If you have your treadmill in an upstairs apartment or if you don’t want to disturb your family members or neighbors while working out on the treadmill, you must do three things: Buy a quiet treadmill for an apartment, seek thick treadmill mats or isolation pads, and run as quietly as possible.
Quiet running (also known as soft or low-impact running) is gentler, more efficient, and reduces the risk of injury. It can also significantly lower the amount of noise a treadmill generates when your feet strike it, making it the ideal running style for apartment treadmill training.
It’s exactly how it sounds when you’re silently running on a treadmill. So all you have to do now is focus on making less noise every time your feet come into contact with the surface.
In this post, we’ll give you some simple tips on how to reduce treadmill noise in an apartment so that you may enjoy your workout without bothering those around you!
Let’s look at how to run quietly on a treadmill and the advantages of doing so.
Table of Contents
How To Run Quietly On A Treadmill?
Quiet running requires no formal training. All you have to do now is get out and try it. First, focus on the sound your feet produce when they touch the surface on your next run. Now attempt to make this sound a little softer. That’s all.
When you attempt to run more quietly, the following should occur:
- The impact with the ground should be softer than usual
- Your feet should land beneath you, not ahead of you
- Your strides will be shorter
You should gradually improve your running form if you want to get the best results.
A slower transition from one method to another can help you avoid injury because it will allow your body more time to adjust to the changes.
The following 7 easy tips will help you run more quietly and softly:
Adjusting Your Strides
The first step in learning how to run quietly on a treadmill involves adjusting your stride. Changing your running foot strike takes time, especially if you’re a long-term runner, so train and transition slowly to avoid hurting yourself. Try to use shorter strides. If your strides are shorter, then you’ll be taking more steps per minute.
Short strides require runners to pull their feet underneath them rather than out in front (which eliminates the risk of overstriding)—this aids in knee alignment. A faster cadence (stride) results in less time on the ground, less load, and less pain.
If you’re having trouble, try running on an uphill incline to practice. Running uphill will naturally shorten your strides because your foot hits the ground sooner and allows you to practice smooth landings.
Focus on Running Quietly
Listen to the sound your feet make when landing on the treadmill. Now try to run more quietly. Concentrate on running quietly, and don’t overthink any other adjustments; they’ll come automatically. When you try to minimize the sound of your feet striking the belt, you will automatically reduce the impact and land with a different part of your foot.
Run Without Headphones
Your music may easily drown out the sound of your feet pounding on the pavement, even when you think you’re running softly in most cases. Mirabella suggests turning down your earphones for a few minutes to see what your feet sound like. When you’re working on your low-impact running technique, it’s ideal to run without headphones or at least with a soothing background.
Keep Knees Beneath Hips
The most important thing to remember when running quietly on a treadmill is to maintain good running form. When you run, the position of your knees is critical.
Maintaining good running form and ensuring that your knees land beneath your hips will lessen the energy of contact and eliminate any jolts on your knees from your feet striking the ground.
Keep your heel high and barely touch the ground for the best energy transmission and the least amount of impact shock. In addition, your knees will not jolt as your feet strike the bottom if you are appropriately positioned.
Using Your Core And Hips
When you run, the energy should come from your core. Maintaining your center of gravity by using your core and hips is beneficial. Although it is commonly believed that the calf muscles are the primary focus of running, this is not the case. Concentrate on activating your core and hips instead of engaging your calf muscles.
Using your core strength enhances your balance and allows your hips and lower back to work more effectively together.
Keep Relax Your Shoulders & Upper Body
Running with the appropriate shoulder alignment might be tough. Your shoulders should not be held high and tight; instead, they should be relaxed and low.
Throughout each run, keep an eye on your shoulder alignment to make sure they don’t start to become elevated and tight. Tight shoulders will have an effect on a runner’s center of gravity.
When the shoulders are tense, attempt to relax the shoulders as much as possible. Putting your attention on strengthening your core and calming your hands can also be beneficial.
Add Brief Barefoot Runs to Your Training Plan
Add brief barefoot runs on the treadmill to your training plan to practice running softly. Remove yourself from the comfort of your favorite running shoe for five minutes twice a week and concentrate on your technique. Your foot will naturally choose a mid-foot strike over the heel strike that so many runners do.
How to Reduce Treadmill Noise in An Apartment?
Let’s look at several ways to reduce treadmill noise in an apartment-
Place Treadmill on a Flat Surface
Place your treadmill on a flat surface and ensure that all sides are even. When used, it will shake if it leans to one side even slightly. It should go without saying that any shaking will result in noise.
Use a Mat
When one thing hits another, it makes an impact noise that can be heard throughout a building. While you are running on the treadmill, you are producing exactly that sound: the impact noise.
The best way to get rid of impact noise has always been to absorb it. This means that you should think about putting something down that is soft enough to stop the noise from vibrating and growing, but hard enough for you to run on safely.
These treadmill mats composed of dense materials that can absorb the stomping of your feet are the best thing you can utilize. Additionally, these mats will provide stability of the treadmill and help extend the life of your treadmill.
Apply Treadmill Lubricant
Lubricating a treadmill belt can dramatically extend the life of your treadmill. Additionally, it can assist in operating your treadmill belt at peak performance. Too much friction might cause the belt to catch and generate treadmill belt noise.
Apply treadmill lubricant as per instructions in your treadmill’s owner’s manual and maintain a low level of belt friction for optimum performance and motor protection.
Remove Worn Out Bearings
When pulleys become loose, they can generate a screeching sound, whereas loose bearings make a grinding sound. You’ll need to repair the bearings if they’re worn out or broken.
Relocate the Treadmill
Relocating the treadmill is another strategy for reducing the amount of disruption caused to those around you. Put the treadmill as far away from the bedroom and living room of your neighbors as possible. Relocating your treadmill in the middle of room will minimize the echo from the walls.
Walk or Run on a Incline
Walk or run on a incline makes less noise. Additionally, you can get numerous benefits of incline treadmill walking including leg muscle strengthen, loss weight etc.
Benefits of Running Quietly On A Treadmill
Running is a high-impact activity that puts a lot of strain on your joints, muscles, and bones.
Running injuries are common and are frequently the result of excessive stress. This high level of stress is caused by the forceful impact with the ground that occurs with each stride. Running quietly can help reduce this and more:
Decrease overall impact: Running quietly on a treadmill to lessen noise will also soften the impact. A softer landing means you’re putting less pressure on your joints with each step. So running quieter is better for the joints.
Strengthens Foot Muscles: Soft running allows you to use little flexors in your feet that you would not normally use. This increases the effectiveness of the muscles in the foot and contributes to the improvement of each stride.
More efficient: Softly running is not faster, but it is more efficient. This implies that the overall effort required to run is reduced. Running with a softer touch feels more natural and allows you to use oxygen more efficiently.
Reduce the chance of injury: According to a J Sports Sci study, when people run softly, their running style shifts from rearfoot (heel) strike to mid or forefoot strike. This strike variation can assist lower overall loading and, more specifically, loading on the hip and knee.
Learning how to run softly and quietly on a treadmill helps to lessen impact when running. This minimizes the amount of stress you exert on your body, lowering your risk of stress-related injuries.
Final Words
Your running form is critical whether you are running quietly or not. Running with proper form is less exhausting and more pleasurable.
Ensure that your posture is upright and that your center of gravity is aligned throughout your body, from the crown of the head through your shoulders and hips, all the way to your feet. Running silently should feel natural and effortless.
As you can see, running silently has numerous advantages. It is kinder on the body, lessens the risk of injury, and requires less work overall.
It is advised not to instantly transition to always running quietly because your foot strike will most likely change due to the quieter running.
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