Is treadmilling considered a cardio exercise? Do you have to wear running shoes on a treadmill?

1) Is treadmilling considered a cardio exercise, good for weight-loss from head to toe? Or does is just build leg muscle





2) Do you have to wear running shoes on a treadmill? Or are running with bare feet/shoes better for your posture?

Is treadmilling considered a cardio exercise? Do you have to wear running shoes on a treadmill?
I've rarely used a treadmill, preferring to go outside when I have to exercise, but I'd think that walking or running on a treadmill will help your general condition, just like walking or running outdoors would.





And it's much better for your feet to exercise barefoot! 'Support' is deceptive and can even be the CAUSE of injuries. Because you lack feedback from the ground you may keep going past your limit, causing stress injuries, and because the sole increases the lever angle you're increasing the risk of ankle injury.





From Steven E. Robbins and Adel M. Hanna. "Running-related injury prevention through barefoot adaptations," Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 19(2), 1987, pp. 148-156.





A number of reports indicate an extremely low running-related injury frequency in barefoot populations in contrast to reports about shod populations.


[...]


To explain this paradox, the authors hypothesized that there exist adaptations associated with barefoot activity that provide impact absorption and protection against running-related injuries. An adaptation involving foot arch deflection on loading is hypothesized to be an important adaptation providing impact absorption. In contrast, it is hypothesized that the known rigidity of the shod foot may explain the reported high injury frequency in North American runners.


...


The modern running shoe and footwear in general have successfully diminished sensory feedback without diminishing the injury inducing impact, a dangerous situation.





And Steven E. Robbins and Gerard J. Gouw. "Athletic Footwear and Chronic Overloading," Sports Medicine, 9(2), 1990, pp. 76-85.





Some authors have concluded that chronic overloading with locomotion is inevitable in modern man because of inherent lower extremity fragility. Accordingly, footwear, such as running shoes, which attempt to attenuate shock waves through interposition of yielding layers between the plantar surface and ground, are presumed essential for safe running, and are also promoted for use during walking. However, this supposition seems inconsistent with reports indicating that habitually unshod humans are not subject to chronic overloading during running. By taking this into account, the lower extremity must be inherently durable, and chronic overloading must be a consequence of wearing footwear, and probably due to increased shock with their use.


[...]


The lower extremity is inherently durable, and, when unencumbered by footwear, it can endure running without signs of chronic overloading, because a vigilant system restrains shock. The use of modern athletic footwear, in addition to being inferior to older footwear in moderating shock during running, renders the lower extremity susceptible to injury because of design flaws introduced by the preoccupation with optimization of plantar comfort.


...


The obvious solution to the problem of chronic overloading in shod runners is to promote barefoot running.





And Steven E. Robbins, Adel M. Hanna, and Gerard J. Gouw. "Overload protection: avoidance response to heavy plantar surface loading," Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 20(1), 1988, pp. 85-92.





...the paradoxical low incidence of similar injuries reported in barefoot populations implies that modern footwear may produce injuries that normally would not be present without their use.





Also a survey among barefoot rikshaw coolies, who run barefoot on pavement all day long, showed none of these stress injuries, after the first period of adjustment:


"One hundred and eighteen of those interviewed were rickshaw coolies. Because these men spend very long hours each day on cobblestone or other hard roads pulling their passengers at a run it was of particular interest to survey them. If anything, their feet were more perfect than the others. All of them, however, gave a history of much pain and swelling of the foot and ankle during the first few days of work as a rickshaw puller. But after either a rest of two days or a week's more work on their feet, the pain and swelling passed away and never returned again. There is no occupation more strenuous for the feet than trotting a rickshaw on hard pavement for many hours each day yet these men do it without pain or pathology."





More in the source!
Reply:Answers to your questions as below:





1. Yes, treadmill is a cardio exercise. It works your heart %26amp; lungs (keeping them fit %26amp; strong) plus it also kickstarts your metabolism higher, to burn off excess fat from your entire body, to lose weight.





It doesn't build leg muscles. You build leg muscles when you do leg strengthening/toning exercise.





2.Yes, you've to wear running shoes while doing exercis on a treadmill. Barefoot is a no, no thing because you'll injure your soles and toes. Wearing shoes cushion well the impact of the exercise on your legs, feet, ankle and soles and it also gives you good support.





This article on treamill exercise may shed further light for you: http://www.perfect-body-toning.com/tread...
Reply:1) id say that the treadmill is more of a leg excercise....i dont see how you would work your torso, and upper body, and arms on it..but im not sure..





2)i think it would be okay to wear running shoes on a treadmill. if you want to..its probably even better for you, and gives your legs a deeper workout picking up your feet harder. i didnt know bare feet/shoes was better for posture..thanx for that =]





..hope i helped.
Reply:it is really up to you
Reply:The treadmill is considered to be for cardio. Your legs will do most of the work so that's where you will see the results, though this is likely to be toning rather than bulk and should assist with weight loss generally.





I always run barefoot on the treadmill and find it be much more beneficial than wearing shoes and better for posture. Be sensible and build up slowly and you should be fine. You will find your calves get a much better work out as you should find you are not forced to heal strike when you are barefoot. Also as the treadmill can be a little course and become warm, avoid blisters by allowing your feet to become stronger before pushing the distances. For barefoot running techniques I would recommend the following website.
Reply:While it builds leg muscles it also strips far from other regions of the body depending on intensity.





Running barefoot is not advisable as it leads to blisters on your soles and can be hard on the ankles. Shoes are better.
Reply:Tread mill is cardio and will be benificial for you whole body but your legs will get the majority of the muscle conditioning.





Barefoot is actually better for you for many reasons however, if you from a western type culture and have been shod your whole life you probably have a bit of atrophy due to all the support that shoes have provided. If you begin a barefoot regiment, you have to condition the muscles in your feet and legs that your shoes have caused you to ignore. Like any muscle work out, you'll experience soreness at first so start slow and condition the muscles a little at a time.



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