Any time you engage in physical activity you burn some calories. That's a plus if you are trying to lose weight. A regular walking or running program on a treadmill can burn a lot of calories. However, you want to be sure you aren't pushing your body too hard--or not hard enough. Target heart rate is a guide you can use to determine the best level of exercise intensity for your purposes.
Treadmill Exercise
You can walk, run or combine both activities when you work out on a treadmill. Running Planet says that the physical exercise you get on a treadmill is very similar to that you get by running or walking outside. Most treadmills have a display that tells you your speed, time and distance covered. Some models also include heart rate monitors. Otherwise, you can track your heart rate with a separate heart rate monitor or by counting your pulse for 15 seconds and multiplying by 4.
Target Heart Rate
Your target heart rate is a percentage of your maximum heart rate, or MHR. MHR is how fast your heart beats when you are exerting an all-out effort. To estimate your MHR, subtract your age from 220 if you are a man. For women, use 226 instead of 220. Suppose you are male and 40 years old. Your MHR is 220 minus 40, or about 180 beats per minute. If you want a target heart rate of 60 percent of your MHR, that works out to 108 heartbeats per minute. One advantage of walking or running on a treadmill is that once you reach your target heart rate, you can simply leave the treadmill at the speed you are moving for the rest of your workout. Since your speed stays constant, your heart rate will be constant as well.
Zones
If you are new to aerobic exercise, you should start with a target heart rate around 50 percent of your MHR. Overall, the American Heart Association suggests working out in a range from 50 to 85 percent of MHR. For good physical fitness or to lose weight, you need to build up to a target heart rate from 60 to 70 percent of MHR. This is the "fat-burning zone" so called because your body gets a high proportion of the energy you use from fat at this level of exercise intensity. Target heart rates are the same for workouts outdoors or using a treadmill. The running or walking pace you need for any given target heart rate will vary depending on individual characteristics and changes as your level of physical fitness improves.
Amount of Exercise
MayoClinic.com recommends that you get at least 2 1/2 hours each week of aerobic exercise plus some form of strength training twice a week. For example, you might run or walk on a treadmill 30 minutes a day, five days per week. This is a minimum for good physical fitness and you may want to do more when you are trying to lose weight. Using a treadmill can be a big help in keeping up a regular exercise schedule since you don't have to worry about weather or working out at night. Regularity, in turn, makes it much easier to get in the amount of exercise you need.
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