Explainer | Is running on a treadmill bad for you? Will it injure your knees or give you bad form?
- Running on a treadmill is not inherently bad for you, your knees or your running form, but it does put added pressure on your Achilles tendons
- Used properly, it can be a valuable tool for runners looking to build their fitness conveniently
Running on a treadmill is not bad for you. There is a popular belief that running on a treadmill will damage your knees – this is not true. The chance of injury is basically the same indoors or out, though the place of the injury can differ.
Treadmills actually cause less stress on most joints, but put more pressure on your Achilles, one study found.
Running can cause injuries. This can be for a number of reasons, from form to strength to twisting an ankle or not taking enough rest. The variables are many, but running on a treadmill instead of road or trail is not necessarily one of them.
However, it is best to mix it up.
A study from 2019 titled Is Motorised Treadmill Running Biomechanically Comparable to Overground Running? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Cross-Over Studies suggests that running only on a treadmill may affect your gait.
“Spatiotemporal, kinematic, kinetic, muscle activity and muscle-tendon outcome measures are largely comparable between motorised treadmill and overground running,” the study said.
