Step on a manual treadmill to progress your power and strength.
Dreadmill, no more. Non-motorized treadmills — manual cardio equipment that requires your own power to keep the belt moving — have earned a reputation for keeping users mentally stimulated while logging miles.
But do the physical benefits make self-propelled treads truly worth the hype? Precision Run Coaches have thoughts.
Why Train with a Self-Powered Treadmill
If you’re looking to jog at a gentle, steady pace while watching your favorite Netflix show, don’t bother with a self-propelled treadmill. Every time you step on one of these machines, you have to fight, mentally and physically, to move the belt — and keep it churning.
“When you're running on the manual treadmills, essentially you are powering the treadmill belt,” says Julie Howell, a Precision Run Coach at Equinox Sports Club Boston. “It’s the power and the force produced from your own stride that is moving the tread. Unlike a motorized treadmill — where the ground is essentially moving for you — all you really have to do is pick up your feet.”
That means it's particularly challenging to maintain a specific pace or intensity for prolonged periods, such as during endurance runs. Instead, manual treads are ideal for training your power, or your ability to generate as much force as possible as quickly as you can.
“For the most part, you're using endurance [on a regular treadmill] — it's like, ‘Okay, I just put it to 10 or 12 [mph], and now I'm just trying to go. As long as I have the endurance, I'm going to keep my body going,’” says Monique Bell, a Precision Run Coach at Equinox Miracle Mile. “But that's not going to transcend on a self-propelled treadmill, because you have to have the power to maintain that [and] push the treadmill [to] go.” In other words, with a traditional tread, you can set the pace and forget it; with a manual tread, you have to fight to build up to your desired speed and sustain it.
This lends to greater cardiometabolic demands: One small 2017 study found that running at a set speed on a curved, non-motorized treadmill required a higher percentage of peak VO2 (the highest amount of oxygen participants could use during this specific test) compared to running at the same speed on a motorized treadmill.
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The full body and mind engagement required on a self-propelled treadmill also gives you a more accurate idea of your real speed during powerful sprints, says Howell. On a standard tread, you can set the speed to, say, 11 miles an hour and fight for dear life to hold it for 20 seconds — slow down at all, and you’re going to fall. But with a manual tread, the only thing helping you get up to that speed is your body. “I’ve found this to be fairly true in my own experiences with treadmills and outdoor running: My pace is a little bit more realistic on a manual treadmill than it would be on a motorized treadmill, where I can set it and I can force myself to keep that pace, but it might not be as natural to my body to try to maintain that pace as it would be,” she says.
On that note, these types of treads generally mimic outdoor road conditions. Imagine you’re standing at the start line of a race. Once the starting pistol sounds, you need to explode through your feet to start driving your body forward. You’ll need to call on the same strength and power to propel yourself forward on the treadmill, says Bell. (That said, there’s no way to adjust the tread’s incline, notes Howell.)
There’s a slight edge in terms of form and impact, too. Self-powered treadmills, like the AssaultRunner or Woodway’s Rogue-branded Curve LTG model, have a unique curved design, which allows for a softer foot strike and less impact on the knees and hips, says Bell.
So, which style of equipment should you choose? A general rule of thumb: Turn to self-powered treads when you want to challenge your power and strength or practice sprints. Hop on a manual treadmill when you’re focused on building endurance and want a longer aerobic workout, according to the Coaches. If you’re constantly maxing out the speed on a regular treadmill, try sprinting on a self-powered one, which allows you to go as fast as physically possible.
How to Use a Self-Powered Treadmill
Set-up is crucial on a self-powered treadmill. Start your body at the front of the belt and drive down with your strongest leg first; you won’t be able to get the tread moving quickly if you start standing smack in the middle, says Bell. “Every time you're coming down on that landing, your body should never be in the middle,” she adds. “It should always be more toward the top [of the belt].” This will enable you to generate the most power with your foot strike, she says.
Remember to lean forward slightly (as if you’re running on an incline on a regular tread or outdoors), pick up your knees, and explosively drive your arms forward and back. “That’s how you make those treadmills go,” she says. Remember, the belt isn’t going to move unless you put in the work, so be mindful and intentional about powering through your legs with every stride, says Bell.
Once your body starts to give out, the belt will begin to slow down pretty quickly, and you’ll gravitate toward the center of the machine. While it’s tempting to hop your feet onto the side rails when you’re in desperate need of recovery, fight that urge and walk the belt down to a near stop. “We never really watch, like, Olympic runners and sprinters run through the finish line, get the tape, and just stop,” says Bell. “No, usually they're running that speed down for, like, maybe 50 to 100 meters, gradually slowing down. What that's showing is how much control you have of your body.”
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Sprints are a classic manual treadmill workout. Try an all-out effort — sprinting with every ounce of energy you can give for 10 to 20 seconds — recover, and repeat, suggests Bell. You can use the treads for warm-up drills, too. You can lie on the floor facing the treadmill, with your feet on the end of the belt, and walk on your heels to fire up your hamstrings. Or, you can stand on the floor turned away from the tread, place one foot on top of the belt, and bend through the standing leg; it’s similar to a reverse lunge, with your back foot on a glider.
Of course, a self-powered treadmill isn’t a crucial instrument if you want to become a better runner, so don’t fret if there isn’t one available to you, says Howell. But it is a valuable tool to keep in your back pocket. “The curved [manual] treadmill looks like it's boring,” adds Bell, “but if you really want to fire up those fast-twitch muscles, work on strength and power, it’s game-changing.”