Can Treadmills Have Different Speeds?

Question: I have the impression that I run faster on my home treadmill than on the treadmill at the gym. Can treadmills have different speeds?

Answer: It is possible your treadmill’s speed is not calibrated correctly. In this case, the treadmill stats may be off. The first thing you should do is calibrate the treadmill.

If you are at the gym, you can use a timer to measure total time and record the distance from the treadmill console. With a simple math formula you can find out how fast you ran.

Ex: If I run 3 miles in 15 minutes, how many miles do I run in 60 minutes?

If you have a home treadmill, you can try another trick to confirm if your treadmill speed is accurate.

You can put a mark on the belt. Then measure the entire length of the belt. Start the treadmill, let it run at 3mph and count 50 turns. Keep track of the time passed and make the calculations for the speed based on the distance/time you note down. The math is the same as the formula above.

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