Treadmill

Kinetic activities performed on a Treadmill has many benefits for the patient with soft tissue injuries. The performance of kinetic activities on a Treadmill has a marked effect on muscle tone, endurance and aerobic potential. Kinetic activities performed on a cushioned treatmill decreases the pounding of the spine and lower extremity joints resulting from heel strike shock removing many of the compressive loads. This results in good physical activity. Exercise on a Treadmill builds tremendous conditioning with strong use of the arms and legs increasing cardiac output without the pounding of running. Running on a Treadmill produces good leg strength and good hip extensor strength. The patient's proprioception and neuromuscular coordination is also increased as a result on the relationship of the upper and lower extremities in the performance of the exercise motion on the Treadmill. The greater the muscle tone, endurance and aerobic potential of the patient, the less likely they will sustain injury especially to the lumbar spine. The aerobic conditioning is an important part of every spine rehabilitation program.