I was watching the Biggest loser last night and Jillian talked about how bad it was to hang on to the treadmill. I have a problem with becoming unsteady if I don't hang on with at least one hand. I'm also doing the CT5K and now jogging a bit. I'm trying more and more to NOT hang on but I'm so afraid I'm going to fall. Has anyone else had this problem? Does it get better?

That's fine, I get unbalanced sometimes too. I believe what she means is those people that ramp the incline and speed up too high and would fall off if they let go (lots of people at the gym do this)

It usually does get better. If you need stability touching the rail lightly with one or two fingers should be enough. If you are gripping for dear life, you might be going faster than you should be. Make sure you arent supporting any weight with your hand and you'll be ok.

The absolute WORST is the people who lock their elbows on the stair climber...you might as well just get off then and march in place.

I've read several articles that said you burn 20 to 25% more calories if you let go.

I used to hold on and felt unsteady if I let go, but after some practice it became easy. Now I only hold on if I'm getting winded, and quickly notice how much easier it is when holding on . Let go

Pet peeve of mine - when the heart rate sensors are only on the stationary handles of an elliptical and not the moving arms. Since I don't have a heart rate monitor of my own yet, it forces me to hang on! I do it very lightly though and make sure not to put any weight in my hands.

Thanks everyone! I think I need to slow up a bit when I'm jogging and make a bigger effort to stop this. Wish me luck!!!

While we are on the subject of heart rate monitors...we are, aren't we..lol
How can you tell what your heart rate should be at peak output?

I just go by how huffy and puffy my breathing is, or how I can talk.

I've read somewhere that its okay to hang on as long as you feel that you are 'moving' that treadmill instead of it moving you.

When I first started doing incline work, I held on for a little bit until i got more sure footed. My trainer told me not to hold on unless I had to. it's much harder work to not hold on and make your legs do the work.

p.s. the balancing gets better with more practice. I used to run/job and my legs were all over the place and I would accidently step on the side where it's not moving and almost fall off and now I have no issues!

generally if you have to hold on to the treadmill then you're either going too fast or the incline is up too high for what you can handle. slow down/lower the incline until you get to the point to where you feel comfortable holding on. increase it a little every few days to see if/when you can start handling more speed/incline without holding on. in the end you'll burn more real calories by going slower and NOT holding on than by going faster and holding on. the calorie readout on the treadmill will tell you differently though because the treadmill has no idea whether you're holding on or not.

the best fitness piece of equipment to ever invest in is a heart rate monitor. it's that piece of equipment that will tell you if you are working out hard enough or if your workout is just fluff. starting out you might want to go by the recommended HR charts to find out where you should be minimally.
i actually just posted this to someone on another board who was getting worried because she was was working out above the "fat burning zone" and was worried she wasn't burning fat if she worked out in the anaerobic zone.

also-
as for the calorie count on cardio machines...
those are generally estimates and the most accurate calorie readout will come from your heart rate monitor. most cardio machines have a computer that uses a standardized formula to compute calorie burn. the margin of error on cardio machines generally vary by 10-20%. The best and most accurate calorie read will come from your heart rate monitor.

I just wanted to chime in & say I've fallen on the treadmill - it's not so bad. Just don't hang on if you fall - that makes it worse (skin, moving parts).

You will get my steady & more sure of yourself.