On the Treadmill

Today I want to talk about that beautiful thing the treadmill.

Running around on a treadmill like a guinea pig is great if you want to end up being a zombie.  Let’s think about this …. we know if you want to smash a cardio session out you can do a fantastic job on a treadmill or at your local park or footy oval (costing nothing!). If you’re doing it to lose weight –  stop and research your training methods now.  It’s not going to work …. ask most that have tried they, and most research, will tell you so (there of course will always be exceptions).

When you run on grass, pavement etc you have to use and create legitimate hip drive, true gluteal contraction, abdominal stabilisation and hip flexion/extension, Dynamic Movement and Dynamic Stabilisation.  On a treadmill you have the ground moving for you, moving you along, your muscles don’t activate to their full potential.  Therefore your stabilising muscles won’t find the need to activate as they would running on grass, pavement (uneven surfaces) etc.  If the stabilising muscles are not responsive – what is happening to your spine and joints?

It is very rare to see a person reach full hip flexion, extension on a treadmill as they do when they need to create inertia on solid terra firma.

It is, after all, hip drive that propels you forward through major muscle contractions – again treadmill’s are great for doing smashing cardio sessions or testing cardio output but is it going to train your body as effectively as pounding the oval? Could the body do better if all of the body was switched on creating more tension, hence more force generation?

Something to think about.

Morgs

Muscle vs Movement

Most people today train Muscles not Movement Patterns.  Let’s look at this.

The first thing a baby learns to do Movement wise from being on their backs is to roll over onto their bellies.  Too many people today struggle to roll over, without pain.  In my experience, 80% of people I treat cannot do this Movement without using Momentum to propel them over.  Their core activation is non-existent which often results in lower back pain.

Biomechanics tells us that our brains don’t train muscles, they train the Movement. Even though we can break the Movement down and isolate Muscles, ultimately the way you use your body everyday through Movement patterns is what the body needs to replicate when focused on training and most certainly rehabilitation.  Your Muscles don’t work in isolation when performing everyday Movement patterns eg: pressing arm forms overhead, lunging down, squatting deep, which most people cannot do but should be able to.

Your exercises should be whole body balanced not isolated.  If you are training for sports, replicate the movement patterns of that sport and train away.

In future posts, I will present some training patterns than focus on Movement, not just muscle.

Something to think about, and remember….Where focus goes, energy flows.

Morgs