Whoever came up with the old adage, "variety is the spice of life" may well have been speaking about treadmill workout programs. Far too often, people hop on the treadmill and do the exact same routine, day after day and week after week. The reality is that your body is one of the most adaptable machines ever. If you continue to perform the same workout, you'll plateau and ultimately fall short of your fitness goals.
If treadmill use is part of your fitness regimen, you should vary the type of your workout, as well as the time and speed. Fitness professionals agree that cross training is a critical element to helping your body reach its fullest potential. Alternating speed, incline, and interval workouts is one of the best ways to cross train from a cardio and fat loss standpoint.
Here's a great 30 minute incline workout that we use once a week or so. It is designed equally for runners or walkers, thereby taking fitness level into account. You can also adapt the times within the workout if you'd like to stretch it out to, say, 45 minutes. Let's go over it in detail...
Minutes 0 to 5: Warm up by walking at a comfortable pace at 1% incline. Even runners should walk the first couple of minutes at a minimum to allow your body to get loose.
Minutes 5 to 7: Increase the incline to 2% and increase your speed by.5 mph. Runners should move from an easy, light jog to a slightly more challenging pace.
Minutes 7 to 9: Increase the incline to 4% and your speed by two tenths miles per hour (.2 mph).
Minutes 9 to 11: Bump the incline to 6%. Maintain the same speed.
Minutes 11-13: Take the incline to 8% and aim to maintain your speed. Can you do it?
Minutes 13-18: Drop the incline to 1% and return to your speed level from the 5 to 7 minute mark. Use this five minute period as an active recovery. You don't want to cool down, but instead you should use this time to prepare for what's to come...
Minutes 18-20: Start the cycle all over again. Increase the incline to 2% and increase your speed by.5 mph.
Minutes 20-22: Take the incline to 4% and increase your speed.2 mph.
Minutes 22-24: Incline is at 6% and you should strive to maintain your speed.
Minutes 24-26: The last hard push of the workout! 8% incline and keep the same speed.
Minutes 26-30: Decrease your incline 2% per minute so you're on a flat level (0% incline) at the 30 minute mark. You should also reduce your speed every minute as this is your cool down. Be sure to take a few extra minutes to get your heart rate back to normal if necessary.
This is one of the best, most challenging incline workouts that is sure to test your fitness level. If you add this routine into your treadmill workouts, try to cover progressively more distance over the 30 minute period.
Good luck and have fun!
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