Benefits of Using a Treadmill

The benefits of using a treadmill can be unclear to even the most experienced user since there are so many. The treadmill is one of the most recognizable and well-known pieces of exercise equipment. Whether you’ve been in the gym once or five hundred times, you likely know what a treadmill does and how to use it.

You may not know the totality of the benefits of using a treadmill, though, and that’s why we’re here today. The treadmill is much more than meets the eye. Sure, running is an easy way to burn calories, but the treadmill is thankfully much more than a calorie burner.

Let’s discuss two of the major benefits of using a treadmill:

BENEFIT OF USING A TREADMILL #1: NEAT

NEAT stands for non-exercise activity thermogenesis. It’s a fancy term for the things that we do that aren’t considered formal exercise. Folding laundry, vacuuming, walking, washing dishes, etc. would all fall into the NEAT category.

NEAT is an extremely important thing to be aware of because it contributes to your total calories burned in the day. If you are wanting to lose body fat, it is crucial to be burning more calories in the day than you are consuming. Aside from eating healthy, getting enough protein, and lifting, you can make fat loss easier when you are doing all of those things while eating less than your body burns in the day. We have many ways we burn calories throughout the day. We burn calories exercising, performing NEAT, digesting, breathing, and more. The two easiest ways to manually burn calories are both formal exercise and NEAT. Assuming that formal exercise is already a part of your weekly routine, it is wise to increase calorie burn through NEAT. After all, we can only do so many bouts of cardio and weight lifting.

The easiest way to track NEAT is through your daily steps. If you have a wearable like Apple Watch, FitBit, etc., you can see your daily steps. Having a treadmill at home is a great way to get your daily steps in. You may be thinking that you can simply go outside instead of walking on a treadmill indoors. If you have the option to go outside, you most definitely should. But for some, going outside in harsh weather conditions simply isn't an option. Rather than saying “screw it” to your daily step goal, you can throw on your favorite show and take a stroll on your treadmill.

I recommend you find your average daily steps as life is now, then increase it by 1,000. Once that new number is a habit, increase it by another 1,000 steps.

BENEFIT OF USING A TREADMILL #2: GEARING UP FOR THE TERRAIN

Although our earth isn’t flat, we walk on flat surfaces 90% of the time. Being used to this can make special outings like hikes and hunting trips a bit of a challenge.

Treadmills aren’t only meant for walking, jogging, and running on flat surfaces. Many treadmills go on an incline and can actually change and mimic a hiking trail depending on the software and technology the machine uses. One of the benefits of using a treadmill at home is that it can be a very useful way to prepare for your very first trail hike, or your fifth 14’er.

If you have any questions about the benefits of using a treadmill or want to learn more about our selection of treadmills, reach out to your local Push Pedal Pull to speak with an exercise equipment expert!