail in the middle of nowhere.
(5) You’re less likely to come across creeps and predators (although, there are some weirdos at every gym).
(6) It’s much easier to keep water with you. Just have it placed in the water holder of the treadmill.
(7) You can usually track your heart rate and calorie-burn count pretty easily.
(8) It’s more convenient to run with your music device
(9) You can watch TV while running on a treadmill. When was the last time you were able to do that outdoors?
Conclusion
Yes, running outdoors is so great and refreshing, but you can also have a very rewarding experience running indoors. In my opinion, the best balance is to run indoors on a treadmill for training purposes and run outdoors for your longer lengths, like maybe on the weekends. Find the balance that works for you, and don’t allow others to intimidate you away from your beloved treadmill!
