Q: Outside vs Treadmill: What’s better between walking or running outside vs on a treadmill?
A: In terms of calories burned and fitness gained it’s a tie when looking at Outside vs Treadmill. A mile walking or running on a treadmill will be deliver the same benefits as doing so outside. Treadmills and the outdoors both have unique pro’s and con’s that go beyond calories.
Debunking the 1%
There’s an old myth that you need to add a 1% incline to the treadmill to burn as many calories as you would outside. This was based on one old study done with just 9 runners under awkward circumstances. Awkward meaning that if you were running outside, then you had to use one hand to hold a tube in your mouth to collect the air you exhaled, whereas on the treadmill the equipment was held for you. Only being able to move one arm definitely changes how you run.
The study that claimed you need a 1% incline on a treadmill to equal running outdoors was never replicated, and a review of 28 studies, since then, show that the energy consumption (calories burned) was the same from 1mph up to 9.9 mph*.
* Nerdy aside, apparently, air resistance becomes a significant factor in the energy cost of running only when you start going really fast – 10 mph or faster. At least that is really fast to me.
Pro’s and Con’s of moving outside vs treadmill:
- Hills
- Infinite hills:
- the treadmill excels at delivering infinite hills – meaning that you can be going uphill the entire time, unlike being outside where each uphill is countered by a downhill.
- However, you do have to choose to be on an incline, and you can get rid of it at the push of a button when you are tired (hills make people tired). Personally, I almost never do any incline on a treadmill because I’m already tired and sweaty, so I buy my own excuses.
- If you don’t like or do running or jogging the incline of a treadmill is a low impact way to boost the caloric cost of walking. Each 1% increase of incline adds ~8%, so the incline allows you to ramp up calories without adding time.
- Forced hills: when you’re outdoors (assuming you’re not someplace super flat) you must climb whatever hill is in front of you or else you can’t get back home. Hard things are easier to do when you have no choice.
- Infinite hills:
- Heat
- Running on a treadmill is a double edged sword for heat. You get to run in air conditioning in the summer, but it gets pretty miserable around minute 30. By “pretty miserable” I mean torturously hot because without moving through the air your sweat is useless and you accumulate heat faster and faster.
- The hotter and sunnier it is, the more likely the treadmill is the best choice for managing heat, but it’s also a tradeoff.
- Pace: Treadmills are great for keeping you on whatever pace you intended to walk or jog at. As we get distracted or tired it takes a lot more mental effort to maintain your desired pace outside. The treadmill is like cruise control, but it’s also boring.
Bottom Line when considering moving Outside vs Treadmill:
Use one, use the other, or do a mixture of them both, and be sure to get your steps in. Don’t let anyone tell you that the treadmill is inferior to being outside, unless you’re running at a consistent 10mph.
You might also be interested in:
Walking & Tracking Steps: Myth vs. Fact
Activity trackers (aka “wearables”) are the new smart phone – what used to be rare is now something many/most people can’t imagine living without. Activity trackers have the potential to be a source of constant frustration/demoralization and excess calories; as well as the potential to be extremely helpful in reaching your health, fitness and weight loss goals. Whether it helps or hurts comes down to these myths and facts:
Josef Brandenburg, holds multiple certifications including: Senior Fitness Specialist Training Peri and Menopausal Women. He is also a best selling author and co-owner and a coach at True 180 Personal Training, Charlotte’s most effective personal training studio for women since 2016. We are changing the way fitness is done to get you the results you deserve!