sedentary

Treadmill Training with Healthy Posture

Treadmill Training with Healthy Posture

Esther Gokhale
Date

During the Victorian Era, a British engineer, William Cubitt, invented the treadmill as a means of harnessing hard labor in prisons and penal colonies. It was also used unproductively, purely as a punitive measure. Despite this sordid history, the treadmill has become a highly beneficial and enjoyable device within the context of a contemporary lifestyle.

The sedentary nature of modern life in the industrialized world leaves most of us with less than the ideal amount of physical activity. In 1968 the importance of aerobic exercise was popularized by the book Aerobics by Kenneth H. Cooper. Inspired by this book, the first electric consumer treadmill was developed by another American by the name of William Edward Staub. 

Front cover of book Aerobics by Kenneth H. Cooper
The book Aerobics by Kenneth H. Cooper did more than any other to promote the role of “aerobics” for health, founding a paradigm that continues to this day. Aerobics by Kenneth H. Cooper

Staub’s invention was enthusiastically taken up and the exercise treadmill is now used by some 50 million¹ plus Americans and millions more around the globe. The treadmill has several benefits over running outside:

  • It provides a controlled environment and avoids inclement weather
  • It can be private and safe
  • The track is clear and trip-hazard free
  • Incline or speed can be set as required
  • Progress can be tracked and data stored
  • You can read and work at it

A row of contemporary treadmills with screens, with one female user
Treadmills are now in gyms, homes, hotels, colleges, and research and medical facilities across the world. They encourage cardiac fitness, but not necessarily healthy form. Unsplash

Treadmills can be particularly helpful for some groups of people:

  • Those new to exercise who are still building a baseline of fitness and confidence
  • People rehabilitating from injuries, surgeries, strokes, etc. 
  • Those with a lack of access to good walking and running terrain
  • Athletes, fitness trainees, and research subjects wanting to track progress
  • Those who have little time for exercise

NASA astronaut Mark T. Vande Hei on a treadmill inside the ISS module Tranquility
NASA astronaut Mark T. Vande Hei jogs on a treadmill inside the International Space Station module Tranquility—perhaps the ultimate example of limited space and opportunity for exercise, and for the value of monitoring. Wikimedia

Healthy form—as important in treadmill workouts as any other activity

Because a treadmill track has more give than some terrain it may appear to be a more forgiving surface for our joints. However, we know from research on running shoes that substantial cushioning can actually result in a higher level of injuries²—the cushioning reduces proprioceptive sensitivity and lulls people into a false sense of being protected and actually hitting the ground harder.³

When it comes to using a treadmill, you don’t want to rely on either softer shoes or a softer surface to offset the effects of less than healthy biomechanics—and the biggest obstacle to healthy biomechanics is poor posture. 

Man running with tucked pelvis, internal rotation of feet and legs, rounded torso, and forward head carriage
Jogging or walking with a tucked pelvis, internally rotated feet, legs, and hips, a rounded torso, and forward head carriage stresses both muscles and joints. Switching to using a treadmill won’t fix these problems—but reclaiming healthy posture will. Pexels

Treadmill exercise is repetitive, and what you want is repetitive benefit, not repetitive strain. With some posture know-how, your treadmill training will not only get you aerobically fitter and stronger, but will also retrain your musculoskeletal system to work optimally. That means more gain, less pain, and less time out nursing injuries. Here are our top training tips:

Caution: Using a treadmill can be hazardous. If you’re not accustomed to using one, make sure to get appropriate support to make your introduction safe. Please consult your physician or PT if you have medical challenges. 

Starting your treadmill session

We recommend that you walk before you run! Not only is walking an excellent orientation and warm-up on a treadmill, but you get to practice actions common to both walking and running at a speed that helps you correct, pattern, and refine as you go. We encourage all our students to evoke the benefits and protections that are built into the ways our ancestors have walked for millennia.

Man in India walking carrying pitchers on yoke.
Treadmills are useful for practicing many aspects of healthy walking form, a body-wisdom we can relearn from traditional village societies where it is still prevalent. This man is in India. 

Power yourself with the right muscles

The earliest treadmills were human powered—which meant you had to push the ground away behind you, much as in natural walking form. With a machine powering the track beneath you, it is easy to underdo the muscular self-propulsion that ideally comes from squeezing the glutes of the leg that is going backward, and pushing off with that foot. 

Use your treadmill session to wake up your foot muscles. Imagine the treadmill is broken and you are using your feet to jump start it. In the first half of the stride your foot pulls the ground towards you; in the second half of the stride, it pushes the ground behind you. Be careful to not disproportionately use the muscles under your toes, but rather, include the long plantar muscles under the main arches.

Michelle Ball, Gokhale Method teacher, running on sandy beach, close-up
We can relearn the natural responses of the feet to grab the ground and push it behind us—even while wearing shoes on a treadmill.

We teach these nuanced techniques in logical sequence and detail in our in-person Foundations course, one-day Pop-up course, online Elements course, plus Gokhale Exercise program. 

Using an incline on a treadmill can improve your posture and back pain

Setting an incline of 10°–15° for part of your workout will help you cultivate a slight forward lean. This stance puts your behind behind you and your gluteal muscles in a position of mechanical advantage. It can also take pressure off the upper lumbar area if you have a habit of swaying.

Woman running on curved HIT treadmill, lower body view.
We get greater benefits and reduce potential downsides when we use treadmills with healthy posture. This runner is on a curved track, designed for sprinting and high intensity training (HIT). Pexels

Monitor your posture as well as your performance 

One thing that treadmills cannot track is your posture. Especially as you increase your miles and speed, problematic posture increases the risk of damage throughout your body. We suggest the following ways to monitor your posture:

  • Take a deep-dive into healthy posture by reading 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back or taking one of our courses
  • Use the mirrors in the gym or an app on your home computer 
  • Videotape yourself and play it back in slo-mo to examine your form
  • If you have a personal trainer, share this article and get them on board with your healthy posture treadmill training
  • Use PostureTracker™, our Gokhale Method wearable, available to course participants and Alumni.

3 views of PostureTracker™app in use.
PostureTracker gives you real time feedback on your form, and tells you the degree to which you are moving away from your healthiest position—whether that’s your spinal shape (a), your head position (b), or your degree of leg extension (c).

For more detail on healthy posture in running check out our blog post series: 

P1: Introduction  P2: Meet Your Feet  P3: How to Choose Running Shoes  P4: Taking Care of Your Knees  P5: Anteverted Pelvis  P6: Upper Body

Best next action steps for newcomers

If you would like insight on your posture, consider scheduling an Initial Consultation, online or in person.

You can sign up below to join one of our upcoming FREE Online Workshops. . .

 

References:

¹ Statista Research Department. “Users of treadmills in the U.S. from 2006 to 2017,” Dec 8, 2022, https://www.statista.com/statistics/191605/users-of-treadmills-in-the-us-since-2006/.

² S. Robbins and E. Waked. “Hazard of Deceptive Advertising of Athletic Footwear,” British Journal of Sports Medicine 31, no. 4 (December 1997): 299–303, https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsm.31.4.299.

³ Daniel E. Lieberman, “What We Can Learn About Running from Barefoot Running: An Evolutionary Medical Perspective,” Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews 40, no. 2 (April 2012): 63–72, https://doi.org/10.1097/jes.0b013e31824ab210.

 

The Secrets to Pain-Free Sitting, Part 1: The Inspiration behind a New TV Show

The Secrets to Pain-Free Sitting, Part 1: The Inspiration behind a New TV Show

Esther Gokhale
Date

People are sitting poorly and continue to blame sitting for their back pain. We believe the solution to this problem is more urgently needed than ever… and that the solution is now more readily available than ever, given one of the Gokhale Institute’s recent projects. I am excited to tell you about The Secrets to Pain-Free Sitting, a pledge show we made with producer Frank Zamacona for American Public Television (APT). 

Esther Gokhale teaching a team member to stretchsit, close-up view.
The Secrets to Pain-Free Sitting TV show teaches techniques to sit comfortably, including using your backrest to give gentle traction to the spine. Here I am helping Susan van Niekerk, a key member of our admin team, to stretchsit. 

Gokhale teacher Eric Fernandez stretchsitting in recliner. 
Gokhale Method teacher Eric Fernandez enjoys a reclined version of the highly therapeutic stretchsitting technique. 

Sitting has become a problem

In recent years people have become confused about and even afraid of sitting. Sitting is considered problematic in our society, both because it is associated with an unhealthy level of inactivity, and because it is generally done with poor posture, leading to discomfort and pain. 

Assorted books (covers) featuring the dangers of sitting.
In recent decades a range of books and audiobooks have given the impression that sitting is the enemy of movement. In truth, both are important and both need to be done well. 

Inactivity has been baked into aspects of our culture for many decades, caused by various factors including long hours of desk work, the design of our environment, and car use. I have long advocated frequent exercise breaks from sedentary work, as well as active recreation. We recently started Gokhale Exercise as a contribution to positive change in this area, and it’s already helping our Alumni community to get fitter, stronger, and more flexible while they continue to improve their posture. By learning good form while exercising, they are also reducing their risk of injury and wear and tear.

The pain and discomfort that many people experience when seated for any period of time understandably gives sitting a bad reputation. Given that the mission of the Gokhale Institute is “to make back pain rare,” should we be discouraging people from sitting? I don’t believe so. 

I prefer to celebrate the fact that sitting is a natural, universal, and important human activity. I would go so far as to say human civilization requires it. There are many tasks that benefit from the rest, stillness, and mental focus afforded by sitting. Imagine nursing a baby, playing the piano, writing a book, creating pottery, watching a movie, eating a meal, or taking a flight, without being able to sit!

Images showing people sitting to do involved tasks.
Sitting has enabled human civilization to develop all manner of skills, talents, and ideas. Unsplash(bottom image)

The Gokhale Method® approach to preventing and healing back pain is based on observing traditional societies around the world where people report very low levels of back pain and few other musculoskeletal problems. People in these traditional societies have maintained healthy posture and also sit as part of their daily lives, sometimes for long periods doing crafts or preparing food. And they sit on all kinds of seats, not only on the floor or squatting. The key is that they sit well.

Images showing individuals sitting well in Africa, Thailand and India.
People in different traditional societies all over the world share the ability to sit well. Here you see people in Africa, Thailand, and India.

Gokhale Method students learn these natural posture principles, plus the techniques they need to implement them. They discover healthy ways to go about their daily tasks, work, sports, hobbies, and even sleep positions. This process builds strength and resilience in the body, minimizing compression, tension, and degeneration. 

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been reports of and also research into an increase in back pain¹. There are likely several reasons for this increase which are related to sitting poorly. Many people switched to working from home, hunching over laptops, rather than using their usual office workstations. There was also much more remote working in general as, where possible, activities that had been done in-person switched to online platforms. For example, the Gokhale Method, in addition to teaching in-person Foundations and Pop-up courses, developed our online Elements course. 

Research graph showing tweets in the US about back pain, 2019 v. 2020
This graph shows an increased number of tweets in the US about back pain in November 2020, during the pandemic, as against the lower number of such tweets the year before.¹ www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Years of experience assure me that not only can sitting be pain free, but that it can be done in ways that are positively therapeutic for the back and spine. This knowledge is exactly what we want to take into the American home with our 45-minute show. Below is a trailer to whet your appetite!

Enjoy this short preview of what’s in store with our Secrets to Pain-Free Sitting TV show.

The network uptake for Secrets to Pain-Free Sitting has already exceeded expectations. The show began airing on June 2, 2022, and as I write this, 32 networks have already screened the show. You can find the air dates for Secrets to Pain-Free Sitting in your area here. Should you need to request for it to be shown in your area, you can email APT at [email protected]. We hope you will enjoy watching it and recommend it to your friends and family. 

To complement the TV show, we are offering a number of special online workshops where you will be coached in 5 Top Tips for Sitting Well. In these bespoke workshops Gokhale Method teachers will be helping me to give you personal attention and answer your questions. I look forward to seeing you there! 

References:

¹ Krzysztof Fiok et al. “A Study of the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Experience of Back Pain Reported on Twitter ® in the United States: A Natural Language Processing Approach.” Int J Environ Res Public Health. May 2021; 18(9): 4543. PubMed (Apr 25 2021) doi: 10.3390/ijerph18094543

Our Free Online Workshop program continues as usual:

Subscribe to sedentary