Running form analysis on a treadmill

You can analyse your running form on a treadmill with a phone propped at hip height beside the belt, filming from the side. It is the easiest place to film yourself. Same light, same speed, same spot every time. The catch is that treadmill form is not quite road form, and you need to know the difference before you trust the numbers.

What treadmill form problems usually are

Treadmill runners bring their road habits with them, plus a few the machine adds.

Shorter, quicker steps. The moving belt pulls the foot back, so most people shorten the stride. This hides overstriding. A runner who reaches on the road often looks fine on the belt.
Running upright or leaning back. Without air resistance and without the ground moving away, people stand up tall and sometimes lean slightly back. The upper body lean dial reads lower lean than outdoors.
Watching the console. The head drops to read the screen and the shoulders follow. The head position dial picks this up as neck offset.
Holding the rails. This kills arm swing and changes the whole trunk. If you hold on, the clip is not worth reading.

If you also run outside, the useful question is how your treadmill clip differs from your road clip. See how to stop overstriding for what reaching looks like when it does show up.

What to film

Caden films from the side only, so a treadmill clip is just a side-view clip with the belt running across the frame.

Put the phone on a bench, a box or a tripod beside the treadmill, level with your hips. The belt should run across the frame, not toward the camera. Get the phone far enough back that your whole body fits with space above your head and below your feet. In most gyms that is 2 to 3 metres.

Set the treadmill to your normal easy pace and run for a minute before recording. Then record 10 to 20 seconds without touching the rails or the console.

Light matters. Gym lighting is often fine. Mirrors behind you are not, since the reflection can count as a second person and Caden will reject the clip.

What Caden shows you

The same output as an outdoor side view. A form score out of 100. Six dials for where your foot lands, knee bend on landing, knee bend at push-off, upper body lean, arm bend and head position. Cadence in steps per minute.

Keep treadmill clips in their own comparisons. A treadmill foot landing score of 78 and a road score of 62 are both true. They describe different conditions, so compare treadmill runs against treadmill runs and road runs against road runs.

Breakpoints give freeze frames at foot strike, midstance and toe-off with a skeleton overlay. On a treadmill the foot strike frame is easy to read because the background does not move.

The coach's tip narrates the results in plain language, one cue per dial.

A sample 4-week plan for a treadmill runner

Caden builds a 4 or 8 week plan on the Exercises tab from your lowest dials, three short sessions a week at a session length you choose. A treadmill is a good place to do the drill sessions, because you can set exact speeds. Here is a typical plan when upper body lean and head position are the lowest scores, which is common for console watchers.

Weeks 1 and 2: stand tall.

Dead bug, 3 × 8 each side.
Glute bridge, 3 × 10.
Single-leg balance, 2 × 30 seconds each side, eyes on a point at head height.
A-march, 3 × 30 seconds, on the floor beside the treadmill.
On the treadmill, cover the console with a towel and use the cue for one minute in every five.

Eyes forward, chest up.

Weeks 3 and 4: add speed changes.

A-skip, 3 × 20 metres, off the treadmill.
Quick-feet strides, 4 × 20 seconds on the belt at easy pace plus 0.5 kilometres per hour, then walk.
Step-ups, 3 × 10 each side.
Hip flexor stretch, 2 × 30 seconds each side.

Film again at the end of week 4. Same treadmill, same speed, same phone spot.

Treadmill versus outdoor form

Expect a treadmill clip to show shorter landing reach, a more upright trunk and a slightly higher cadence than the same runner on the road. So a treadmill score is usually a few points kinder. Use the treadmill for tracking week to week, and film outdoors once a month if you race outdoors. Compare like with like.

What Caden will not do for a treadmill runner

It will not correct a treadmill score to a road score. A belt clip and a road clip describe different conditions, so do not read a gap between them as progress or decline.

It cannot see pronation, foot pressure or force. A 2D side view shows landing, lean, knee bend, arms and head.

It will not tell you the cause of pain. If something hurts, a video shows you the stride and nothing more. See a clinician if it continues.

How to do it in Caden

Open Caden and tap Run a new analysis. A treadmill clip is just a side-view clip filmed beside the belt.
Prop the phone at hip height beside the belt, 2 to 3 metres away, with your whole body in frame.
Run at easy pace for a minute, then record 10 to 20 seconds without touching the rails.
On the results screen, read the Where your foot lands, Upper body lean and Head position dials.
Tap Breakpoints, then Foot strike, to see where the circled ankle lands compared with the hip.
Open the Exercises tab for the plan. Re-film in week 4 and open Before and after in Stats.

FAQ

Can I film myself on a treadmill with just a phone?

Yes. Prop it at hip height beside the belt, 2 to 3 metres away, and record 10 to 20 seconds from the side. No tripod needed if a bench or box is the right height.

Is treadmill running form different from outdoor form?

Usually a little. Most people take shorter steps and stand more upright on a belt. That can hide reaching forward. Film outdoors too if you race outdoors.

What treadmill speed should I use for the clip?

Your normal easy pace. The speed you would run a relaxed 30 minute run at. Faster speeds change the stride and make the clip less useful for comparison.

Why did Caden reject my gym clip?

Most often a mirror or another person in the frame, or the runner too small in the shot. Move the phone so only you are visible and closer so you fill more of the frame.