Fat burning treadmill walking workout
There’s nothing like walking outdoors. However, sometimes the weather can be finicky keeping you from getting outside. For those rainy or cold day, a treadmill walking workout is perfect.
A treadmill can give you a great walking workout in any weather. If you use the right form and vary your workouts with speed changes, intervals and hills, you can keep yourself interested and possibly lose weight.
Whether you’re a beginner or more advanced, a treadmill walking workout can give you good results.
Walking on an incline can actually burn more calories than walking on a flat surface, according to a study published in the September 2015 edition of PLoS One.
An important factor is to let go of the handrails on the treadmill even if you are walking on an incline. You will burn more calories and improve your balance.
Walking workouts
Start each workout with a three- to five-minute warm up. Adjust your walking posture and concentrate on your form so you are not holding onto the rails. At the end of your workout, reduce the speed back to an easy pace for a three minute cooldown.
Treadmill workout with dumbbells
Do you want to work on your upper body strength as well as work on your cardio? You can use light dumbbells. If you are at home and don’t have any weights, use water bottles while you walk.
Perform each exercise for one minute to add some intensity and some fun to your regular treadmill walk.
Slow the treadmill down so you don’t lose your balance and alternate one minute of each of these exercises with one minute of faster walking:
- Bicep or hammer curls
- Tricep extensions
- Upright rows
- Front arm raises
- Lateral raises
- Overhead press
Pyramid Intervals
Walk at a high incline for two to five minutes, then reduce the incline for two minutes to recover. Alternate tough, high inclines with easy low inclines to mimic going downhill.
Start by walking at a brisk pace that challenges you but keeps your hands off the rails.
- 30 seconds with incline at 5 followed by 30 seconds at a 5.0 incline
- 45 seconds with incline at 6 followed by 45 seconds at a 5.0 incline
- 60 seconds with incline at 7 followed by 60 seconds at a 5.0 incline
- 75 seconds with incline at 8 followed by 75 seconds at a 5.0 incline
- 90 seconds with incline at 9 followed by 90 seconds at a 5.0 incline
Repeat until you reach your desired amount of walking time.
Hilly treadmill walking workout
Work those power muscles with a fun hill interval workout. Start by walking at your normal speed with a no incline for five minutes at 4.0 mph speed:
- TWO minutes at 2.0 incline
- TWO minutes at 5.0 incline
- TWO minutes at 8.0 incline
- TWO minutes at 9.0 incline
- TWO minutes at 10.0 incline
Repeat until you reach your desired amount of walking time.
Tips for using a treadmill
- Warm up and cool down to avoid injury.
- Do not hold onto the rails when at an incline. If you feel like you are going to fall lower the incline but do not hold on.
- Keep your body upright and look straight ahead for proper form
- If you are doing sprints you can just move your feet to the sides while the belt continues to run. For example, if you are sprinting for 30 seconds and resting for 30 seconds just step onto the treadmill side for the rest period so that you don’t have to reset your speed.
Add resistance bands to your workout
Switch up your treadmill walk by adding resistance bands above your knees.
This incline treadmill workout uses these bands. You can walk normally at a regular pace or you can walk sideways with squats and slow it down a little.
Resistance bands are used to activate your glutes and engage your hips through a variety of lower body exercises. The goal is to stimulate legs, glutes and hips to give the thigh and butt more shape.
Do you use a treadmill for your workouts?
