Treadmills are an excellent machine for achieving cardiovascular fitness. If you own one or are thinking of buying one but don’t know how to use it, there’s nothing to worry about. When learning to use the treadmill, many of the techniques involved are similar to the principles of actual races. That said, you do need to give yourself time to adjust and adapt to how the machine works slowly.
Therefore, without further ado, here’s the ultimate beginner’s guide to using a treadmill.
General Tips for Using a Treadmill
Tip 1: Seek Advice For Back And Joint Pains
First, you must consult with your doctor if you have any joint pains. Your doctor will inform you about whether to stick to low impact exercises like walking or go for the high impact ones after hearing your complaints.
Tip 2: Buy the Right Shoes
When it comes to running, comfortable footwear cannot be overemphasized. Make sure to purchase a pair of fitted and comfortable shoes. Feel free to try on several shoes as possible before making your final choice. You don’t want to be stuck with a pair of running shoes that hurts your feet, do you?
The only way to avoid this is to not settle for anything that is not extremely comfortable immediately you try them on. In fact, you could wear them every day for a week just so you’re sure they feel good enough for your legs. If you find any fault with the shoes or how they fit, have them returned.
Tip 3: Make Plans For Dehydration
Working out on a treadmill will get you dehydrated. Therefore, make it a habit to drink between 0.5 to 0.7 litres of water 90 minutes before you commence working out on your treadmill every day. Ensure that 0.5l of water accompanies you to where your treadmill is. You might also want to visit the bathroom before starting to use your treadmill. This is because stopping midway can alter your rhythm and affect the rest of the exercise.
Tip 4: Always Warm-up and Cool Down
You must do some warm-ups before beginning your workout. Warm-ups get your body ready for the exercise. Dedicate five minutes to doing this every time you want to work out. Likewise, it is essential to slowly cool down when you’re about to end your workout session. Dedicate five minutes to this as well. Both the warm-up and the cooling down should be done at a pace of 1.5 to 2 mph
Tip 5: let Your Arms Move
One of the techniques needed for a healthy running habit is swinging the arms. Do not yield to the temptation of placing your hands on the handles that are at the front of your treadmill. This will only prevent you from actually burning calories. Therefore, always maintain good posture as run. And no bending is allowed.
Tip 6: Know Your Treadmill
If you are using a treadmill, you might as well get familiar with it. Know your equipment. Know how to change its speed and incline. Feel free to ask for help if there’s anyone around who can assist you in understanding your treadmill better.
Tip 7: Use of Safety Clip
As a beginner, it is always better for you to put all safety measures in place before using your treadmill. There’s a high probability that you’ll lose your balance because you’re only just starting. Therefore, ensure that you use the safety clip that has been provided to support you in case of any emergency. Once you’ve adapted to the machine, you can choose to stop using the clip.
Best Treadmill Workout for Beginners
This is a 20 to 30-minute beginner workout. During the first 15 minutes of this exercise, you’ll be burning a lot of the carbohydrates you took in recently. You’ll start to get rid of body fat and build endurance after the first 15 minutes of your workout.
Step 1: Warm-up
Start with a 5 minutes warm-up exercise. What this does is to help your body gain the necessary balance. Don’t forget to attach the safety clip to yourself before beginning.
- With your speed at 1.5 to 2 mph, walk for 1 minute.
- Raise the speed to 1.8 mph during the next 1 minute. Meanwhile, take thirty seconds out of the one minute to walk on your toes. Use the remaining 30 seconds to walk on your heels.
- Then, proceed to walk at 1.5 to 2 mph for a minute.
- Change the speed level to 1.8 mph and repeat the toe and heel walk, thirty seconds each.
- Now, increase the incline of your treadmill to 6%. Maintain a speed between 1.5 and 1.8 mph and do a 1-minute walk.
- If need be, decrease your speed and start taking longer strides. Do this for 1 minute. , change your incline to 0.
- For the last minute, increase your speed to 2.5, and this is the end of your warm-up.
Step 2: Main Exercise
This section lasts for 20 minutes. All you need do is maintain a pace between 3 and 4 mph. You can remain. Throughout your first-week working out on a treadmill, use this same speed and incline.
Step 3: Cooling Down
Use five minutes for cooling down. Gradually reduce your speed one minute at a time till your five minutes are exhausted.
Step 4: Moving Forward
After the first two weeks, start testing how you fair with faster speed and higher inclines. Make sure to increase your slope above level 4 for 1 or 2 minutes before setting your machine to a slower pace. You can also raise your speed by five mph for 1 or 2 minutes.
Interval Treadmill Workout
As time goes on, you will want to increase your endurance level. One way to achieve this is through Interval training. This does not only help with endurance but builds speed and burns fat
as well. A 2-minute interval should boost your heart rate before you go back to your medium intensity exercises.
- You’ll also start this session with a 5 minutes warm-up
- Increase your speed by 1 or 2 mph then commence Jogging or walking for 1 minute.
- While maintaining a pace of 3 to 4 mph, jog for 4 minutes.
- Repeat this four times. One minute of high-intensity jogging, then 4 minutes of medium intensity jogging.
- Dedicate 5 minutes to cool down.
Conclusion
There you have it, as simple as it can get, your ultimate guide to using a treadmill. We hope you enjoy and get the best out of every minute of your workout.