(Don't) Keep Holding On

Time for round two of running intervals, yesterday was changed to bike intervals but today I am back to running on the tedious treadmill.

I see people all the time doing things on a treadmill that I do not and I wonder if they are right or not. First up is intervals where the person leaps upwards at the end of the intervals and lands on the outside of the treadmill off the belt. This looks a simple move, alas it was not for me. Switching from the speed section to walking saw me have a very near miss which would have seen me fly backwards off the treadmill… grrrrrr. How do they do it so seamlessly? For now I will stick to just adjusting the speed accordingly until I am once again blessed with auto speed buttons on the treadmill which my gym does not possess.

The second thing I notice a lot and have never once been inclined (no pun intended) to participate in is the speed walk on a high gradient whilst gripping with white-knuckled fear to the top of the treadmill display…. Why? This cannot be good for your back and surely it negates the whole point of working at a gradient as your body is tilted with the treadmill and therefore are you not just doing the same thing as if you were on the flat??

Please can someone explain this to me…..?