Exercising in the outdoors does have its perks. However, we live in a world where the constraints of time, work and other responsibilities prevent us from enjoying such luxury.
Nevertheless, all hope is not lost. If you own a treadmill, congratulations! With this equipment, you can do some fantastic workout, even in the comfort of your home.
Are you one of those who believe treadmills are monotonous and do not offer anything in the way of excitement?
Well, you’re about to be surprised! There are a several ways in which you can use your treadmill. Forget about jogging, walking and running and come along as we take you through our top 10 best treadmill workouts that you can in your exercise routine.
The 10 Best Treadmill Workouts For You
Every workout should begin with a warm-up. That’s the reason before you start exercising on your treadmill, you need to walk around at 2.5-3.5 MPH for 60 seconds. After this, shake out your stride.
To do this, stretch out longer than your average pace. It should last for no less than five minutes after which you can set the incline to 6% and start to take the usual steps.
This warm-up will prepare you for any of the exercises below. We can now move further to the ten unique workouts you can do on your treadmill.
1. Treadmill Hike
The treadmill hike workout is all about increasing your incline as more and more time passes. Meanwhile, the speed tends to fit your skills so that safety and ease can be ensured while you’re exercising. If you like you can do the 20 minutes treadmill hike workout or be more daring and do the 45 minutes variant
With your incline set at 2% and your speed at 3 MPH, begin your five minutes warm-up. Do the rest of your exercise with the speed limits from 3.5 MPH to 4 MPH. Also, your incline levels should be from 4% to 12%.
2. Treadmill Hill
Anyone who loves running on a hill will find this workout exciting. Even if you do not like hill climbing, at least you will get to do it on your treadmill without the actual stress of climbing a real hill. The exercise is a great way to increase your stamina and enhance your speed. So, how does it work?
In your first 5 minutes of commencing the treadmill hill workout, you should warm-up at a spend of 5 MPH and your incline at 1%. Once the 5 minutes is completed, your next 30 minutes should be done with speed and incline adjustment between intervals of 3-6.5 MPH and 1-5%
Note that the length of ranges where your speed increases and you run up a steeper incline depends on. If you’re experienced, push forward for 90 seconds and do a recovery walk for 30 seconds. If not, you could start with 30 seconds of steep incline and 90 seconds of walking. Again, you should slow down at your final 5 minutes. At this point, reset the speed and incline to be 4 MPH and 1% respectively.
3. Sidewinder
The goal of this exercise is to boost your heart rate and your stability. It also increases your duration and strength. Note that a treadmill with a width smaller than 20″ is not good for this exercise.
- Warm-up for 5 Minute by slowly increasing speed level from 2.4 to 3.5 MP
- Do sideways walk for 2 minutes at a speed of 2.2 MPH. Spend one minute facing the left side and another facing right.
- Do sideways walk for 2 minutes at a speed of 2.4 MPH. One minute facing right and another facing left.
- Spend one walking forward at a speed of 4.5 MPH
- Spend another minute forward walking but at a speed of 3.5 MPH
- Do 2 minutes sideways walk at 2.6 MPH. Spend one minute facing each side.
- Another 2 minute minutes walking at a speed of 2.8 MPH. One minute facing each side.
- Walk forward for 1 minute at 4.2 MPH
- Do another one minute’s forward walk at 3.5 MPH
- Spend 2 minutes sideways walking at 2.8 MPH. One minute facing the left and another facing the right.
- Cool down for 5 minutes by slowly reducing your speed from 3 to 2 MPH
4. The Gauntlet Workout
Because this exercise is a combination of various workouts, it will do a lot of things to your body. Apart from the strength that the exercise supplies, it will work every part of your body and help to burn calories as well. However, the workout is best suited for experienced individuals as it can be too hard for beginners.
- Do a 5 to 10 minutes warm-up either jogging or walking at 3.5-5 MPH
- Run for one minute at 5.5-7 MPH
- Get off the treadmill and do kettlebell swings for 20 seconds
- While still off the treadmill do push-ups for 30 seconds
- Also, do some planks for one minute
- Go back to the treadmill and run for one minute at a 4-5.5 MPH speed
- Repeat everything six times
- Regain breath for five minutes with speed set at 2.5-3 MPH
5. Pressed-For-Time Workout
This exercise focuses mainly on the upper part of your body. A weighs of 2-5 pounds should be in your hands for this exercise. Note that this weight should only be held when walking and not when running to prevent losing your strides.
- Start with a 5 minutes warm-up with the treadmill speed set at 2.5-3.5 MPH
- Walk for 5 minutes and do ten reps of each of these: front raises, overhead press, lateral raises and upright rows.
- Spend 4 minutes of merely walking. It will help the upper body to recover.
- Do the second and third steps two more times. However, change the incline to 3% first.
- Spend 5 minutes cooling down at a speed of 3 MPH and an incline of 1%
6. Sprint Interval
This workout helps to burn calories and also increases your anaerobic capacity.
- Warm-up for 10 minutes. Slowly raise the speed from 3-5 MPH
- Keep making a sprint where your heart rate is 85 to 90% of its maximum. Then, gradually increase speed to 9 MPH. You can calculate your heart rate by subtracting your age from 220.
- Walk for 2 minutes with speed of 3.5-4 MPH. Your heart rate should be between 120 and 130 beats a minute.
- Spend 20 to 30 minutes alternating between sprint running at 5-9 MPH and walking slowly at 3.5-4 MPH. Then proceed with 1-minute of sprint and 2 minutes of walking.
- At a 2.5-3 MPH speed, finish with 5 minutes of cooling down.
7. Never-a-Flate-Moment Workout
Here’s another exercise to help you burn calories. These are the steps:
- Spend 3 minutes warming up. Speed should be set at 3-3.5 MPH
- Spend 2 minutes running at a 4.5 MPH speed level and 7% incline
- Take another 2 minutes to run, but at 5 MPH speed and an incline of 4%
- Do a 2 minutes speed walk at 3 MPH and 10% incline
- Another 2 minutes speed walk at a 3.5 MPH speed and 6% incline
- Run for 2 minutes with a speed of 4 MPH and an incline of 8%
- Do a 1-minute speed walk at 3 MPH speed and 3% incline.
- At 3.2-6.5 mph and 5% incline, do 7 minutes running interval. Alternate between 2 minutes of speed walking and 1 minute of running.
- Do an endurance incline for 11 minutes with speed set at 4 MPH and incline level at 10-15%
- Regain breath for three minutes, gradually reducing speed and incline.
8. Side Shuffles
Side shuffles are for strengthening thighs and are done at a speed limit between 3-3.5 MPH. Since you’ll be exercising in a different direction than you would ordinarily do, the speed limit is to keep you safe.
To do this exercise, rotate to the right on your treadmill and then flex your knees. Make sure your eyes and body are tall. Avoid crossing your feet with each other. Also, Squat slightly as you walk. Turn to the left after two minutes and shuffle for 10 minutes.
9. Walking Plank
When doing a walking plank, position your legs off your treadmill. However, do this away from it in a straight line. Also, let your hands be on the running belt.
Then, with your speed set at 2 MPH and the confidence that you’re good to go, endeavour to do the walking plank for 5 minutes. It’ll be quite tricky but keep at it.
10. Crab Walk
Here is an exercise that pays attention to you flutes, hamstrings, core and triceps. This is how to do it:
Start by setting your speed at 1 to 2 MPH. With your hands facing away from the treadmill, assume a crab position. Let your feet be flat on the floor and your hips raised. Also, your back needs to be facing the ground. Once you’re in position, Put your hands on the treadmill belt and begin to walk them forward.
Hope you have learnt a thing or two from this article? Great! With these different workouts, you’ll find your treadmill to be more exciting and fun. Have fun!