Never ran on treadmill... how does it compare to outdoor running?

Curious. My wife can run for 15-20 minutes treadmill ( straight ). But when me and her jog she barely does 6 minutes straight? What's the scoop? Also how does your running track compare to running off track?
 
I have the same situation. I can run 40minutes straight on a tredmill and get straight off and not be out of breath. If I tried that off a treadmill I'd be 6ft under from a heart attack.

My view on tredmills is this: It isn't running. It's hoping on the spot. With the floor moving for you, you don't have to do much work. With running outdoor/track then you have to do the work, you have to do the pushing to move! So outdoor running is more hard work!

I'm not saying tredmills aren't worth it, it's just my opinion that it's a different type of workout, although similar. If the tredmill has an option for gradient and you want to simulate outdoor running more have a gradient, this way you're running against it and having to push a bit against the tredmill to stay on it more, as it's on a slant. This SHOULD (I think) be more like outdoor running, and you'd be able to do less of it, more like the outdoor times.
 
I totally agree with Spark, and had the same experience until recently. I trained exclusively on a tread for a half marathon. I was VERY nervous about how I would feel on the road having NO workout on the road before I went to the race. It was EASIER than the tread. never had that experience before. but yes, on the whole outside is way harder than the tread because of that moving floor situation ;)
 
I'm having somewhat of a treadmill problem too! I always set it at a high incline to tone my tush, but it makes it considerably harder than running outside (but I live in flat florida). When the treadmill is at a 0% incline, though, it gets easier.
 
Someone told me yesterday at the gym at 0% is slightly downhill. putting at 1-2% grade is more like outside. I thought that was very interesting.
 
i dont aggree

i find it much easier to run outside than inside. When i run inside on the treadmill i have a hard time running 1 mile in 8-9 minutes. but when i go outside i can run 3 miles in 26 minutes. also, im not sure how long it took but i ran 6 miles outside, it just seems so much easier than a treadmill. i guess it may be because i just dont get into running while on a treadmill.
 
I can't run on a treadmill... My feet start numbing up - and I can never get into a good stride. Mostly because I don't run much on treadmills, so I never really got use to it. And the landing part is hard... I always end up being the guy who makes the most noise on the treadmill with my 245lb frame =-\
 
I agree with you all, i can run around 30-35 Minutes on treadmill straight then if i was to go outside i cant even make it past 10-15
 
I read actually that it is a much better workout when you run outside on the terrain because of the uneven pavement/ground and different elevations. It challenges your body more because of the different movements and such. I actually notice i get a better workout outside than on tredmills also.

The thing i read could totally be false, but on a personal level outside is better for me:)
 
i think it depends, while running HIIT on a treadmill i feel the same as running outside, but while jogging on a mill i can for long periods of time with no problem but on a track i die down alot faster
 
Just to add another opinion to the mix... I'd never run on a treadmill again

I used to run regularly a few years back, worked my way up to 10mile routes, then I joined the gym and thought I'd try running on a treadmill. The SECOND time I did I fu***d my knee up, and I basically couldn't run again until years later.

I've just joined a new gym with a friend of mine. He kept complaining of knee/joint pains, sometimes on the bikes, sometimes on the cross trainer. Turned out he used to go on the treadmill for a few minutes first, and that must have done something because since he cut out the treadmill he's been fine!

I'm sure they're fine for some people, but I wouldn't recommend them. And if you HAVE to run on a treadmill I'd say keep the session short maybe <20 mins.
 
well, from my experience, on a treadmill, your training your body to "run" "jog" at a "set" speed, whereas if you ran outdoors, you run on multiple speeds that aren't really in sync, like "set"

in my opinion, treadmill is best for individuals who would love that extra push as your training your body to run at set speeds, whereas if you were outdoors, you might start to get lazy and run slow or spontaneously.

I like running on a treadmill :] , but it can't beat the feeling over breathing fresh air outdoors though :[
 
I can run slightly faster on a treadmill due to the consistency of the speed; you either stay with it, hit the stop button, or fly off. If I have some extra energy after lifting, I’ll mess around and try to push my one mile time. I have it at 5:40 on the treadmill and 5:52 outside.

That said, I like running outside much more than on a treadmill, partly because I like going somewhere when I take strides. I just started a 5k training regiment, and I’ll be doing it all outdoors.
 
My feet go numb on the treadmill as well. I stopped running inside because of that, but I've also noticed that my stride lengthens when I run outside and as a result my posture improves. Psychologically, watching tv while I run, which is what I do on the treadmill, isn't as helpful for me either.

Running outside is just a better quality work out I think.
 
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