Road or Treadmill - Which Is Faster?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2024
- Is it quicker to run on a treadmill or on the road? We challenged Anna to test this theory, completing a treadmill run through a virtual tour of London, using Zwift, before heading into the City and seeing how she performed IRL. It was certainly a tale of two differing runs!
↓↓ Do you find that your performance on the road differs much compared to your efforts on the treadmill? Let us know in the comments! ↓↓
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↓↓ Do you find that your performance on the road differs much compared to your efforts on the treadmill?↓↓
Faster on road than treadmill as you don't have to consciously speed up...will take outside over dreadmill all day long...😂😂
I feel Im faster on the treadmill for sure. However, I just started to understand why people do like running outdoors, when I tried it for my first informal 10k time. It was wonderful being outside, in the cold air, but sunny still.
I'm overstriding on the treadmill for some reason which makes it alot easier to run on the road.
Yes, I have a mental block on the treadmill so I can’t push myself to run as hard, so road is preferred as usually faster (after all there’s no downhill option on a treadmill). But I imagine if I could get out of my own head I’d be faster on a treadmill.
I find my watch under reads on the treadmill so the numbers say road is faster, whether that's the case or not. Plus you get a breeze outside so you can work harder without overheating
I’ve never heard the term “phone zombie” but it is such an accurate description. Absolutely using that from now on. Thanks for another lovely video.
I'm going to shout that out every time I pass them now!
Will be my new shout out from now on. "Watch out, Phone Zombie!"
Ha my parents are phone zombies. Go outside lol
That would be AWESOME if The Running Channel organized group runs on Zwift and the cast participated in them! They could even live stream themselves doing them!
Great to know you'd enjoy that, we have hosted a Zwift run before! Keep your eyes peeled for more in the future!
Like some said already in the comments, you should host a weekely event or something more often on Zwift, according to the pace of everyone, but would be nice that such a Channel like yours would be present with Zwift, maybe a partnership, to delvelopp Zwift running even more. Would build up a nice community up there and bring everyone from here there :) Otherwise, nice run IRL and virtual!
I spend all my working day in front of a screen so the last thing I want to do is run in front of one too. Would love to run with the RC crew in real life though. ❤️
Man, this makes me want to travel just to see places I run on Zwift in real life!! Please consider doing virtual event runs, it’d be so fun!!
For me, road has been substantially faster. It feels like a lot more work on my treadmill than it does out, running my regular route. I just started running multiple miles after a month off from injury so hopefully ill be back out there again after the holidays and getting my fitness back on the treadmill.
I agree. I have trouble keeping up with my road pace on the treadmill, but I am fortunate to live near a running trail without crowds.
I don't like waiting to cross the street or dodge people on runs, so I almost never run on the streets except on Zwift. I'd much prefer to walk the streets of real-life or take to the trails to run.
Cool, but I prefer a treadmill run with real footage, such as around Pompeii.. 🏃♀️😎
I love this challenge. I am a huge treadmill and zwift fan. I would love to run another Running channel zwift event. My virtual Red Running Channel tshirt is pride of place in the zwift garage. Enjoyed Running that event with Andy and would love to run any event with anyone from the Running channel. Even if I was up super early or was it late due to being in Australia 🇦🇺
So glad you enjoyed it! Keep your eyes peeled! Do you have a favourite Zwift run?
@@runningchannel the Sherman loop in New York. 5k loop in watopia cause I mostly run 5km. The new Neokyo looks good but need to run it more to really see it. Oh so many I can not think of them all
For me, running long and steady on a treadmill is quite boring but it is brilliant for intervalls!
This was really interesting. I suppose it really only works for a flat route, unless you adjust the incline on the treadmill, but even then, you can't mimic downhills. I really expected the treadmill to be much faster, in part because of obstacles but also because it forces you to maintain your pace...you can't slow down when you get fatigued without deliberately changing the speed. I suppose the slowdowns and stops provided a brief rest, allowing you to push a faster pace when actually running.
The amazing new treadmills actually adjust speed, incline, AND decline automatically to match the program! I used to call them dreadmills, but I absolutely love my treadmill with Ifit, with 10% incline and 3% decline. Wish I could afford the ones with 40% incline and 10% decline!
That was great, and it’s fabulous to see you running strong Anna 💛 thanks for sharing …look forward to the next video!!
Great video. I don't know how you run in London. Would drive me mad! By coincidence I ran my first few km on a treadmill last week and it was surprisingly hard with the mill set to my normal steady road pace. Love running outdoors, usually in the wee hours ... you see deer, badgers, foxes and then the birds start to sing if you happen to be running just before sunrise. If I could run anywhere I think it would be to run along the west highland way, in stages (I am no marathon runner!).
It would be interesting to know the difference in your stats not just the time. I imagine pace, speed, cadence etc would be different...
I love my treadmill. Best purchase of 2020
Me too! I never thought I'd say that, but it's made training for 50ks possible while juggling 2 jobs. And zwift and ifit make it so much more interesting!
Thanks Anna, it was a really interesting video !
Ok, it's more fun to run in real London but I'm not sure if the IRL training had the same sporting gain with all the interruptions...
And as for safety, help!
Maybe do the actual running in the parks and do the rest on Zwift.
I would love to have a treadmill but those are so expensive !
Glad you enjoyed it!
Loved Zwift during the lockdowns, found it so good and really enjoyed it. Can’t beat running outside though (although the storm has brought some snow to us overnight so maybe it’ll be a choice for Zwift again over the next few days)
This was really fun to watch. I've not tried zwift, but then I've not used a treadmill either. I love running outdoors. One tip, always take sunglasses! That winter sun can be brutal here in the UK.
Would love to run with the running channel in real life though. That would be a lot of fun
Thanks Nathan! Glad you enjoyed it!
I get that this is a paid advertisement for Zwift, but I absolutely lose my mind while running on a treadmill. I will run on a treadmill in bad weather (e.g. a thunderstorm - as long as there is no thunder I will run outside), and I will run on a treadmill if I'm at a hotel in an urban area without sidewalks/safe routes, but it is the bottom choice for running for me. Staring at a screen for an hour versus being outside in real life are two very different experiences, and I will always choose outside if that is possible.
I run for mood control, and while running in general helps me mood immensely, I notice huge difference when I compare days I run outside in the morning (good mood) versus days I run inside on a treadmill in a morning (somewhere between not running at all and running outside mood).
Would have been cool to see both Strava activity maps side by side/overlaid.
And would be great if you did a group run sometime - maybe later in the day some of us here in the US can join!
Surprising the difference wasn't larger tbh! Treadmill feels a lot easier as you don't have to push away from the ground in the same way.
Might be that I'm in worse shape so my times differentiate more but I got about 5:30 min/km over 7K on treadmill vs 6min/km outdoors, same puls around 160. Hade the treadmill on a 1 (unit? 🤔) incline
1 percent...
Remember that on the treadmill, the speed displayed is not your speed but the belt speed, so you should up the treadmill speed of more or less 0.8 kmh to habe identical IRL speed. Check with a Stryd or another footpod (stryd is the easiest to use) and you will see that running at 12kmh IRL is on the TM displayed speed more or less 12.8 kmh :)
@@ludovicjost4911 I think that depends on the treadmill's engine. If the belt doesn't slow down as much when you land, the difference is smaller.
@@keineangabe8993 yes it depends on many things you are right. The engine power, the belt length, how tight is the belt pulled between the rollers, the rollers size, the lubrication of the deck, the weight of the user, etc etc. I just gave an average, but it's for sure different from treadmill to treadmill 😊
Measuring treadmill to real road effort has always been a topic of contention for reasons I won't go into here. Suffice to say the treadmill and Zwift are excellent tools to assist in your running goals. I'd absolutely love to run with Anna or any of the TRC crew. Would be fun regardless of pace.
Ironically right now I'm trying to decide whether to run on the road or the treadmill.I usually hate the treadmill & avoid it at all costs but unfortunately there;s heavy Florida rain !Unless it clears up soon ( I don't want to wait until the afternoon or evening) I may have to run on a dread mill! And usually I'm slower . Already I'm very stiff , especially hips/quads/thoracic,etc.This causes poor knee lift/knee drive,etc.A real shuffling gait.The treadmill often makes it worse. But I may have no choice.We'll see.Great video.
Amazing challenge Anna, well done on the result, considering all the challenges you encountered in the real life run, a 2 minute difference was amazing:) Was this a weekday run or on the weekend, just wondering as streets were busy
That outdoor run is everything I dislike about outdoor running, all of the people and road crossings, bothers me even watching the video of Anna doing it! That’s precisely why I do some of my running on Zwift. I don’t compare pace between indoor and outdoor though, the 2 activities aren’t the same. As long as I work hard on the treadmill then it will serve me well when I’m next outdoors.
exactly how i would see it, my idea of a nightmare running in a busy city, trails anytime and also enjoy road, dont think they can be compared apart from a bit of fun. personally my pbs are very similar treadmill and road but effort felt a lot harder on the treadmill physically but easier mentally as didnt have to vary pace ,
There were quite a few phone zombies or just zombies in general.
Would love to run with the Running Channel team but only two problems. One, I live on the other side of the globe and second, the team is leagues above my level of fitness, ROL.
Especially with a team member such as Andy with his superhuman feat of 10K in 35 minutes!!!!!! I couldn't do that in my wildest f*ing dreams, ROL!!!
I was going to say I can't imagine a less enjoyable run than a treadmill, running staring at wall or a screen for hours just seems soul destroying, I couldn't do it.
Then I watched the video and saw the hordes of phone zombies, and I think I'd maybe rather run on a treadmill than run through such a busy city.
Loved the challenge. Perhaps next time you could have a track based run vs treadmill? Personally, I struggle to run more than 5km on a treadmill, while on the road I can much more than that.
I've actually beaten a treadmill half-marathon PB on an outdoor run - but the conditions were absolutely ideal for that run.
I'm not an expert on the technology of treadmills (although I've heard that one should set the incline at 1% in order to mimic ideal outdoor conditions), but my theory is that if a runner sets a PB outdoors, then they should always be capable of improving on that time to some extent on a treadmill - if only due to the lack of variables to contend with in the gym.
Having said that, one thing I've never heard raised on this subject is the time lag one experiences when changing pace on a treadmill - and the fact that this change has to be implemented using the runner's hand. This effect is very different from that experienced when executing the same change of movement outdoors.
I'm actually a treadmill runner 60-70% of the time, but if the option was a virtual run like the one in the video, then I'd rather just bite the bullet and stare at the wall in the gym (although I do see the benefits for some people).
Sorry - I'm just an old luddite! 😄
Hate London and your run reminded me why. Thought the difference would have been greater tbh. Well done.
Never thought about doing a comparison. Most of my park routes are on horse trails or hiking trails and from all the videos I've seen, the Zwift routes are on streets. Are there trail options? If there are, does the incline of the treadmill adjust for the route IRL? Thanks again for being a companion before I hit the trails for my early morning Saturday runs here in California.
Thanks Anna.
It's so funny you posted this. Just did my first treadmill run since August. I've finally gotten up to 8k and my normal time is 1:23:00-1:25:00. Well today on the treadmill it was 1:09:08. Definitely a big difference and lower effort. I'm going to enjoy it tho lol. Then it's back to the road next week.
I love the "phone zombie" I will include it in my vocabulary from now on! hahahaha. Thanks for the fun video!!
how much does a treadmill like this cost and is it just this particular one that comes with zwift? never ran with a treadmill before but after seeing how good it can be has me very intrigued. any help would be amazing guys.
We bought a pro form treadmill with ifit last year, and absolutely LOVE it. It was $2,400 usd, financed for 12 months 0%. Expensive, but SO worth it. It comes with a year of ifit, a program with real videos following trainers on runs through cities and trails all over the world. My treadmill has a 10% incline and 3% decline, and automatically adjusts speed and elevation to match the program you're watching. It is fun, educational, and has made training for 50ks possible - and safer- while juggling 2 jobs. (My husband was understandably nervous about me running on trails at 10pm. 😆 ) You can also buy many newer used treadmills for less, and purchase the ifit program for it.
@@Kelly_Ben thank you so much Kelly this was very insightful.
This was great!! I'll be honest though, I've never used zwift, but I love my ifit. Real videos on real city streets and country trails, with a motivating, entertaining, and often educational trainer (Tommy Rivs is my favorite!) I'd love to run with any of you, or have Rick bike ride along beside me... though it can be tough to bike that slow without tipping over... 😆 Too bad I'm across the pond!
Zwift should put a bunch of NPCs in their game. Get missions, buy something from a local hot-dog stand (or vegan hotdog), chat. Maybe someone will build a Grand Theft Runner. ;-)
I would sign up for a real run with the running channel in a heart beat! Only started running during the lock down last year and feel like I know all of you now
What a great upload and so interesting as I do 90% of my cycling on zwift and 10% road and vice versa with running. I would love a weekly 5k with you all from the running channel 😁
I have a running route from Vauxhall Bridge Road to St James Park and back (helps that there is somewhere I can use the showers!) - I would really love to run with Anna in real life but I am not sure I can cope with her emotions. I cry at her running on screen so I'll be a mess for sure! I do however have extremely good knowledge of London. I could even do the Knowledge and pass.
I really do love running outside, being in the park or a forest but I would love to try the Zwift-experience somewhere - unfortunately, I've never seen then in local gyms, would be cool if there were some testing/try-the-swift/expo events.
I just finished a Zwift session a few minutes ago but most of my training is on the road, the road is far superior to the treadmill for getting faster but for this test the treadmill is faster because Anna ran into a crowd in one of the busiest cities in the world! lol.
I'm not a great fan of treadmill running but Zwift definitely makes it more interesting. I've already done a run "IRL" with you and Andy at the NEC. Maybe again next year?
Me an American, googling "what is changing of the guard?"
That seems like something that is fun for tourists and really very mundane for people who live nearby.
And I use a Stryd, so my treadmill distance is utter garbage. It'll say I ran 3 miles after 60 min at 10.8k/hr. That's literally less than half of what the treadmill says 😩.
Am I a bad person for never having run on a treadmill? ;) I thought about buying one but I'm lucky to have country lanes within 2 km and I love running in freezing cold so enjoy being outside. That said, I see the draw to it that people may have especially with the community aspect. The only thing that made me itch looking at the Zwift footage is that when you are running on the road you are running with the traffic, not against! (even if the traffic is only bikes and people... and not real)
I don’t think I could ever replace being outside. I’m an all weather runner. Except can you get chased by zombies on there?. If so I’m in!! 😃😃
I do great times on the treadmill for short distances. It gets boring after a while. Nevertheless, it's great for a sweating session. Just put on your tracksuit and give it a go. Personally, I enjoy the fresh air and a different scenery every time I run outdoors.
Thanks for sharing!
Well done 😃👍 nice comparison 🏃♀️👌
What a fun challenge! I would love to run with TRC - perhaps a trip to England is in the cards or you could come visit in Canada 🇨🇦
Phone zombies 😄 Anna I bloody love you haha 😄 also love the upbeat jazz music!!! My absolute goto longrun marathon music!
What is the name of running simulation app you using? Whether it's free?
What a horrendous IRL route! That should of been tackled early doors on a Sunday.
Not a treadmill fan . I rather go out for a run in person .
Nice challenge, well done! Were you via your Garmin watch connected to zwift or via a footpod or even the treadmill? Make so much difference in my experience….
What go pro please
Very nice. Like to join once. But i don't have a zwift. Too bad i think.
For some reason, any given pace feels faster and more difficult on the treadmill. At the same time, the treadmill always results in a lower heart rate for the same pace.
Urban running is a skill of itself. Sadly you do need to be quite abrupt with pedestrians for them to create enough space for you to maintain your speed. Traffic lights though are something you can't do anything about!
Maybe don't run in cities.
@@Ligerpride I don't have to anymore but it was fun when it was the only option!
Would love to see you in real life in Charleston, South Carolina USA for the Cooper River Bridge Run 10K
Fantastic good Anna. If the real life run where a video game, you would get points for giving phone zombies water, or a health snack. And an extra life when they toss their phone and run with you.
Well done. IRL looks more fun
Even with 2 percent incline I find treadmill still easier than real life. Maybe 3 percent would be closer. Of course it must depend on the treadmill used. Anyway I enjoy doing my harder repeats on the mill!
Here’s the main thing to take away from the video, apparently people in the uk understand that bike lanes are for bikes and they aren’t assclowns about either running in the bike lane or wanting runners to use it.
It would be A-mazing if any Running Channel guys/gals came to the Pendle parkrun! It’s 97m total elevation because we live in the hills. Maybe Andy could try for a PB 😂🥵
I can't understand how u could run almost the same time IRL when u had to stop and wait for crossings, slow down to a crawl coz of crowds etc... Were u even trying on the treadmill??
Good challenge Anna
Thanks 😊zwift is better hand down. 😊
That was cool, was the treadmill flat too, or on an incline ? Im shocked to that the time difference wasn't that much different than one would think. if you only could do treadmill, what do you think you would miss the most from running outside ? ( never know with the world we are living in now, we might have to never come out of our homes =) )
Hi Annie, Zwift lets you know the elevation you would be running outside so that you can match the run exactly. Do you have a favourite workout on the treadmill? Do you use the incline function?
@@runningchannel Thanks for answering my question. No I dont particularly have a "favourite workout on the treadmill", I try to mix it up by doing speed work, or timed sessions, or 1 min fast, 1 min slow, it helps with the time to fly by.
No wind or temp on treadmills
ive always been a 5k treadmill runner but after completing my 3rd parkrun today im averaging 3-4 minutes quicker doing a parkrun
Good run!
It could be fun to run with you guys
It would be cool if the traffic lights changed quicker if you pressed the button more.
I prefer running outdoors, but traffic lights and pedestrians can really ruin the flow for me.
Hmmm...interesting :)
Is there anyone else who when Anna said she was tribute went, "I volunteer"? No? Just me then. 😀
Treadmill always feels easier for some reason!
this is beause the speed of the TM is the belt speed and not your own! Running 12kmh IRL is more or less 12.8kmh on the treadmill. You can check and use a footpod like Stryd or any other the watch your running speed and you will notice it does not match on TM ;)
Probably the only route that makes any sense... all the few rest are rubbish...
Rouvy will take over with augmented reality. You can film and create route yourself way, way beyond zwift
I want to run with you!!! Is it too late?
Unfortunately it is, but we should have more community activities coming up soon!
I would rather be slapped in the face repeatedly with an oven ready Chicken than run on a Dreadmill...entertaining watch though
🤣 😂
Thar will be great
My road 5km is faster than my treadmill time, think it’s cause l can’t accurate at will and need to hit the controls.
Hi I have been watching you guys for a while now and I think you are great. I would love to have a run with you Anna or Sarah because if I raced with the guys I would turn it into a race as I am so competitive. I have entered a few 10k and half marathons with my 25 year old son and I beat him all the time. I am 57 so not doing to bad. Keep the videos coming as sometimes when you dont feel like running watching one of your videos puts me in the mood for a run so thank you.
😬😬
The whole purpose of this video is to advertise Swift.
Phone Zombies 😂
I detest phone zombies! Sometimes I get so annoyed by them, I yell into their face; WAKE UP! They are usually scared out of their wits when I do that xD
Treadmill is faster for me by a lot
this is beause the speed of the TM is the belt speed and not your own! Running 12kmh IRL is more or less 12.8kmh on the treadmill. You can check and use a footpod like Stryd or any other the watch your running speed and you will notice it does not match on TM ;)
@@ludovicjost4911 i dont agree, if belt calibrated accurately then the speed is accurate, they do have world records for all distances on treadmills and as far as im aware none are faster than track or road
@@jensmith3719 You are completely right... IF... the belt is calibrated... Which most of the time, nobody does. It's mainly use it how it is. And even worse for those not having their own but going to the gym and using one there. Plus calibration is meant for user to user, as the weight of the user impacts the speed belt, depending the resistance applied to the belt each stride. That's why it's easier to use simply a foot pod telling your own exact speed independently to the machine you are on :)
I have a new term "Phone Zombies", I dislike them very much!
Treadmill running is "easier" than road running but there's no way I could run a faster time on a treadmill than the roads.
I’ve never understood how people can say that treadmill running is easier than road running but also say that they can’t run a comparable pace on a treadmill. That’s literally the definition of harder.
@@willdallas53 if you ran like you would on a road you'd probably end up falling off the treadmill.
@@Ligerpride why ??