The average speed for walking on a treadmill is usually between 2 and 4 mph. For most people, a setting of 2 mph will be an easy slow walk that will serve as a warm-up to a good workout. A speed of 4 mph is usually a brisk walk that gets the heart rate up and makes you begin to breathe a bit harder than normal.
Cardio Walking Warm-Up
An important part of any workout involves starting with a good warm-up to loosen your muscles and tendons. Not only does a warm-up help prevent injuries and muscle pulls, it also helps get the heart rate up and pumps blood to the big muscles of your body. When warming up on a treadmill, start with a slow walk: set the machine around 1.5 or 2 mph. After a few minutes, raise the incline level of the treadmill to around 6 percent and focus on taking long strides in order to stretch out your leg muscles.
Cardio Walk
After warming up for five to 10 minutes, set the treadmill to between 3 and 4 mph. Your pace should make you breathe hard but still allow you to talk without gasping. The amount of calories and fat burned depends on the amount of energy expended during the workout, not the total time of the workout. Therefore, concentrate on pushing yourself during the time that you are on the treadmill.
Interval Walking
A great way to burn fat on the treadmill is to do interval walking, where you walk as fast as you can for a certain amount of time followed by brief resting periods. For example, start with the treadmill set at 2 mph and then increase the speed to 4.5 mph for one or two minutes before returning back down to 2 mph. Continue to do this routine for between 30 and 35 minutes.
Hill Walking
To target your glutes and sculpt your legs, try interval walking while simply changing the incline levels instead of the speed. For example, if your preferred cardio speed is 4 mph, start the workout with the speed at 4 and the incline at 3 or 3.5 percent. After five minutes, increase the incline to somewhere between 8 and 10 percent for two minutes before returning the incline down to 4 or 5 percent for one minute. Continue to do this workout with two minutes on, one minute off while continuing to ramp up the amount of incline.
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