Treadmill Routines To Lose Weight

Running and walking are great weight loss activities because they require little equipment and no special skills. Running burns more calories per minute than walking does, but not everyone’s body can handle the impact and intensity of running. Walking can burn as many calories as jogging if you increase the incline on the treadmill and walk at a brisk pace.

Time Frame

To lose weight, the American College of Sports Medicine recommends exercising at moderate intensity for at least an hour five or more days per week, or at a vigorous intensity for 30 minutes three days per week. For most people, walking is moderate intensity exercise and running or brisk uphill walking is vigorous exercise. You can also mix the intensity of your workouts, doing vigorous workouts three times per week and moderate intensity workouts on the in-between days.

Progression

If five hours’ walking per week is too much for you, you can still lose weight and get fit by doing less. Start with as little as 10 minutes of light exercise three times per week and increase your total exercise time by 10 percent per week. Don’t introduce vigorous running or walking into your program until you have been on the treadmill five hours per week for at least six weeks.

Types

You can do several kinds of workouts on a treadmill depending on your fitness. Endurance workouts -- sometimes called “long, slow distance” -- keep a steady, low intensity for a longer period. You can do endurance workouts with the fat burning program on some treadmills. To do intervals, increase the treadmill’s incline or belt speed for a short time followed by a brief recovery period. Climbing “hills,” or varying the incline throughout your workout is another way to break up the session. Fartlek, or “speed play,” sessions have no planned intervals and vary the workout’s intensity based on how the athlete feels. The “Random” setting on some treadmills is like a fartlek workout.

Misconceptions

Many people think that the fat burning zone in the graph depicted on many treadmills is the best workout for weight loss. The fat burning zone refers to the lowest intensity workouts, when your heart rate is less than about 70 percent of your maximum exercise capacity. Although a greater proportion of your calories come from fat in the fat burning zone, you will burn more calories -- including those from fat -- if you work out at a higher intensity.

Theories/Speculation

Some experts believe that doing intervals and other high-intensity workouts can help you lose weight faster. Intervals increase the amount of oxygen you need after a workout, thereby increasing your metabolism. Some scientists believe that this has a significant effect on weight loss. A review published in the Proceedings of the Nutritional Society asserted that post-exercise oxygen consumption was elevated for up to 48 hours after exercise. However, another paper published in the Journal of Sports and Science argues that non-athletic individuals usually can’t sustain the intensity required to significantly increase post-exercise calorie consumption.