If you are beginning an exercise program and looking for a way to burn calories through cardio, the treadmill is one of the best choices you could have made. In order to reduce impact, the treadmill is built to give a little as you step on it; therefore, it allows you to burn calories without doing harm to your body. You can perform many exercises on a treadmill. If done correctly and consistently, each one leads to healthy results.
Walking
One of the simplest and effective exercises you can do on a treadmill is walking. Start by setting the speed at a slow pace to get used to the feel of walking on the machine. Once you have adjusted to and gotten comfortable with the treadmill, it's time to begin your exercises. Set the treadmill to a speed and incline that are comfortable but not too easy. Stay at this pace for five minutes. At the five-minute mark, move the speed and incline up to a pace that is challenging but can still be accomplished. Continue for 20 minutes. After completing those 20 minutes, move the speed and incline back to the settings you had in the first five minutes in order to cool down. Do this for five more minutes, and your walking exercise is complete.
Running
According to Scott Robertson, an author for Alive.com, 20 to 30 minutes of running gets the same results as 40 to 50 minutes of walking. Walking and running are both great exercises, but running will get the results you are looking for at a faster pace. For your running exercise, jog at a comfortable pace for the first five minutes in order to get warmed up. Once those five minutes are complete, adjust the speed and incline to a challenging pace that you can complete for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, cool down with five more minutes at the speed and incline you began with and finish out your running exercise.
Intervals
Intervals are possibly the best exercises to do on a treadmill. With a combination of comfortable walking and intense running, intervals burn calories at a rapid pace. A study done by scientists at Canada's McMaster University showed that in healthy college students, interval training produced the same results as an endurance training exercise, just in a much shorter time. A beginning interval exercise can be performed by walking at a comfortable pace for one minute, followed by one minute of running at a challenging pace, then back to one minute of walking. Follow this same pattern of one-minute walk, one-minute run for 15 minutes and begin to see your desired results achieved in a shorter amount of time.
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