What Muscles Do You Work When Running on a Treadmill? Which Body Parts Get the Most Benefit?

Running on a treadmill for fitness and strength building

What muscles are we training when running on a treadmill?

Depending on the sport you practice, certain areas of the body will be called upon more than others, but what about when you’re on the treadmill? Will you tone and refine your figure on the treadmill? Below is a list of the muscles and muscle groups strengthened and sculpted with treadmill running!

Upper limbs (shoulders, arms and forearms)

The treadmill does very little to strengthen arms and shoulders.

Trunk and pelvis (Chest, stomach and back)

• Abdominals: These are made up of several layers of muscle (rectus abdominis, external oblique, internal oblique, transverse) whose function is to flex and rotate the trunk.
• Back muscles: The back groups together muscles such as the trapezius, dorsalis major, rhomboid, infraspinatus and round. These muscles play a wide variety of roles. From the dorsal to the lumbar, they ensure arm and shoulder mobility, postural support and protection of the spine.

Lower limbs (glutes, thighs and calves)

• Glutes: Located at the intersection of the lower limbs and the trunk, the gluteal muscles (gluteus maximus, gluteus medius and gluteus minimus) are among the largest and most powerful muscles in the body. In particular, they provide mobility for the thigh and support for the pelvis.
• Quadriceps: Located at the front of the thigh, the quadriceps is made up of 4 muscles (vastus femoris or rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis and vastus intermedius). These muscles facilitate flexion of the thigh over the hip, as well as extension of the leg over the thigh.
• Hamstring muscles: Located on the back of the thigh, there are four hamstring muscles (biceps femoris, semitendinosus and semitendinosus). They ensure leg flexion and thigh extension.
• Calf muscles: also known as the sural triceps, the calf muscles comprise 3 muscle fascicles, including the soleus and gastrocnemius. These muscles help extend the foot down the leg

The treadmill is an intense sport that essentially works the lower limbs, in particular the glutes, thighs (quadriceps, hamstrings) and calves. Maintaining your core during strides encourages abdominal and stomach sheathing. The arms, deltoids, biceps and lats are also worked, but to a lesser extent during arm swing movements.