Using a treadmill helps you keep up your walking routine even when inclement weather might discourage you from going outdoors. Having a treadmill at home gives you a way to fit extra exercise into spare moments during the day. Although regular brisk walking on a treadmill can benefit your health, as with all workout routines, treadmill walking takes time to produce weight loss and other fitness results.
Walking Off Calories
Walking on a treadmill and walking on flat ground burn a similar number of calories. A walking speed of around 3 1/2 miles per hour burns 120 calories in 30 minutes for a 125-lb. person and 149 calories for a 155-lb. person. A walking speed of 4 1/2 mph burns 150 calories for a 125-lb. person and 186 calories for a 155-lb. person in 30 minutes.
Losing Weight
Along with reducing calories, burning an extra 300 to 500 calories daily helps you lose weight at the healthy rate of 1 to 2 lbs. a week, advises exercise expert Jessica Garay from Syracuse University. If you weigh 155 lbs, you can burn 300 calories in one hour of brisk treadmill walking. Doing this six days weekly burns 1,800 calories a week. If you're also eating 300 to 500 calories daily less than you need for weight maintenance, you should lose 1 lb. weekly. After 12 weeks, or around 12 pounds lost, you may notice a loss of one clothing size.
Planning Your Schedule
You may need 60 to 90 minutes of daily moderate exercise to lose weight or keep weight off, according to American College of Sports Medicine experts. Walking in 10-minute sessions throughout the day can help you accumulate this much time and is as effective as longer sessions. If you haven't been exercising, start with a goal of at least 10 minutes of walking three days a week for the first month. Then gradually increase your workout frequency or length.
Improving Your Treadmill Workout
Setting the treadmill at a 1 percent incline corrects for lack of wind resistance and for the treadmill's pulling effect, making your workout similar to outdoor walking. To simulate uphill walking, set the treadmill at a 3 percent incline, then increase this by 1 percent each week until you reach 6 percent. Carrying weights of no more than 2 pounds or wearing weighted gloves or a weighted vest can also help you burn more calories and improve your endurance.
References
- Ohio State University: Healthy Weight Center; Treadmill vs. Outdoor Running: What's the Difference? Steven T Devor; January 12, 2010
- University of California Berkeley: Wellness Letter: A Dozen Ways to Improve Your Walking Workouts
- Harvard University: Harvard Medical School: Calories Burned in 30 Minutes for People of Three Different Weights
- Syracuse University: Ask Jess; Jessica Garay
- New York University Langone Medical Center: Everyone Dreams; George Fielding
- American College of Sports Medicine: Guidelines for Healthy Adults Under Age 65
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