If you’re doing THIS on a treadmill, you’re cheating yourself

Getting on the treadmill is one of the best ways to get cardio into our daily lives. It’s a machine. It’s easy to use, convenient, and most gyms have them. But there’s a crucial mistake that many people make when using them. And it’s costing them A LOT of calories.

The worst part? Most people in the gym are doing it.

What is it?

It’s holding the handrails.

That little mistake can cost you literally HUNDREDS of calories if you're not careful.

How do we know this? Well first, you can tell unscientifically just based upon when you decide to hold it. Do you feel more inclined to hold the handrails when you’re feeling fresh or when you’re tired? For most, it’s the latter. So just anecdotally, you can tell it’s much easier when you’re holding the bar. You’re body loves it when things are easier because it means it doesn’t have to use as much energy. But, with less energy comes less calorie burn.

In addition to the first-person evidence, there are also several studies that support small calorie burn. While there aren’t a lot of studies on this topic related to relatively healthy individuals, and the studies we do have are with very low sample sizes, they do provide some study-backed evidence of reduced energy expenditure when you hold the handrail.

One study in the Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation found that when 15 stroke survivors held the handrail on a treadmill, there was about a 12% decrease in energy expenditure. [1]

Another from International Journal of Exercise Science in 2014 found that when 13 healthy people were tested, holding the handrails at an incline and leaning back (which most people do at an incline) significantly reduced energy expenditure. [2] It appeared from this study that the reduction in calories was roughly 30% (from 8.83 to 6.02 calories per minute). It’s important to remember that the sample size is low, however, and there is a significant margin of error.

Those are just a couple of studies, but overall they generally support the conclusion that holding the handrails is going to reduce your calorie expenditure. 

If we're conservative and say you're going to burn 15-20% less calories, and you burn 300 calories in a workout session, that can easily lead to 45-60 less calories every time you run. This may not sound like much, but over the course of a month, it can add up to an extra 1/3rd to 1/2 pound of fat!

So, what do you do?

Simple: Don’t hold onto the handrails as much as possible. You’ll work harder and probably burn more calories!

*Nothing in this article should be taken as medical advice. All information is purely for educational purposes. You should consult with a doctor before implementing anything within this article.

[1] IJmker, T., Lamoth, C.J., Houdijk, H. et al. Effects of handrail hold and light touch on energetics, step parameters, and neuromuscular activity during walking after stroke. J NeuroEngineering Rehabil 12, 70 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12984-015-0051-3

[2] Hofmann, Cory; Dougherty, Connor; Abkarian, Hagop; Fox, Michele; and Juris, Paul (2014) "The Reduction of Metabolic Cost While Using Handrail Support During Inclined Treadmill Walking is Dependent on the Handrail-use Instruction," International Journal of Exercise Science: Vol. 7 : Iss. 4.