The best way to reduce body fat is burning it through cardiovascular exercise. Briskly walking, jogging or running on a treadmill burns calories at a rapid clip. If you exercise at an intense speed or steep incline, it's possible to burn almost 1,000 calories per hour --- depending on your height and weight --- the equivalent of losing 2 pounds per week if you do daily workouts. Avoid injury by wearing shoes that absorb shock. Walk for five minutes to warm up for your workout
Adjustable Speed
The adjustable-speed function of treadmills means you can select the speed of your workout. You can move from a walk to a speed walk and to a jog or run. The faster your pace, the more fat you burn. Working out at a vigorous pace on a treadmill, which means you should be able to speak isolated words but not to converse in phrases, burns more calories than moderate cardiovascular exercises such as aqua aerobics, low-impact dance and yoga.
Incline Workouts
When you use the incline function during your treadmill workout, you introduce new techniques for burning fat. You continue to derive the cardiovascular benefits of high-impact movement, but you add a muscle-building component. Climbing on a treadmill, especially on a steeper grade, adds density to your gluteal, thigh and calf muscles, while reducing body fat. Your body will burn more calories to support this added muscle tissue, even when you are at rest.
Programmed Settings
Take advantage of programmed settings on the treadmill to maximize your fat-burning potential. Most treadmills have an interval-training function, in which the treadmill automatically changes its speed or its level of incline so that you vary the pace and intensity of your workout. When you do the most challenging segments of the interval programs, you spike your heart rate. Your heart rate stays higher, even when you slow down to recover and return to your standard pace.
Performance Analysis
Although treadmill readouts may vary in their accuracy, they provide a general guide to how effectively you burn fat during your workout. Track the speed, time and calories burned of your treadmill workouts from day to day to measure any improvements. Make short-term goals in terms of shaving 10 seconds per mile off your pace or extending your workout another couple of minutes. Use the calories burned statistics to chart how much fat you burn in the course of the week and to establish goals for the following week.
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