Pushing a weighted sled is an excellent training tool and has many athletic performance benefits. The caveat… it requires a lot of open space and an appropriate surface. Not every facility has space or even the surface to accommodate a weighted sled. That’s why Tuff Tread has integrated a Sled Push feature into their performance treadmills. The treadmill sled push has many of the same benefits as traditional sled pushing. One of the advantages of treadmill sled pushing is being able to manipulate the incline to vary your training. The lower the incline, the greater and more constant the resistance. With more incline, resistance is highest at the beginning of the push and then decreases quickly as speed and momentum are gained. Treadmill sled pushing is an excellent way to change your treadmill regimen from more traditional aerobic treadmill work to an anaerobic emphasis.
Tuff Tread’s integrated sled push feature gives your treadmill more training versatility. Take a look at some of the benefits of treadmill sled pushing:
- Boost your fitness and get a Full Body Workout
- Improve your Strength and Power
- Improve explosive acceleration
- Enhance your running mechanics
- Decrease your Body Fat
Treadmill sled pushing also activates key muscle groups. It is a total body exercise that involves muscles from the lower body, core, and upper body. Muscle Groups used to sled push include the core, glutes, quads, hams, calves, shoulders, triceps. and chest.
To get started, select the sled push program and elevate your Tuff Tread treadmill to 15-20 %. Grasp the front bar or rail with arms shoulder-width apart. Keep your arms stiff with the elbows slightly bent. Lean forward and keep the spine straight and the core rigid. Start the push by forcefully extending the legs and hips to get the belt moving. Accelerate Your Leg Drive as you gain momentum and as the belt begins to move faster.
In getting started with sled pushing workouts on the treadmill, workloads should be matched to the individual’s fitness level. Here is a workout example: Do an 8-10 second push with maximal effort, then rest for 60-120 seconds before doing the next push. Perform 6-8 pushes. Progress workouts gradually and vary workouts by changing the number of reps, work/rest ratio, and % incline. Also, instead of sled pushing for a set time, you can do a sled push using distance as the determinant of a completed push (rep). There are a few metrics that you can record with a workout. You can record your max speed attained on a push, the distance pushed in the allotted time, or if pushing for a set distance, the time it took to reach that distance. Give it a try, you are going to like the physical challenge and the physical rewards of treadmill sled pushing.