Even if you prefer outdoor walking, inclement weather or time constraints may make the treadmill a necessary tool for fitness. Walking on a treadmill at a steady pace may be an effective exercise for beginners, but boredom can set in over time. Use the treadmill's different features to change your routine.
Hike
Use the incline feature on the treadmill to simulate a harder outdoor hike. Most commercial treadmills go up to an incline of 15 percent, while some super trainers exceed 25 percent grades. Walking on an incline helps target the muscles in your buttocks and the hamstrings in the back of your thighs. Use a speed of 3.5 to 4 mph to warm up on a flat terrain for about five minutes. Raise your incline by .5 percent every 15 seconds until you reach the top incline percentage, then stay there for 30 seconds. Lower your incline by .5 percent every 15 seconds to return to a flat belt. Recover on your flat belt for about five minutes and repeat to complete a 40-minute workout.
Backward
Walking backward uses different muscles than traditional forward walking. It also tests your coordination and balance. Go at a slow pace your first time, and gradually increase as you feel more stable. Remember to lead with the ball of your foot, rather than the heel for this movement. Set your treadmill's speed at between 1.5 and 3 mph, turn around and walk backward. Go for 10 to 15 minutes. To challenge your quadriceps in the front of your thighs, try raising the incline to between 8 percent and 12 percent during your backward walk.
Strength Combo
Combine treadmill walking with weights to train your upper and lower body simultaneously, recommends "Women's Health" magazine. Use light dumbbells---weighing between 2 and 5 pounds. As you walk at a pace of 3 to 3.5 mph, perform about 10 bicep curls and 10 shoulder presses. Let the arms pump lightly as you walk for about two minutes and then repeat the arm exercises. Do three to five total rounds.
Speed Pyramid
While a steady-state walk at 3.5 mph burns about 280 calories in an hour for a 160-pound person, according to the Mayo Clinic, adding in faster intervals increases the overall calorie burn and challenges your heart. Warm up at an easy pace for five or 10 minutes. Then raise your speed to a very fast power walk for one minute. Return to your easy pace for one minute. Raise your speed to the power walk for two minutes, and then go easy for two minutes. Continue to increase the duration of your intervals by one minute until you top out at five minutes of work and five minutes of easier pacing.
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