A treadmill provides a variety of workouts, from low-impact power walking to high-intensity running. You can burn more fat or more calories on a treadmill, depending on the pace of your workout. In addition to helping you with your weight-loss goals, a treadmill helps improve cardiovascular stamina. Using a treadmill can help you decrease your risk for diseases and conditions such as high cholesterol and coronary heart disease, according the Mayo Clinic.
Step 1
Determine your workout goals. If you are new to exercise, you will want to start out slowly, with a goal of improving your stamina, or ability to work over a period of time. Brisk walking burns primarily calories from fat, but fewer calories overall. Jogging burns more calories. Running short sprints trains your cardiovascular system for such sports as tennis, basketball, soccer and volleyball.
Step 2
Familiarize yourself with the features of the treadmill before you begin your workout. Trying to change unfamiliar speed and incline settings, especially using a computer module, may take your attention from your exercise and cause you to slip and fall.
Step 3
Pre-set your computer for the workout you desire, if you have that capability. As a beginner, you will want to maintain a steady pace that raises your heart rate but doesn't quickly tire you out. Using a steady pace, rather than a program with up-and-down intensities, may be your best choice to start out with a treadmill. The American Heart Association recommends exercising at this pace for 30 minutes, five times per week to improve your heart health.
Step 4
Track your workout time and heart rate beginning with your first workout to monitor improvement. You may wish to keep the same pace of your exercise for a week or two while increasing the length of your workouts. In the beginning, you want to improve your cardiovascular capacity so you can raise intensity and duration later.
Step 5
Add a one- or two-minute "hill" or "sprint" to your workout once you are able to exercise for 20 minutes or longer. A hill simulates you running up a hill by increasing the incline on the machine, while a sprint has you moving your legs faster. You won't need a true sprint--in the beginning, a short but noticeable increase in intensity will help you improve endurance.
Step 6
Add dumbbells or other hand weights to your workout if your treadmill doesn't have an upper-body workout option. Wait until you are familiar with the treadmill's operation so you can concentrate on coordinating your leg and arm movements.
Step 7
Raise the intensity of your workout once you have the stamina to speed walk or slow jog for 15 minutes or longer. You will be breathing hard and sweating at this intensity, but you should be able to talk. The AHA suggests 20 minutes of exercise at this intensity, three times per week, as an alternative to the previous workout.
Step 8
Finish your workouts with a cool-down, which has you slowing down your pace until your heart rate is below 100 beats per minute, on the way to your resting heart rate. This will decrease muscle stiffness and soreness later, according to performance coach Brian Mac.
Member Comments