Exercise Tips for the Gym

The 4 Most Common Cardio Mistakes—and How to Fix Them

Four traps that could be stalling your progress
By Rachel Cosgrove womenshealth
 

Goal: Train for a race


Mistake: Using the treadmill

Using the treadmill to train for a race doesn’t work as well as hitting the streets, unless your race is on a treadmill (doubtful). The problem with using the treadmill is that the ground is moving for you so you do not have to use the muscles on the back of your legs to pull yourself forward. Because the ground is moving for you, you literally just pick up your legs, which is very different biomechanically than running outside. Also you miss out on running downhill, which is very hard to keep your running technique and takes practice. Without getting off the treadmill you won’t learn how to handle the force of going downhill. This could set you up to injure yourself in your race.

The Fix: Train on the same terrain as your race


Hit the streets or the trails to get ready. You should also look up the elevation of the race and train for hills if necessary, uphill and downhill.


More: 10 Tips to Build Lean Muscle

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