Obesity and heart disease are increasing rapidly in both youth and adult populations. Medical experts and organizations are urging Americans to start or increase their exercise to combat not only these two problems, but many other diseases and conditions as well. A proliferation of exercise machines are available, including the treadmill, which provides a number of benefits in addition to weight loss.
Lowers Cholesterol
The Mayo Clinic and other leading health authorities recommend aerobic exercise as one key tool in the fight against high cholesterol. According Dr. Len Kravitz and Dr. Vivian Heyward of the University of New Mexico, in their article, “The Exercise & Cholesterol Controversy,” aerobic exercise increases the “good” cholesterol, HDL-C, which is critical to fighting coronary heart disease. Treadmills allow you to run at an intensity level that creates an aerobic workout.
Improves Stamina
The longer you exercise, the more you increase your cardiovascular capacity. When you have an increased cardio capacity, you can exercise, play sports or work in the yard longer, because you have increased your stamina, or ability to perform an activity over a period of time. Using a treadmill allows you run at a pace that lets you continue to exercise without the fatigue induced by sprint training, for example, that leads to failure.
Non-Impact
For those who wish to exercise but have bad knees, backs or weaker bones and joints, a treadmill offers a non-impact workout that provides not only cardio, but some limited resistance benefits, as well. The aerobic component of the treadmill comes from the continuous activity done at a heart rate that is 70 to 80 percent of your maximum heart rate. Increasing the incline on the machine requires your legs to push you “uphill,” providing some muscle building in your legs, without the stress of pushing against a machine or lifting heavy weights. Running on a treadmill at high speeds, especially for anaerobic workouts, increases impact.
Burns Fat
Unlike higher-intensity exercise which burns more calories, moderate-intensity activity, performed at 50 to 65 percent of your maximum heart rate, burns mostly fat calories. Running at a slower pace, for example, 85 percent of the calories you burn will come from fat, as compared to aerobic exercise (50 percent calories from fat) or anaerobic exercise, like tennis (15 percent calories from fat). A treadmill allows you to work at a lower intensity, if fat-burning is your goal.
Weight Loss
Using a treadmill elevates your heart rate while working large muscles in the legs and trunk. This increase in heart rate correlates into an increase in calories burned by your muscles, which do the work. The more calories you burn, the more weight you lose. If you are committed to a weight loss program, using a treadmill helps you increase your cardiovascular capacity, your stamina and your ability to burn more calories by working at increasingly higher intensity levels or longer periods of time.
About this Author
Sam Ellyn has been writing, editing, lecturing and producing videos on the sport sciences (exercise physiology, nutrition, biomechanics, physics, motor learning, pedagogy and sports medicine) for more than 20 years. He has written for numerous publications, including “Fit,” “Sports Illustrated for Kids’ Parent’s Playbook,” “Tennis” and “Golf Teaching Pro.”
