How to stop hating the treadmill

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Runners are divided into those who hate the treadmill and those who can safely carry it. In warm times, those who dislike this sports equipment have no problems. But in winter you have to suffer - either in the cold or on a treadmill. Let's figure out how to run in warmth and not suffer.

I have some experience in running: I have been doing it for almost two years and have run seven marathons. All this time, I hated the treadmill, and almost every runner can easily name three or five reasons that turn this activity into a living hell for him personally.

But a couple of months ago I found myself in a situation where I had to run, and there was nowhere to run except for the track. On New Year's holidays in Bali, the temperature was usually around 39 ° C, and I promised myself to run 100 kilometers in 10 days. Well, so as not to lose shape.

The hotel had a small gym with a pair of treadmills, and there was no way to backtrack on my promise. For 10 days there I still managed to run 108 kilometers on the track and weaned myself to hate the ill-fated simulator. I offer you the experience I have gained in the problem-solution format.

Running on the track is hot and stuffy

If you look closely, many fitness centers allow you to regulate the temperature in their rooms. We need to make it colder, and it will be more pleasant to run.

At the hotel fitness center in Bali, I came 15 minutes before the next daily run and set the air conditioner to minimum (18 ° C). If you look around, you will probably see the remote control from the air conditioner, or the hall administrator will easily agree to help you by turning on the central air conditioning for a while.

The more people are in the hall, the more unpleasant it is to run.

It seems that the stuffiness, even if there is another person nearby, increases markedly, the level of comfort decreases. It makes sense to take the path away from other people. It can be difficult in a crowded hall, but why suffer in the stuffy atmosphere, maybe you should come earlier or later?

This is a subtle, almost philosophical moment! If you suffer from stuffiness, then you will probably quickly quit running for the whole winter, or you will exercise much less and lose your shape. If you make an effort and come at the wrong time, then you are more likely to be able to run. Isn't it worth at least a try? By the way, you can put on a minimum of clothes - it will become even less hot and stuffy.

You have to buy an expensive fitness club membership

This is true. But there are several life hacks on how to make access to the track cheaper. First, you can find the most humble fitness room. The cost of services may differ two to three times, depending on the "filling". Secondly, fitness clubs offer subscriptions not for a year, but for a month or a quarter. This is just enough to train in cold weather.

You can also walk to the nearest good hotel and ask the staff if you can work out in their gym. Four- and five-star hotels are required to offer guests gym access in order to have that many stars. However, they often let visitors off the street for a very small fee. Personally, I do it according to this scheme in the gym of the hotel, which is located in my yard, and it comes out very cheap.

I'm too lazy to go far to my fitness room to run

Perhaps you have chosen some great fitness club, which is not very conveniently located, and it spoils everything. Rather than having a membership to a great gym, but not using it, it’s better to spit on the money spent and buy a membership where you can physically get to more often. And run there.

If the gym in Bali was not 30 meters from the door of my room, I don't even know if I could keep my promise to run 100 kilometers there or not. After all, the old rule of marketers "location, location, location" works to the fullest here.

If running on a treadmill is stressful for you, then you don't need to amplify it by placing this treadmill awkwardly away from your usual route.

Another life hack is to buy a treadmill home. Forgive me for the seeming banality, but here everything is not so simple. First, it is relatively inexpensive. Searching the Internet, you can easily find a suitable exercise machine at a fairly low price. Plus, your friends are sure to have a couple of unnecessary tracks gathering dust, since they bought them, but they don't run, and they will sell you one at a bargain price - ask on Facebook! Or Avito.

By the way, treadmills are foldable and take up no more than one and a half square meters. Plus, it's a pretty liquid commodity - you can probably sell it if you don't need it. And, excuse me, you do not live alone, do you? Everyone can run. Imagine how much a fitness club membership would cost at all.

Running on the track is boring and monotonous, but it's cold outside, but more fun

Yes boring. However, when I was running in the gym in Bali, I had a goal that, of course, was not entertaining, but motivating. Running just like that will be more difficult than running for some purpose. If you have already decided to run on the track, then make your life easier and run, for example, 30 kilometers in a week, or 5 kilometers every day, or 200 kilometers in a month. When there is a goal and a commitment to oneself, everything is easier than in the “try it, it will suddenly work out” mode.

More positive notes on treadmill running

Narcissism … In some fitness rooms, you can run while seeing yourself in the mirror. Thus, there is a unique opportunity to observe your running technique without resorting to video filming. See if you place your foot correctly, if you are throwing your heels to the sides, if you are rotating your upper body around your axis, and so on.

Comfortable clothes … In winter, in the gym on the track, you can run in summer jogging uniforms and not bathe in overly warm winter jogging clothes. In theory, dressing properly for your winter street jogging shouldn't be hot. But that's only in theory, right? Another positive point: on the track you can run in light summer sneakers, but on the street you will most likely have to wear something heavier. What is this all for?

Security … I know quite a few people who could not work out for a long time, because they were injured while running on ice in winter. It is very difficult to get injured on the track. Well, unless you stumble and fly into the wall. No, sometimes it's nice to run along the winter streets when the weather is favorable for it. But you don't have to do it all the time - you can get hurt. In general, the track is an opportunity not to take risks when you don't feel like it, and still run.

So you've met a number of pros and cons of treadmill running. If I lived not in a northern metropolis, but in a beautiful southern town with a developed infrastructure for year-round running, I would never have looked at the treadmill. But life is more complicated, so for the opening of the running season and the marathon I had to prepare mainly on the track all winter. And I did not suffer at all, which is what I wish for you.