Treadmills are one of the most effective pieces of cardiovascular equipment available if your goal is to lose weight. They allow you to workout at various speeds and include features, such as variable incline, that can increase your calorie burn. Finding the best speed for you to lose weight at is a matter of understanding your current physical state and your capabilities as a runner.
Fat Burning Zone
According to a "Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research" report published in October 2009, you burn the most calories when you are exercising between 60.2 and 80 percent of your maximum heart rate. This is an inexact range that you can use to calculate your fat burning zone if you do not have laboratory testing available. However, the speed needed to reach this range on your treadmill will vary from one person to the next depending on workout preferences and physiology.
Finding Heart Rate
Calculating an accurate rough estimate of your target heart rate does not require a heart rate monitor. If you are 20 or older, simply subtract your age from 220 to find the average maximum heart rate for your age. Then multiply that number by 0.602 and 0.80 to find the upper and lower limits of your fat burning zone. If you are younger than 20, your maximum heart rate is 200. According to the American Heart Association, some high blood pressure medications lower your maximum heart rate, so you may need to check with your physician if you are on such medication. Once you know your fat-burning zone, keep your heart rate within this range during exercise and you will know you are exercising at the best speed for fat loss.
Walking Speed
Even if you do not like to run on the treadmill, it is still possible to lose weight. Harvard Medical School research in 2004 concluded that if you weigh 185 lbs. and walk on a treadmill at 4 mph for 30 minutes, you will burn 200 calories. Increasing that speed to 4.5 mph ups the calorie burn to 222. Raising the incline of the treadmill will allow you to walk at a slower pace, but exert more energy and lose weight faster.
Running Speed
Running burns more calories because it is more difficult exercise than walking. A light jog for 30 minutes at 5 mph will cause a 185-lb. person to shed 355 calories. At the opposite end of the spectrum, that same person running a six-minute mile, which translates to an average speed of 10 mph, can blaze through 733 calories in just 30 minutes on the treadmill. Bodybuilding.com states that varying the speed of your running between fast-paced sprints and a slower jog throughout the workout, also known as interval training, will help you burn more calories than running at a consistent pace throughout.
References
- "The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research:" Qualifying Differences in the "Fat Burning" Zone and the Aerobic Zone; University of St Thomas; October 2009
- American Heart Association: Target Heart Rates
- Harvard: Calories Burned in 30 Minutes of Leisure and Routine Activities
- Body Building.com: The Insider Secrets of Interval Training
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