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running on a treadmill
jimhop51
Posts: 22
in General Chat
Hi all! This may be me being stupid, but how accurate are the speeds on a treadmill? The reason I ask is that I can normally run on the road at a steady 11/12 KMPH with no problems. Today I went on a treadmill as I am at sea on a ship for the next 5 weeks and was almost sprinting at 12 KMPH and my HR was far higher than normal. In fact to run at a comfortable pace which felt like I was road running I had to drop to 9 KMPH. Any got any thoughts??
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Sorry we're not much help are we
I have a Polar RS800CX with the foot pod, so I can measure my speed on the treadmill pretty well.
the Life Fitness Treadmills in my gym are all slightly different in their calibration but they are usually only out by less than 0.3 kph or less.
I do however find tha my pulse is higher on the treadmill for a given speed, this is in contrast to what many people say.
I can run a faster 10k outside, no doubt about it. Also, in training my slow 140bpm marathon traing pace is faster outside than on the treadmill.
My explanation for that is two fold. I think that outside I have more to look at and I am more relaxed, meaning that I breath better and don't think too much about how my legs are tired. This drops my pulse as I am less anxious.
Another point is that most treadmills have a very flexible panel beneath the belt which is used to absorb the force of your foot constantly hammering down on to it. The constant flexing of this panel under you as run is definitely absorbing quite a bit of energy - this can make a real difference.
Hope that helps.
No I defo heard it was 3% to simulate running on the road. But hay whats in a dregree or 2 between forumites!