A treadmill is an easy stationary cardio machine to use and is appropriate for almost all fitness levels. Whether you power walk, hike hills, jog or perform all-out runs, the treadmill helps you burn calories and build leg strength. In addition to working out, follow a low calorie diet to drop pounds and reach your goal weight faster. To lose a pound, you must burn 3,500 calories more than you consume.
Walk to a Run
If you have been steadily walking on the treadmill for a month or two, try amping up your workout by adding in running intervals. You know running burns more calories than walking, but you may not be ready to sustain a run for a full 30 minutes. For a 30-minute workout, warm up for about five minutes and then jog at a 5 or 6 mph pace for one minute and then walk briskly for four minutes. Repeat four times and then cool down for about five minutes. Do this workout two or three times a week until that one minute run seems manageable. In the following weeks, increase the run time and decrease the walk time, moving to two minutes of running with three minutes of walking, then three minutes of running and two minutes of walking and finally four minutes of running with one minute of walking. Eventually, you can reach a point where you sustain a run for a full 20 to 30 minutes, burning more calories in each workout and helping you lose weight. To really target fat loss, you should go even longer than 30 minutes suggests a study published in 2007 in the "Journal of Applied Physiology." Researchers found that jogging the equivalent of 20 miles per week--about 45 minutes, five days a week--resulted in greater fat loss than more modest amounts of exercise.
Hill Climbing
Walking or running hills increases the overall calorie burn of your workout. Add a 5 percent incline to 30 minutes of jogging at 6 mph to burn 415 calories instead of 344 calories if you weigh 150 lbs. For a 150-lb. walker, a 3 mph speed on an incline of 0 percent burns just 109 calories in a half hour, while hiking up a 10 percent incline burns 248 calories in the same amount of time. If hitting a sustained hill seems boring or is a little too challenging for your current level, try alternating a jog or walk at a 1 percent incline for a minute with two minutes at a high incline to complete a 30-minute workout. Your overall calorie burn will still be higher than it would be if you kept the ramp at 0 percent, but you have time to catch your breath between hills. Remember, when going up hills, do not hold onto the handrails or the console. Lorra Garrick, certified personal trainer, reported in a 2007 issue of "Vibrant Life" that holding on to the treadmill decreases overall calorie burn and takes away from the weight-bearing benefits of your workout. Pump your arms as you go up to keep your balance and encourage your legs to move faster.
High Intensity Interval Training
Runners and power walkers can benefit from high-intensity interval training in which you alternate bouts of all-out sprinting with very moderate recovery periods. On the treadmill, choose an easy speed, jogging or walking, for a minute, and then sprint at an 8 mph or higher speed for one minute. Continue this format for 30 minutes to burn more calories and fat, suggests a study published in 2008 in the "International Journal of Obesity." In this study, Australian researchers found that high intensity interval training performed three times per week caused greater reductions in total body fat after 15 weeks than steady-state training.
References
- "Women's Health Magazine"; Running Tips; Dimity McDowell; September 2009
- "Journal of Applied Physiology"; Exercise, Inactivity and Visceral Fat; Chris A. Slentz, et al; July 7, 2005
- "Vibrant Life"; Treadmill Secrets; Lorra Garrick; September/October 2007
- "International Journal of Obesity"; The Effects of High-Intensity Intermittent Exercise Training on Fat Loss; E.G. Trapp et al.; Jan. 15, 2008
- Calories Per Hour: Calories Burned
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