Treadmills bad for the knees?

[Zip]

Just curious to see what you guys think.

I havbe a friend who go to the gym with a group of people from his work, a lot quite serious about what they do there aswell, be it body building or CV.

But He said almost everyone that uses treadmills ends up having knee injurys while the others that dont and do CV another way and run around town dont get them much at all.


And we were talking to an old trainer of ours who is also a Lecturer at the AIF(Australian Institute of Fitness) and he said Treadmills are known to do that because you run differently on them compared to how you run normally due to not needing to use your hamstrings to get power.

So what are your views?

Mine, Well i personally hate the bloody things and feel unco on them

 

[[DOD]Asprilla]

They are no substitite for the real thing.

I just get bored after about 10 minutes without the constantly changing scenery and the need to concentrate on what's underfoot.

 

[Dugganator]

Yep they are worse for knee's then normal running but running as a whole isnt great for the knee's.

The last I used one for 2 weeks I got shin splints but i guess this is because i'm a bigger guy so the impact for me was worse.

 

[Snax]

run on an incline for the hamstring thing.

if you are a conditioned runner, 40 min blasts on the treadmill wont damage you. if you have never run before, you are exposed to injuries that could occur from running anywhere.

i have never had knee injuries on a treadmill. having said that i like running outside because i dont know how much i am slacking until the end of the run, unlike on the treadmill

 

[Medge]

From my own experience I had some trouble with my knee giving out, swelling and feeling generally pretty painful a few years ago with normal road running and had to have a long layoff to recover.

Eventually I hit the gym and used the treadmill for a couple of years with no ill effects (still do). Fast forward to this year and I decided to give road running another try and it went fine for a month and then my knee has started to give me trouble again and my doctors told me to lay off for a while

Personally I find it a lot softer on the treadmill and why wouldn't it? There's no hard tarmac, it's slightly rubbery and it has a certain amount of give. All of which your normal road surface doesn't have. However I do miss the scenery, especially the sea front during the summer months

It's certainly far easier to run on the treadmill (for me anyway) as there's no wind resistance (even with some incline set) or people backing out of their drives towards me, pot holes, dog mess etc

 

[roid]

Personally I find it a lot softer on the treadmill and why wouldn't it? There's no hard tarmac, it's slightly rubbery and it has a certain amount of give. All of which your normal road surface doesn't have.

This was my thought process as well, treadmills have a small amount of cushioning bounce, therefore being a little less harsh than the ever non forgiving tarmac.

 

[jas72]

I've just started running outside (4 weeks now) 3 times per week. Last week I thought i'd give the treadmill a go and it's a totally different feeling you don't really have to use your muscles all you are doing is lifting your legs so it's quite a bit easier than outside I didn't notice any difference on my knees though but it's not as much fun as running outside as you don't get the worry if that pitbull running around off the lead hates joggers

 

[fluffmct]

Without even mentioning the impact, part of the problem is that you're doing thousands and thousands of leg extensions without doing the antagonistic movement because the treadmill throws your feet backwards for you. Just like when people train chest without back, it leads to imbalances and injuries in the connecting joints.

 

[#Chri5#]

Treadmills aren't just bad for the knees - they hurt (body + pride) when you fall off the damn things!

 

[MonkeyNews]

Ive never found it more injury inducing to run on a treadmill, i used to run on paths and through woodland when I lived in my village and got a lot more sprains and strains that way then on the treadmill, mainly because the terrain is unpredictable when outdoors unlike the samey comfort of a treadmill.

 

[sunama]

Personally, I believe that treadmills are easier on your joints due to their rubbery surface, as opposed to the very hard tarmac/pavements, if road-running.

I've never had any knee injuries from doing either, though I once did injure my achillies tendon once on a treadmill, which was a little bizzarre considering that I had just done about 90 minutes of spinning, so was very loose and warm. I was warming down on the treadmill for 30 mins when I picked up the achillies injury.