Starting the new year as you mean to go on is so important when it comes to your fitness goals, which is why we’re looking at the benefits of treadmills in today’s article.
Getting in shape in the new year after the holidays is bad enough, but if you add to that the stress of a global pandemic, emotional eating, excessive alcohol consumption, and gym closures, it’s easy to see why so many people are now so desperate to lose weight and improve their fitness.
As you probably know, if you’re looking to lose weight, cardiovascular exercise is vital and in terms of popularity, you don’t get more popular cardio machines than treadmills.
History Of The Treadmill:
Before we can start listing the many unique benefits associated with treadmills, first let’s learn a little more about where they came from.
Here’s a look at a brief history of treadmills.
The Treadwheel:
When we think of treadmills nowadays, we think of LED displays, brightly lit gyms, and brutal cardio workouts.
The origins of the humble treadmill, however, can be traced back to, surprise, surprise, the Ancient Romans.
The Romans were notoriously savvy when it came to engineering and as a result, they are believed to be responsible for the earliest concepts of treadmills.
In the 1st century AD, Romans used a precursor for the beloved treadmill which was known as the treadwheel.
This was a large wheel attached to a wooden crane that was manually operated by a man standing inside the wheel, essentially just like a hamster does.
The movement of the wheel would operate the pulley attached to the crane, allowing it to lift up heavy items.
This was way more efficient than even the strongest army of men and was a miraculous feat of engineering.
Treadwheels actually stuck around for a long time and were used for all manner of things, such as lifting heavy items, grinding grain into flour, and even punishing inmates in prisons.
Fitness Use:
In the 20th century, the treadwheel underwent an image change, and it was now designed for fitness purposes.
In 1911, a man by the name of Claude Lauraine Hagen would file a patent for a ‘training machine’ which was actually very similar to the design we see today.
Looking back, it was way ahead of its time.
Hagen’s patent had the machine folding up when not in use for storage, plus it could be adjusted in terms of height and angles, allowing users of different sizes to use it, and allowing users to adjust the resistance manually.
He even accounted for the noise the belt would make when dragging on the floor, as he would attach four posts to the exterior to raise the belt from the floor and reduce the noise, while also altering the incline.
Whether Hagen actually created a machine to fit this patent is still unknown.
What we do know, however, is that over the decades that followed, different manually operated treadmills would become available, with the main difference being, rather than a rubber belt, users would have to move on wooden slats instead.
It was the ‘Father of Exercise Cardiology’ Dr. Robert A. Bruce, who co-invented the first motorized treadmill, which he wanted to use for diagnosing heart and lung issues.
Bruce would hook his patients up to an ECG machine and have them run on the treadmill. Every few minutes, the speed and incline would increase.
The doctor would then monitor the results to see if issues were present in the patient.
Treadmills In The Mainstream:
Once motorized treadmills were invented, everything changed.
An engineer named William Staub invented a mass-produced treadmill called the Pace Master 600.
It did incredibly well.
In the 1980s, when people were watching Hulk Hogan body slam Andre the Giant, Arnie flexing his biceps, and Jane Fonda sporting her Lycra leotard, the world was fitness mad and over 2,000 treadmills per year were being sold to homes, and gyms, nationwide.
In 1991, one of the world’s most prestigious fitness brands (to this day) produced its first treadmill, and gyms and fitness centers worldwide snatched it up.
With a detailed display and shock absorption, the 9500 HR took Life Fitness to a whole other level.
This treadmill was a staple in virtually every credible gym imaginable.
It was the Concept 2 rowing machine of the treadmill world.
To this day, not a great deal has changed, though it’s safe to say that there are now more features than ever before, but at their cores, treadmills are not much different.
The Health Benefits Of Treadmills:
There are many benefits, so regardless of your body composition and your fitness goals, we strongly advise that you consider utilizing and/or investing in a treadmill if you wish to obtain the body of your dreams and achieve a level of fitness you’ve always strived for.
But what are the benefits and are they really as beneficial as personal trainers and fitness enthusiasts would have us believe?
Let’s take a look, shall we?
1. Stay Warm And Dry
Going for a leisurely jog around the local park in the height of summer is very pleasant.
You can throw on a thin layer of clothing, go jogging late in the evening as the sun begins to set, enjoy the warm temperatures, and the colorful scenery, and feel the warmth of the sun on your skin as you jog.
In the winter, however, cardio outdoors is far less glamourous.
It gets dark much earlier, it is colder, it’s wetter, the ground is either wet and muddy or frozen solid, and it’s just not nice to exercise in.
One of the best things about a treadmill is the fact that you can get an awesome cardio workout indoors where it is nice and warm and dry, making it much more appealing.
2. Treadmills Are Affordable
Another of the main benefits is the fact that they are so affordable.
With gyms being forced to temporarily close during lockdowns, more and more people have invested in treadmills to help them get in shape and achieve the body they’ve always wanted from the comfort of their own homes.
You can of course buy commercial quality treadmills, but if you are on a budget there are affordable treadmills you can purchase that still do the job.
3. Lose Weight Well
One of the key benefits that we will all be familiar with is the fact that treadmills are so great for weight loss.
Running, jogging, or walking are all great examples of cardio exercise and cardio has been found to be super-efficient for anybody that is actively looking to burn calories and lose weight.
If you want to burn fat, a treadmill is ideal as you can burn hundreds, if not thousands of calories per workout, depending on how you choose to train.
4. Treadmills Have Different Programs
If you find the thought of jogging on a treadmill for 40 – 60 minutes at a time at the same pace boring, you’ll be pleased to know that yet another of the benefits is the fact that they have different programs.
Treadmills have different programs that can be selected at the press of a button, so whether you’re looking to build endurance, burn fat, increase your stamina, or just maintain your fitness, you can find a program that lets you do exactly that.
5. Beat The Boredom
As we just looked at, treadmills aren’t the most exciting machines in the world if you’re following the same pace and doing the same cardio workouts week in and week out.
The good news is that you can select different programs and try different routines to keep your workouts fun and exciting.
HIIT workouts or circuit training, for example, are easy to do on a treadmill as essentially you simply alternate between high-intensity bursts of running and low-intensity bursts of walking.
6. Treadmills Are Available All Year Round
If you decide to purchase a treadmill to utilize in the comfort of your own home, you’ll find that one of the main benefits is the fact that they’re available all year round.
If you decide that you want to work out at midnight, simply switch on the treadmill, and away you go.
With gyms being forced to close temporarily, the benefits of having a treadmill at home have really become more apparent than ever before.
7. No Fighting Over Equipment
Okay, perhaps ‘fighting’ is a bit of an exaggeration, but if you’ve ever visited a gym in early January and have tried to find an empty treadmill at peak times, you’ll know just how rare an empty treadmill really is.
If you decide to purchase a treadmill for use at home, the only people you’ll have to compete with in order to use the said machine are people that live in your household.
8. Save Money
Times are tough at this time of year, and without sounding like a stuck record, 2020 certainly didn’t help matters from an economic standpoint.
One of the main benefits for use in the home is the fact that they will help you to save money.
If you normally just use the treadmill at the gym, investing in a treadmill at home means that you’ll save money because not only will you not need to spend money on a gym membership, but you’ll also save money on traveling as well.
9. Less Impact On The Joints
Okay, we aren’t saying that treadmills are considered to be low-impact cardio machines because that’s just not the case.
However, we are saying that treadmills place considerably less impact on the joints compared with running on a hard surface such as asphalt.
Running on hard surfaces like roads, or rocky trails in the mountains or countryside can place stress upon your joints, causing you a considerable amount of pain in your knees, ankles, and hips.
Treadmills have a much softer surface and they are also designed with shock absorption so they’re much better for your joints than running on a hard surface.
10. Work As Hard As You Like
Another very appealing aspect of treadmills is the fact that they allow you to work as hard as you like.
When using a treadmill, you are in complete control so you can decide how fast to run, how far to travel, which intensity to go with, how steep you want the incline to be, and indeed, how long you wish to work out for.
Treadmills put you in control, so you get to decide just how hard you wish to work.
11. Stronger Legs
Another awesome benefit is the fact that using them is so great if you wish to build up and strengthen your legs.
Running or walking, in general, will activate muscles in your legs which in turn will help to build up muscle mass in your lower body.
If you really want to target your hamstrings and your calves you can set the treadmill to a steep incline which will really get the legs burning.
Using a treadmill will make your legs stronger and more muscular, which we can all agree, can only be a good thing.
12. Different Inclines Available
Got you so fit than running on a flat surface is no longer a challenge?
If so, then another of the many fantastic benefits is the fact that you can set them at different inclines.
If walking or running on a flat surface is easy, try running up a steep incline and see if you still feel the same way after?
Setting the treadmill at an incline will recruit more muscle fibers, it will make you work harder, it will provide a more testing aerobic workout, and it will mean that you burn off more calories in the process.
13. Great For Your Heart
If you’re serious about the health of your heart and cardiovascular system, and you really should be, then one of the most beneficial pieces of workout equipment is the treadmill.
Treadmills are great for the heart as they provide a very effective cardiovascular workout.
Amongst the cardio-related benefits are a stronger heart, better circulation, reduced blood pressure, reduced cholesterol, reduced risk of heart disease, and much more besides.
14. Reduced Blood Pressure
High blood pressure is known as a silent killer by health experts due largely to the fact that it can kill and there are no obvious signs or symptoms.
High blood pressure can cause heart attacks, strokes, damaged arteries, and blood vessels, organ damage, and much more besides.
Exercising on a treadmill and performing regular cardiovascular exercise is a guaranteed way of naturally reducing your blood pressure, which could potentially help to save your life.
15. Great For Your Mental Health
It isn’t just treadmills that help to boost mental health, but as they do provide mental health benefits like any other form of physical exercise and activity, we’re including them on the list today.
Performing exercise on a treadmill is fantastic for boosting your mental health.
Exercise helps to facilitate the production of happy chemicals in the brain and body known as endorphins. The more of these endorphins we produce, the happier we feel, and the better our mental health becomes.
Performing cardio on a treadmill will not only help you to produce more endorphins, but it will also help boost your self-esteem and help you to feel better about yourself. As you exercise and burn calories you will lose weight, and as your weight goes down your confidence will likely go up.
Right now, it is more important than ever before that we look after our mental health, which is why we need to ensure that we are getting plenty of exercises and staying active on machines and gadgets such as treadmills, elliptical machines, and stair climbers.
16. Treadmills Can Save Space
One downside to working out at home is the fact that not all of us have an empty garage or a spare bedroom that we can use to turn into a gym, which means that space is somewhat of an issue.
If you do wish to train at home and wish to invest in a treadmill, one of the main benefits is the fact that they can save you so much space.
Commercial treadmills are huge and having one in your living room will certainly take over the room but worry not, because you can purchase smaller treadmills that can actually fold away and be stored flat or upright.
If you don’t have much free space, a foldable treadmill is ideal for space-saving.
17. Very Easy To Use
Some pieces of kit that you find at the gym look like they’ve been created from the year 3021, let alone 2021.
They’re so complex and sophisticated that working them out requires a Master’s Degree in engineering.
The good thing about purchasing a treadmill for use at home, though, is the fact that the instructions are very simple, and operating the machine is very simple.
If you want to keep your workouts very simple, you can simply turn the treadmill on, adjust the speed as you go, and take it from there.
18. Very Safe
When talking about the many benefits, we cannot overlook the importance of safety.
Treadmills are designed with safety in mind as, along with the handrails, there are also heart rate monitors so that you can check your pulse, plus there are also emergency shut-off buttons and features that are designed to shut off the machine if you slip or lose your footing.
So, Are Treadmills Worth It?
So, now that we’ve looked at the benefits of treadmills, are they really worth it for people looking to lose weight and get in shape?
In our opinion – absolutely.
Treadmills are effective, they will improve your health, they’ll improve your physique, and they’re easy to use.
If you want to get in shape from the comfort of your home, be sure to invest in a treadmill sooner, rather than later.
