If you ever wondered about the differences and risks between running outdoors vs on a treadmill, a study from researchers at UConn answers just that. Participants ran both on the treadmill and outdoors while wearing ankle and chest sensors to track their step rate and tibial acceleration. Details of the study were published in the Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy.
The researchers found that while step rates were similar in both settings, when the runners were outdoors, there was a trend toward an increasing step rate as the run went on. This is good as an increased step rate reduces the force of each step, better protecting the runner from injury.
Another significant difference is that peak tibial acceleration was greater outdoors than on the treadmill.