Running on a treadmill causes more injuries than any other gym activity, survey finds

This is why you should *always* warm up

People in gym on treadmills
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You don't need us to tell you that gyms can be perilous places. The abundance of heavy weights, complex machinery and long cables are a potential health and safety nightmare - especially when not used vigilantly or tidied away properly.

But you may be surprised to hear that the most dangerous piece of equipment you can come across in the gym is actually one of the most commonly used... We're talking about the treadmill.

According to a data from the US National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, analysed by, jogging, sprinting or walking on a treadmill accounts for more than one in three gym-related hospital trips - 35.6%, to be precise.

Having said that, the majority of injuries involved shin splints, stress fractures and runner's knee, most of which can be attributed to external factors such as not warming up properly or pushing too hard.

Off the treadmill, general exercise (without equipment) accounted for one in four injuries, (25%) while exercise using machines and the use of stationary bikes resulted in 11% and 9.8% of hospital visits respectively.

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The moral of the story? Always spend at least 10 minutes warming up before exercising, and always ask for help if you're not sure how to use a certain piece of equipment. Commenting on these latest findings, NetDoctor's resident fitness exert, Laura Williams, said:

"It's unsurprising the treadmill causes so many hospital trips! It's often the first-port-of-call when it comes to cardiovascular machines for a heavy HIIT session but it's still a high impact exercise which, if gone at full pelt, either without a warm up or insufficient lower limb strength, has the potential to cause some really disruptive injuries. And if you're going all-out, as is the case with high intensity intervals, falling off the back of the belt is always a possibility (that's why it's so important to clip on the red 'emergency stop' toggle). While road-running has its perils, you can't fall off in quite the same way."

Before hitting the treadmill, Laura recommends the following warm-up…

"Dynamic stretches are a good idea before hitting the treadmill as is regular strength work - just including some simple body weight moves like squats, lunges and calf raises in your routine will help to strengthen lower body, giving your muscles the best chance to function correctly and remain injury-free."

Adding to this was Matthew Pierson, running expert and gait analyst at, who says that regular outdoor runners may be more ask risk when it comes to hitting the treadmill. He told NetDoctor:

"Running on a treadmill is not like running outside, on a treadmill you train your body to run upwards where outside you train your body to run forwards which uses more and different muscles. It is important to make sure if you run outside a lot, and then take cover from the bad weather to run on a treadmill that you take it easy and warm yourself up in to it first, I would also have the treadmill on a 1% incline so it relates to being more outside."

For more information, visit our fitness collection.

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