The television on my treadmill….what a great idea, but is it good for me? Check out Jen’s answer!
Posted 12/21/2011
I recently joined a new gym to begin my training for the Lincoln ½ marathon coming up in May. I definitely prefer to run outside, however the snow, ice, and freezing cold temperatures keep me confined to the gym in the winter months. O the joys of living in Nebraska, however the Husker football easily off-sets the weather!
A recent trend in exercise equipment in almost every gym is to have a television screen mounted directly to the piece of equipment (see picture below). Most people love this new feature because they can choose what they want to watch and directly plug their headphones into the treadmill and listen to the television program. As much as I enjoy watching television, I would prefer to run on a treadmill, elliptical or stair stepper without a screen 12 inches in front of my face because I feel better physically….this however is not an option at my gym (every piece of equipment has a television screen).
So, why am I concerned about working out with a television screen directly on the machine?
1) Staring at a television screen 12 inches in front of you causes your body to extend (your back to arch backwards). This results in compensatory activity of mechanics involving your trunk, hips, knees, etc. leading to possible injuries throughout your body.
2) Being locked into a visual stimulus this close and straight ahead of you results in focal vision, and eliminates your peripheral vision. Focal vision is your narrow, straight ahead vision (think of tunnel vision). Peripheral vision, which is the awareness of what is around you to your left and right helps to facilitate flexion of your body 
, whereas focal vision is associated with increased extension tone. Ideally I love for my patients to look around when they run (you should be aware of your surroundings, both to the left and right, rather than staring at the ground or something directly ahead of you).
3) Visual and audio stimulation can increase sympathetic activity of the central nervous system which also leads to increased extension tone.
So, I challenge you to avoid watching a television program next time you are working out. Your back, knees, hips, etc. may thank you! Maybe have it on, but only occasionally glance at it. Or glance at televisions around the area that are not so close to you. Try to look around the room or the gym. I find it enjoyable to look around the gym and analyze individual’s posture and mechanics, therefore taking my eyes of the television is not too difficult for me!
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Posted December 21, 2011 at 9:47am by Jennifer Gloystein.
Tagged With: biomechanics, compensatory activity, focal vision, peripheral vision, Running • 2 Comments
