Outdoor runners are being invited to come in from the cold for group treadmill classes at a New York City fitness facility, which is hot on the heels of the indoor cycling, or spin, a fad.

With 30 treadmills, dusk or dawn illumination, and group training meant to sharpen the abilities of marathoners and newcomers alike, fitness experts say the Mile High Run Club (MHRC) could help burnish the image of the most used, least glamorous, club cardio machines. Debora Warner, a running coach, and group fitness instructor is the creator and program director of MHRC, which bills itself as the first treadmill studio. She compared the experience to a group spinning class, in which many people are on treadmills at the same time doing a programmed workout.

“You can be extremely particular about incline, length, and reps,” Warner, 43, explained, “and that helps runners with their pacing outside.” Treadmills aren’t a replacement for jogging, but they are an excellent training tool.” According to the 2014 Health Club Consumer Report of IHRSA, the trade association for the health club and fitness industry, the treadmill is the most popular cardio machine at the gym, with 40 percent of the nearly 60 million Americans who attended a health club in 2013 using it. Nonetheless, it is regarded as drudgery, according to Tom Holland, an exercise physiologist and running coach located in Connecticut.

“For most people, running on a treadmill is a fairly bad experience, and they don’t usually maximize their time,” said Holland, author of “The Marathon Method.” He points out that, while interval training is beneficial, steady running has its own set of benefits. “Most running instructors believe you need one or two easier workouts for every strong workout,” Holland added. Despite the fact that Warner’s studio is specialized in running, she pointed out that large gyms like Equinox provide treadmill lessons. Treadmill intervals have also been used in yoga and boot camp programs at Crunch, another nationwide brand.

She teaches foundational and advanced classes in a group setting. Both rely on high-intensity labor followed by times of rest or low activity, with five-minute warm-ups and cool-downs in between. The lessons also include 10 minutes of strength and power training, including lunges, plyometrics (jumping), and stability training, all of which are beneficial to runners.

Sources: Fox News