Home Treadmill Walking for Seniors

Many seniors hold onto the home treadmill. But being over 60 is all the more reason why you should not hold on (unless for brief heart rate check). An older body is more prone to the damage to posture and joints that holding on can create.

Fear of Losing Balance on Home Treadmill

An older person doesn’t necessarily hold on for balance. I know a 72-year-old man who grips the machine during inclines. This same man does squats while holding dumbbells in each hand. One woman holds on firmly, then gets off the machine and attempts to stand on one foot as a balancing drill! Little does she know that holding on negates this. Fear of losing balance on the tread is based on emotion and lack of knowledge, not physical disability, since these are able-bodied people.

New Senior Home Treadmill Users

These senior men and women get around the gym fine without any assistance, and even do leg lifts of 90 pounds or leg presses of 120, but then hang onto the treadmill. For some older people, confronting a treadmill for the first time can be intimidating, since it’s a big, noisy machine. The new user thus clings on.

Granted, you may not be able to run anymore, and perhaps your gait is a bit stiff, but if you walked into the gym without a cane, there’s no medical need for gripping the treadmill. One purpose of exercise is to make your body more efficient in day-to-day operations. Holding on creates an artificial environment for your body, since there is nothing to hold onto once you leave the gym!

Commercial treadmill Exercise Bike equipment Spinning bike equipment Stepper equipment Home GYM Ellipticals equipment

Holding Onto the Treadmill Lessens Confidence

The more you hold on, the less confident you’ll be at the idea of letting go. A chronic treadmill-gripper’s body has adapted to a type of ambulation that contradicts the way Nature intended the body to move. The gripper’s body becomes less adept at balance and coordination, and muscles that are normally used in walking are cheated out of work. Even if you do a lot of walking off the treadmill, just three, 30-minute gripping sessions per week will fight against all your regular walking. At a minimum, it’s a waste of your valuable time.