While it’s tempting to hold onto the handrails as you walk on a treadmill or climb on a StairMaster, doing so will hinder your progress and degrade your posture.

Engaging your arms is a great way to increase your heart rate and improve your cardiovascular fitness. When you hold on to the handrails you’re engaging your body less (it is easier, after all) and you burn fewer calories. In fact, the “calories burned” readout on the control panel of your exercise machine assumes you are not holding on, so if it says you burned X amount of calories and you were holding on during your workout, you actually burned far less.

Beside cardiovascular progress, you are also risking injury by holding on to the handrails. These machines are not designed for the handrails to be used throughout the workout, so the ergonomics are skewed if you hold on. For example, proper walking and running posture involves holding your arms at 90 degree angles and pumping them for momentum as you groove.  If you hold on, your posture is compromised and you put your body at risk of muscle strains and poor coordination/balance.
The only people who should be holding on to handrails are individuals with medical conditions, disabilities, and balance problems, and they should be under the direction of a professional. Unless you fall into this category, you should learn to let go. Here’s how: If the machine is going too fast or the resistance is too hard for you manage without holding on, all you have to go is lower the speed or the reduce the resistance until you are at a level you can maintain sans handrails. You will get a BETTER workout at a slower pace if you are not holding on than if you were moving at a faster pace and you were holding on. You are a busy person and if you are setting aside time to exercise; doesn’t it make sense to maximize your results?

Notable exceptions to this rule are machines designed for arm movement, such as rowing machines and certain elliptical trainers. If the handrails are movable and designed to engage the upper body, you should take advantage of them because, in this case, they will create a greater challenge to your whole body and by doing so, increase your heart rate and energy expenditure.