Running for long periods of time can be harmful to your body, not to mention boring. Vary your treadmill workouts to get the most out of your time as well as improving your cardiovascular health and fitness. Use a 10-minute treadmill workout to increase your speed, stamina, endurance or overall fitness. Regular exercise on a treadmill will increase your body's metabolism and make it work more efficiently to burn more fat. Stay consistent with your training, and remember variety is key.
Interval Training
Interval training consists of "repeated bouts of high intensity exercise with intermittent rest periods," as defined by Time-to-Run, which suggests interval training for endurance athletes to improve endurance and stamina, without the pounding of hours of running. If you are looking to improve your speed and endurance than interval training is for you. If you are just beginning your fitness regimen, work at paces that are comfortable, but still challenging for you.
Start with a one-minute warm-up, start at a 3.0 pace. For the next three minutes jog at a 5.0 to 6.0 pace. Focus on good posture and consistent breathing. For the following two minutes increase your speed to a 7.0 to 8.0 pace; running at this pace should be challenging, but doable. If you are unable to keep this pace for two minutes, lower your speed. The last three minutes of your workout will be your cool down. On the seventh minute, lower your pace to a light jog. On the eighth minute, lower your pace again to a quick walk. And for your last minute, you should be at a comfortable walking pace.
Incline Training
Incline workouts challenge your cardiovascular system without requiring high speed. Incline workouts are good for people who are unable to run due to bone or joint issues but still provide cardio strain and muscle toning, as well as for those who are just beginning or getting back to working out on a consistent basis. HealthGuidance, a health information site, explains because you are walking on an incline rather than running on a level surface, the impact on your knees and hips is decreased. Therefore if you can walk, you can work out. Incline workouts are also ideal for varying your efforts on a treadmill, toning your glutes and hamstrings, as well as burning up to three times the number of calories compared with walking on a level surface, notes HealthGuidance.
Set your treadmill between a 2.5 and 3.5 pace, depending on your fitness level. Walk at a 2.0 incline for one minute. For the next three minutes increase the incline to 5.0. If able to do so with control, for the following three minutes raise the incline to 10.0. The last three minutes are reserved to get you back walking at a level pace. Decrease the incline to 6.0 the seventh minute, 3.0 the eight minute, and 0.0 the ninth minute.
Making Your Own Workout
Experiment with each kind of treadmill workout. If you are unable to run in the interval training work, walk at a brisk pace rather than running. Combine the interval training and incline training into one workout to really take it to the next level.
For example jog/walk at 2.0 incline for two minutes. Bump the incline to a 7.0 and continue to jog/walk for the next two minutes. Now, you will do interval training at this incline. Briskly walk/ sprint for thirty seconds, then walk/ jog and repeat three times. Lower the incline to 3.0 and walk/ jog for minutes seven and eight. For the last minute of your workout bring the incline to 0.0 and walk at a comfortable pace.
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