Advice for treadmill use?
Jan. 20th, 2019 11:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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bodies_in_motion.
*waves* Hi. I forgot about this comm until I saw Rydra's post, then realized maybe someone here can help me.
Long story short -- I'm spending week-on week-off between my dad's town and my town. My dad's town has a good indoor community pool, which is reserved for lap-swimming 3 evenings per week. Since June, I've improved my time for 50 laps (.77 mile) from 66 minutes to 54 minutes, 10 seconds. \o/ So I do an extra 5 laps, for a total time of 59 minutes 50 seconds. (I'm slow, but I keep going and going and going...)
I don't have that opportunity in my town, so this week I finally decided to start making use of my treadmill that's been gathering dust for lo, these many years. I managed a decent pace -- 2 miles per hour -- for 35 minutes.
BUT!
When I see people using treadmills in TV commercials, they're walking upright, without holding on to the machine. I can't manage that. What happens is...
a. I have to hold on to the side bars. But I'm short-armed and short-legged. If I hold on to the side bars and keep my body upright, I'm so close to the front of the machine I'm afraid my foot will hit the machine floor in front of the belt, which would cause stumbling. Therefore...
b. I walk with my feet a little back and a slight lean forward, which isn't great for my lower back. Also...
c. Every once in a while, my foot seems to "stutter". I'm not really sure what's happening; I miss a step, or my foot comes down too hard, it catches the belt, which causes a slight pause/jerk in the belt movement, which causes an almost-stumble. This happens 4 or 5 times during the session, which makes me less inclined to let go of the side bars (in section a). The frequency decreases as the session progresses -- I guess my rhythm is staying more consistent -- but never completely goes away.
I've dug out an old, thick, dowel-rod. Tomorrow I'll tape it securely to the most forward part of the curve of the side bars. This will allow me to bring my arms into a more natural width for me (the side bars are way too wide for comfort). It will also decrease my sweaty hands trying to slip off the side bars (wood is much better for friction), and will change my grip to overhand (palms down) instead of sideways (palms inward). I'm hoping that this will get me enough farther away from the front of the machine that I can maintain a more normal, upright walking stance.
Is there anything else you can think of to help me use this treadmill properly? (By which I mean, with a normal walking carriage.) And does anyone have an idea what's happening with my foot-belt-catch stumbles, and how I can avoid them?
Thanks for reading this far. I really appreciate any ideas you can offer.
.
*waves* Hi. I forgot about this comm until I saw Rydra's post, then realized maybe someone here can help me.
Long story short -- I'm spending week-on week-off between my dad's town and my town. My dad's town has a good indoor community pool, which is reserved for lap-swimming 3 evenings per week. Since June, I've improved my time for 50 laps (.77 mile) from 66 minutes to 54 minutes, 10 seconds. \o/ So I do an extra 5 laps, for a total time of 59 minutes 50 seconds. (I'm slow, but I keep going and going and going...)
I don't have that opportunity in my town, so this week I finally decided to start making use of my treadmill that's been gathering dust for lo, these many years. I managed a decent pace -- 2 miles per hour -- for 35 minutes.
BUT!
When I see people using treadmills in TV commercials, they're walking upright, without holding on to the machine. I can't manage that. What happens is...
a. I have to hold on to the side bars. But I'm short-armed and short-legged. If I hold on to the side bars and keep my body upright, I'm so close to the front of the machine I'm afraid my foot will hit the machine floor in front of the belt, which would cause stumbling. Therefore...
b. I walk with my feet a little back and a slight lean forward, which isn't great for my lower back. Also...
c. Every once in a while, my foot seems to "stutter". I'm not really sure what's happening; I miss a step, or my foot comes down too hard, it catches the belt, which causes a slight pause/jerk in the belt movement, which causes an almost-stumble. This happens 4 or 5 times during the session, which makes me less inclined to let go of the side bars (in section a). The frequency decreases as the session progresses -- I guess my rhythm is staying more consistent -- but never completely goes away.
I've dug out an old, thick, dowel-rod. Tomorrow I'll tape it securely to the most forward part of the curve of the side bars. This will allow me to bring my arms into a more natural width for me (the side bars are way too wide for comfort). It will also decrease my sweaty hands trying to slip off the side bars (wood is much better for friction), and will change my grip to overhand (palms down) instead of sideways (palms inward). I'm hoping that this will get me enough farther away from the front of the machine that I can maintain a more normal, upright walking stance.
Is there anything else you can think of to help me use this treadmill properly? (By which I mean, with a normal walking carriage.) And does anyone have an idea what's happening with my foot-belt-catch stumbles, and how I can avoid them?
Thanks for reading this far. I really appreciate any ideas you can offer.
.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-21 05:40 pm (UTC)If the dowel-rod helps with my posture, it won't be a problem. But I suspect that my walking would be smoother/easier if I didn't have to hold on. I feel a little insecure on the thing, and the gait problems / holding on don't help.
I haven't tried walking slower, because I'm trying to push myself. That's a good idea, though; maybe if I go slow for a bit, I can work up to fast. But since I have the swimming stamina, I want to translate that to the treadmill.
Thanks. I'm so used to adjusting the too-big world to make it work for me, it's become automatic to figure out how to "fix" things.
.