There’s absolutely no doubt that if you want to burn a lot of calories, you can do it efficiently with a treadmill. Yet before you head out to the fitness machine store, consider a treadmill comparison to outdoor running or jogging. This is a matter of personal choice: for instance, my son uses a treadmill several days a week whereas I never use one before I prefer to be outdoors in the fresh air.
So before taking the plunge and buying a treadmill consider the benefits of treadmill running over outdoor running. If there’s no difference between walking outside for free and spending a lot of money on expensive equipment, why bother getting a treadmill? If you’re thinking of a treadmill, compare the benefits of running parks and jogging trails before making your choice.
Reasons To Choose Outdoor Jogging Trails Over Even The Best Home Treadmills
Price Of Buying A Treadmill
You likely are already aware of this fact. No matter what, a treadmill will be more costly than free, i.e. running around on your own. However, there is gas expenses to consider if you have to drive to the place you like to run, so keep that in mind. Of course, the best way to get in the shape is to run/walk/jog to and from the jogging trails or park, if that’s humanly possible
Available Home Space For Storing A Treadmill
People with large homes will not experience a problem, but those of us with space issues in our place of residence will find a problem storing large home gym equipment, such as treadmills. Although, foldaway treadmills are designed for easier storage and can sometimes resolve a space problem. Still, a good treadmill is a very heavy and large piece of equipment and doesn’t fold up to fit under a bed.
Clean, Fresh Air Is Available Outdoors
Staying active and getting outside once in awhile to enjoy fresh air is always better for your lungs – having all your windows open once in a while doesn’t really count. Expanding our lungs and getting in fresh air is one of the best health habits we can ever have.
Reasons To Buy A Treadmill
Weather Conditions Make The Best Home Treadmill More Attractive
Whether rain or shine, you can exercise whenever you want with a treadmill inside your home. Heat waves, sleet, or ice will no longer impede your running schedule. You no longer have to worry about being too hot or too cold, since you can exercise in air conditioning. It’s healthier for you, not to mention more relaxing. Don’t put yourself in danger of slipping on ice or suffering heatstroke anymore. To be perfectly honest, people are more likely to maintain their exercise schedule if nothing can prevent them from exercising when they want.
Ready Availability
Treadmills will allow you to exercise your body whenever you feel like it. There’s no requirement to go to a separate location. It can be used by all adult members of the family, and having the convenience of a gym right in their home will inspire others to motivate themselves to exercise more.
Safe Use and Control
Everyone, men and women alike, run the risk of getting mugged or attacked if they go out running in a potentially isolated area like a park or street. You are always at risk for attack, even if you think your neighborhood or route is safe – especially at night – and it’s a large hassle to schedule your running time with other runners who could go with you.
Low Impact Exercise On A Treadmill
The surface of your treadmill is designed specifically to absorb the shock your feet undergo when running. If you run regularly, you can wear out your hips and knees quickly and damage them. High-impact exercise like running sometimes ends up doing more harm in the process, negating the benefits they get in the short term. Running on grass can alleviate the impact, but there’s an increased risk of slipping when running in wet grass or mud. If you want to protect your joints, get a treadmill.
Quantifiable Progress
When running outdoors, one finds it difficult to measure your exact progress in terms of calories lost, fat burned, etc. It’s possible to time yourself, but this is inaccurate, as lap times can fluctuate due to a variety of factors, like other people in the way or weather. With treadmills, you have exact methods of measurement for each factor you’re looking to measure.
Discretion When Exercising At Home
Some people are proud of their bodies and don’t mind other people watching them run around the park; people with body issues may feel uncomfortable doing that. You are guaranteed privacy so you can wear what you want and look how you look. No one has to watch you exercise if you don’t want to.
Having considered all the factors, it’s obvious that getting a treadmill will allow you to keep better track of your exercise regimen than without. Exercise schedules work at their most effective when they are kept regularly, so don’t let bad weather decide when you exercise and take control of your program. Get a home treadmill, and you’ll be able to see easily why it’s much better than outdoor running for exercise.
A treadmill isn’t a casual purchase so carefully consider what’s best for you before buying a treadmill. Treadmill sales often occur when someone who is eager to "get in shape" is standing in a store and impulse and emotion take over. The way to prevent this kind of slippery decision is to become aware of all the elements for and against even the best home treadmills. That way, you can make a rational decision, instead of one based on impulse.
adam scott says
Great comparison of treadmill to outdoor running! I generally prefer using treadmill for high intensity workouts as it does not have hurdles at making long runs at our own pace.
Carl Joseph says
Those are some valid points mentioned over there. Also you have mentioned one point related to weather conditions. In countries like India and other Asian countries there is specific months divided according to weather conditions and according to that The monsoon starts from June to September ,winters from October to Jan and so on. Therefore that point is not very applicable for such conditions.
BlissPlan says
Carl, you’re right. However, almost all of our readers are in the US, Canada and western Europe so this article is written mainly for them.