Many runners rhapsodize about sugar and claim their success is due to fueling with sugar. This praise of sugar can leave people with a mistaken impression that all their workouts require sugar. But you can seriously impair your treadmill workout if you consume too much sugar, even if you use a top-of-the-line treadmill.
Can Cause Energy Drops Mid-Workout
Loading up with sugar prior to a workout will lead to a short burst of energy at the start of your workout. But what goes up must come down, and you do not want to have your energy crash mid-treadmill workout.
If you are looking for a more sustained energy boost, skip the simple sugars like cookies, sports drinks, and fast carbs like white bread and pasta. Instead, eat more vegetables, legumes, and whole grains for long-lasting energy during your treadmill workouts.
Leads To Weight Gain, Making Exercise Harder
The common saying “You can’t outrun your fork” definitely applies when it comes to overconsuming sugar.
For an example of this, take a 28-year-old woman who is 5’5” and weighs 135 lbs. If she eats a chocolate chip Clif Bar (a popular energy bar) before her 30-minute run, she will have consumed 250 calories. If all she does is maintain a pace of 5 MPH on her treadmill for the duration of her run, she will barely burn around 259 calories.
Now, that may seem like a reasonably equal exchange to you. However, you need to remember that regular exercise will make you hungrier and likely cause you to eat more than you intended as sugar does not provide a full feeling. Overeating can quickly lead to weight gain, making treadmill workouts harder.
Makes You Restless While Tapering And On Rest Days
Our bodies become used to a certain amount on input, whether that be food input or exercise. It is already can be challenging to taper for a race or enjoy a rest day, but when you add in too much sugar, it can become impossible.
The inclusion of high amounts of sugar as part of your running can leave you jittery when you should be resting or tapering. It may even push you to overtrain just so you can work off the excess energy.
Potentially Cause Nausea During Run
While not everyone has this reaction, some people experience extreme nausea and vertigo when they consume too much sugar before a run. On a treadmill, you are slightly protected from road hazards, but you do not want to lose your balance or vomit mid-workout.
When you do have sugar in your system and go to exercise on your treadmill, make sure you take time to warm-up properly. The warm-up time can help you gauge whether or no you will have an adverse reaction to the sugar in your system. Also, you may want to look for an affordable treadmill with a wide running belt. That way, you have more room to work with if you need it.
Impair Mental State While On Treadmill
Instead of enjoying your hard-earned runner’s high, you may have to fight through a mood crash if you have too much sugar before your treadmill workout. Sugar can alter our mental state when we are not working out, so it can be a bad idea to mix sugar with the other hormones released while running.
So, the next time you are tempted to carb-load before a long treadmill run or to chow down on a cookie before your workout, remember these ways sugar can seriously affect your workout.