{"id":45578,"date":"2015-11-18T07:15:09","date_gmt":"2015-11-18T12:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=45578"},"modified":"2021-05-13T11:13:21","modified_gmt":"2021-05-13T15:13:21","slug":"treadmills-fear-phobia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/fitness\/treadmills-fear-phobia\/","title":{"rendered":"True Life: I\u2019m Terrified of Treadmills"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"True
Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some people hate heights. Others hate snakes or spiders. For me, it\u2019s the treadmill that gets my heart racing and puts knots in my stomach.<\/p>\n

It started about four years ago when I enthusiastically pressed the speed buttons on a treadmill at my college\u2019s gym \u2014 only have my machine roar to life way faster than expected. Frantically trying not to face plant, my pumping arms knocked my phone off the console and my headphones, wrapped around my tank top, yanked the straps violently to the side. After that near-wardrobe malfunction, let\u2019s just say I have some serious trust issues with treadmills.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> Is My Workout Too Easy? Here\u2019s How to Tell<\/a><\/p>\n

Running on a \u2018mill is an effective workout for sure \u2014 but I\u2019ve always been terrified that my klutzy ways will lead to a humiliating and painful wipeout. And beyond the awkwardness, falling off the machine could be dangerous, too. Treadmill-related accidents are fairly common. In 2013, approximately 24,000 people visited emergency rooms<\/a> with injuries sustained from treadmills. Plus, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 30 (30!!) people have reportedly died from treadmill-related accidents in the past 10 years.<\/p>\n

But should the random tragedies of an arguably small fraction of gym-goers (or my own lone snafu) really validate my personal ban on the treadmill? I didn\u2019t want to avoid treadmills forever. Winter is coming and soon I\u2019ll have no choice but to move my running workouts indoors. My solution: Figure out how to mend the relationship before it was beyond repair.<\/p>\n

Me vs. the Treadmill <\/strong><\/h3>\n

I knew treadmills and I couldn\u2019t just kiss and make up \u2014 we needed some professional help. That\u2019s how I found myself discussing phobias with Brian Iacoviello, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.<\/p>\n

“By imagining my nightmare scenario play out, I could target my physical symptoms of anxiety.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWhen we\u2019re talking about fears or phobias, we\u2019re talking about a real, strong anxiety and fear reaction to a specific situation,\u201d said Dr. Iacoviello. Check<\/em>, I thought to myself, feeling my stomach churn at the thought of my treadmill speeding up uncontrollably. \u201cFear tells us we need to watch out for danger,\u201d he continued, noting that this is a healthy thing.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> How to Overcome Anxiety, Starting Now<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem is that with anxiety or a phobia, this response is being trigged by a stimulus that isn\u2019t really a danger to your safety or your life,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe might all feel a little bit of fear when we stand on the Empire State Building. But not all of us have a height phobia. Someone with a height phobia might not even consider going up.<\/p>\n

So maybe I didn\u2019t have a full-blown phobia, but I was definitely fearful of something that probably wasn\u2019t a legitimate danger. How could I muster the courage to get back<\/a> on the belt? Dr. Iacoviello had a few suggestions. His first piece of advice: Start using my imagination to conjure up my worst gym fears. \u201cYour body will start to feel some anxiety if you imagine it,\u201d he said. \u201cPractice being with that and tolerating that instead of avoiding it.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> 11 Simple Ways to Relieve Stress Now<\/a><\/p>\n

By imagining my nightmare scenario play out, I could target my physical symptoms of anxiety when I did eventually get on the machine, said Dr. Iacoviello. When people feel anxious, they also typically experience muscle tension in their neck, back or abdomen, he explained. \u201cBecause of that abdominal tension, we take more shallow breaths. You want to take slower and deeper breaths. That can actually serve as a signal to your body: Oh boy, we are less tense now, we are probably less anxious.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"True
Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ready to Run<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Armed with Dr. Iacoviello\u2019s advice, I was prepared to give the treadmill another chance. So one Friday morning, I hit up Barry\u2019s Bootcamp in Chelsea for a \u201cfull-body\u201d class. Basically, if a bootcamp, a treadmill and a rave had a baby, it\u2019d look something like Barry\u2019s. Low red lights, thumping beats and sweating bodies \u2014 and notoriously tough treadmill sprints<\/a> (eek) \u2014 are the hallmarks of this national fitness chain that also happens to be a celebrity favorite.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> 12 Priciest Fitness Classes (Actually Worth the Splurge)<\/a><\/p>\n

On my train ride to the studio, I started visualizing what it would feel like to sprint on a treadmill. Thump, thump, thump \u2014 <\/em>my heart was jumping around in my chest just thinking about upping the speed or incline on my machine. But instead of gripping the handrails for dear life and quick-stepping close to the console, like I usually do, my imaginary me lengthened her stride and let her feet float to the center of the belt. Inhale, exhale.<\/em> I told myself I was in control. Clanging subway doors jolted me from my fitness fantasy. It was go time.<\/p>\n

Entering the dimly lit studio, things started to get real when I walked up to my designated machine. My stomach started flip-flopping just as I expected. I breathed deeply. Gritting my teeth and staring down my reflection in the mirrors in front of me, I placed my feet on the sides of the belt, clutching the handrails and pressed START. The strap whooshed<\/em> beneath me. Feet, don\u2019t fail me now, <\/em>I thought, stepping on. After about three minutes, my hands unclenched from the handrails and I let my legs swing freely beneath me.<\/p>\n

Turns out getting started was the hardest part \u2014 after that, I hardly had the brainpower to psych myself out. As our instructor Noah guided us through sprint intervals and several hills, I settled into my stride and gave my best tough-as-nails glare to my own reflection in the mirror.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> The Surprising Way Exercise Can Help You Embrace Your Body<\/a><\/p>\n

There was no veering side-to-side, headphone tangles or phantom speed changes. The moving strip beneath me wasn\u2019t out to get me<\/em>. My fearful thoughts were my own undoing. During the cool down, as I slowed to a brisk trot, my unease crept back as my tired legs wobbled and my mind snapped back to reality. Inhale, exhale. <\/em>I grabbed a hand wipe to swab down the treadmill at the end of the workout. No wipeouts, no injuries. No deaths!<\/em> It wasn\u2019t love at first run, but I\u2019d consider a second date.<\/p>\n

Have a fitness fear you have (or hope to) overcome? Let\u2019s hear \u2018em in the comments below! <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Raise your hand if you hate treadmills. But do they actually scare you? One writer tried to conquer her fear. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,24,6],"tags":[288,108,341,343],"class_list":["post-45578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cardio","category-exercise","category-fitness","tag-cardio","tag-running","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2exercise"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45578\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}