Going Nowhere Fast? – Using High Speed Treadmills

Being a former professional caliber sprinter for 20 years and performance trainer for over 25 years I’ve used just about every device known to man to improve speed. I’ve seen them all come, go and come back again. So whats back? High Speed Treadmills. Well kinda, with the shelter in place ordinances athletes are looking for ways to keep up their speed training. So I decided to give them another look and did some research. I had tried high speed treadmills in the past albeit 15- 20 years ago when I was competing professionally. I was not impressed and didn’t see the real world correlation between running on a motor assisted treadmill and sprinting over ground. Generally, I found that your mechanics were different (actually improper) and you didn’t produce ground forces in the same way . Today it seems thing haven’t changed much with the newer models. The pitch hasn’t changed either, Youtube videos and testimonials from trainers, athletes and parents touting their athletes improved such.. and such.. miles per hours..etc.. etc. Usually posting speeds at miles per hour they can nowhere get close to over the ground.

A recent independent study seems to suggest their ineffectiveness is still the same.  I’ve provided a link to  an article outlining the same misgivings I have against these devices and why it shouldn’t be your go to device for speed development and definitely doesn’t merit paying a premium to use these devices. It is well written and researched so I suggest you read  “The High Speed Treadmill Myth” at FowlerFitness.com. In addition there was a fairly recent scientific study: Sprint Training on a Treadmill vs. Overground Results in Modality-Specific Impact on Sprint Performance but Similar Positive Improvement in Body Composition in Young Adults published in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research (Feb 2019).

In a nutshell the study found that there was no significant improvement in “overground running” in what we do in actual sport activity, however there was improvement in “on the treadmill” sprinting. In other words its saying use a speed treadmill you will get faster at running “on the treadmill” but it won’t transfer to your running “speed on the field”.  So why bother, and why pay a premium? Sounds like using these devices after 20 years have athletes “Still Going Nowhere Fast”.

So is there a treadmill that can improve your speed? I think yes, the self propelled ones like the Trueform, Woodway, or Curve  that we use at Gamespeed. It doesn’t work on the principal of “overspeed”  but what it does is force the athlete to perform the proper frontside dominate mechanics that lead to higher running velocities and it also teaches the athletes the proper ground force application that also is present in faster runners.

I always leave the door open to new information, if more data comes along I may very well change my position, but as of today I caution athletes who may get wooed by the Youtube videos and marketing. As athletes were always looking for that edge and sometimes we may rush to use devices without truly vetting out their efficacy. Your training time is limited, maybe even your resources, be discerning on what you pay for and use, Train Smart!