According to research conducted by the World Health Organization back in 2016, more than 1.9 billion people were overweight; it included about 39% of the entire population. The study also showed that about 650 million people were suffering from obesity.
Obese people are at a higher risk of multiple diseases, including heart attack, type-2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and cancers. Experts suggest that the number has now crossed 2.5 billion in 2021, and if we don’t change our lifestyles, conditions look bleak ahead.
However, it is never too late to change.
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How to eliminate obesity?
The major cause of obesity is an unhealthy lifestyle. To get your body in good shape, all you have to do is simply adjust to a healthy diet and exercise in your daily routine…(however, ‘simply’ isn’t often as simple as it may sound).
We can achieve a healthier body by ensuring that we burn more calories than we intake and when we think of fat burning, the first exercise that comes to mind is often running.
Running can help you burn calories and be a better physical version of yourself. However, jogging isn’t necessarily as simple as it sounds. The conventional park tracks aren’t ideal for running as they are made of concrete bricks, whose tough texture means that your joints have to suffer a disproportionate impact on each foot strike.
Hence, your body would suffer from joint and ankle pain once you start running regularly.
The solution to the problem is a treadmill.
The popularity of treadmills has come with comprehensive research on newer workouts that can help in burning more calories. The latest machines are equipped with multiple exercise modes and programs, each suitable for a unique objective, and the cushioning of the treadmill’s track makes them ideal for running use.
Despite multiple exercise modes, users may still want to know the finest method to improve their calorie burn and enhance their weight loss; they are also interested in understanding how each workout is different despite including the same exercise.
Do you have similar thoughts? Are you interested in learning more about treadmill workouts that can help burn calories?
Well, If you are, it’s your lucky day. In this blog, we will discuss an in-depth analysis of the ten best treadmill workouts that can help you burn more calories and intensify your weight loss.
Before we start, I would like to mention that these exercises focus on burning fat rather than muscle building; hence, most of the workouts will include high-intensity interval training.
Let’s go!
01) The ladder workout
Consistent treadmill running for an hour can burn up to 700 calories for an average 80 kg individual; however, this workout can help you burn up to 500 calories within half the time. The efficiency of the exercise is enhanced by the varying incline levels that push your efforts to the peak, thus helping in burning more calories.
The treadmill workout involves a 5 min warm-up period before the interval training. The speed and incline levels are based on average users, but if you feel that they are challenging to practice, you can lower the speed by a fair margin. The goal is to ensure that your heart rate changes through the workout, so the metabolism can be boosted, which would eventually help in enhancing your weight loss.
The process
Spend the first five minutes of the workout by walking at a comfortable pace. You can start at 2 mph and then take it to a little higher at 4 mph. It serves as a warm-up before the main workout; it will loosen your muscles and prevent any soreness later on.
For the next five minutes, increase your incline level and set a 6-7 mph pace. Try jogging at this pace; this interval doesn’t involve higher exercise intensity. It serves as a prequel to the higher intensity session later on. During the interval, keep a check at the heart rate monitor and ensure that it isn’t rising extraordinarily.
The following five minutes are crucial. You should set the pace between 9-12 mph with a higher incline level. The goal is to keep your heart rate at about 75% of the maximum for a considerable time. If you feel that you can’t last for five consecutive minutes at the pace, you can shorten the interval into two sessions of 2 minutes, separated by a 1-minute walk at 2 mph in between.
Take a minute to regain your stamina by walking at 4-mph, and then for the remaining 4 minutes, set the speed to 6-7 mph with a reduced incline level. It is a period of lower intensity that would help your body recover from the previous session. The heart rate will stabilize itself during the time.
The 20-minute cycle is repeated twice in a fat-burning treadmill session for the best results. However, if your body can’t take it instantly, it is better to shorten the high-intensity session to complete your workout.
Treadmill workouts produce the desired results if they are practised regularly. It can be hard to motivate yourself without any results in the first few days, but to lose weight, you will need to stay committed. Burning calories isn’t as complex as it sounds, and with the proper treadmill workout, it will be easier.
You don’t need to worry if the ladder workout doesn’t suit you; we still have nine more to go!
02) 10-minute HIIT treadmill workout
Most often, beginners don’t have the endurance of regular trainers, and it can often be challenging to practice conventional HIIT workouts. Hence, the 10-min high-intensity interval training is a good option for them. Although its calorie burn isn’t comparable to the ladder workout, the overall calorie count would be about 600 kcal if you practice it three times a day.
The goal of the exercise is to burn fat in a short time. We would start with a 2-minute warmup and then increase the intensity for the subsequent 2-minute intervals. The changes in intensity will not only help you lose weight but also improve your lean muscle mass.
The process
Unlike the last treadmill workout, it involves a relatively smaller warm-up session of 2 minutes. You can start by a 2-mph walk and take it to 4 mph after the first half.
In the next 2 minutes, slightly increase the incline level; ideally, you keep a mild pace of 4-6 mph. Make sure that your stride isn’t abnormally long.
Between minutes 4 to 6, we enter the high-intensity intervals for fat burning. The interval includes a further increase in your incline level and a speed of 7-8 mph.
In the following 2 minutes, we would have another high-intensity interval. You will need to set your speed between 9-12 mph and set a higher incline level. It will be the longest 2 minutes of the treadmill workout, but it is worth it. Keep an eye on your heart rate monitor to ensure that it isn’t overshooting.
The last 2 minutes of the interval training are for you to recover; you can gradually lower the speed to 3 mph and bring the incline level back to ‘flat’.
The 10-min treadmill workout is a fantastic exercise for burning calories in a short time. It is one of the few HIIT treadmill workouts that involve 2 min high-intensity sessions. So, if you are new to treadmill running, it is a good place to start.
03) The Outdoor Jog
An outdoor jog on a treadmill is pretty ironic, but it can significantly burn fat and improve weight loss. Our focus is to vary the pace and incline level during the workout to ensure that your fat loss is maximized. The training is fairly short and takes about 20 minutes to complete.
The workout involves a combination of fast pace with increased incline that boosts your heart rate; hence, you should ask your personal trainer to provide medical advice so that no problem occurs during the workout or later on.
The process
We will start with a 4-minute workout session. Start your workout with a flat track and 2-mph. In the other half, gradually increase the pace to 4 mph with a level 1 incline. The treadmill workout requires flexibility, so a warm-up should include some lateral walking and leg stretches.
In the next 4 minutes, increase your incline to level 2 and increase the pace to 6 mph. The speed is reasonably high for walking, and you should jog to avoid having irregular stride length. Take the last minute of the session for recovery. Set a speed of 3 mph during the period.
Between minutes 8 to 12, increase your incline to level 3 and pace to 7-8 mph. The goal is to push your body to its limits. A high incline with a fast pace makes the treadmill workout effective in burning fat and weight loss. Similar to the last interval, you should take the final minute of the interval for recovery.
In the following 4 minutes, we would practice high intensity sprinting. It is the most challenging part of the treadmill workout and increases your fat loss dramatically. Set your pace to 10-12 mph and lower the incline to 0. Try running at the pace for as long as you can. Ideally, you will last for the entire 4 minutes; however, it is alright to get into recovery mode after 2.5 minutes or so.
For the final minutes of the interval training, lower your pace gradually to 3 mph. For the first half of the interval, jog at 6-mph on a flat track, and then for the next half, reduce your pace to 3 mph before eventually stopping.
04) Endurance Training
One of the primary goals of treadmill workouts is to build endurance, and with this workout, you can make the most of it. It involves 30 minutes of high pace running with small recovery periods; so, your body muscles are training under strenuous conditions.
The same workout can be used for weight loss and will help you achieve many of your fitness goals.
The Process
The first five minutes of the workout are for the warm-up. You can practice leg stretches and lateral walking at a comfortable pace.
During the next 5 minutes, set a high incline level at a pace of 4 mph. Your walk will feel like a hill hike and will put a strain on your lower muscles that will help increase your flexibility.
For the next 5 minutes, set a 7-8 mph pace at an incline level of 3. It is a critical interval that will help burn fat.
Between 15-20 minutes, you can reset the settings back to a hill hike. Walk at a comfortable pace with a level 4 incline.
In the next 5 minutes of the fat-burning treadmill workout, set an incline level of 3 and jog at 7-8 mph.
For the final interval, you can use it as a recovery period. Reduce the pace gradually to 3 mph with a flat track.
05) 10 cycle workout
If understanding the sequence of the above workouts has been difficult for you, the ten cycle workout is as simple as it sounds. But its simplicity shouldn’t be confused with ‘easiness’.
It is one of the latest HIIT treadmill workouts that can help you improve your cardiovascular system and boost your fitness level.
The workout involves ten intervals of high intensity separated by 1 minute recovery period in between.
The process
Start with a 5-minute warm-up, making sure your body is flexible. Basic stretching is a good idea before you get on with high-intensity intervals.
For the high-intensity period, set the pace to 9 mph with an incline level of 2.
For the rest periods, reduce the pace to 3 mph with a flat track.
Each of the high intensity and lower intensity intervals would last for one minute. Repeat the cycle about ten times.
At the end of the workout, you can recover with a 3-mph pace on a flat track.
06) Brisk Walking Sesh
For beginners inspired to change their lifestyle, a high-intensity session could be demotivating as it is hard to adapt. Often they are looking for lower intensity exercise that can help them improve their fitness level gradually before moving up to higher intensity.
If you are one of them, a brisk walking session is a good idea. Although the workout willtake about an hour to complete, its easiness won’t make you feel tedious or bored. It is fantastic in helping you adapt to a newer lifestyle and improve your fitness levels.
The process
The workout involves several 10-minute intervals at a steady pace that isn’t part of the HIIT training.
The goal is to make sure that you adapt to a treadmill routine.
You can start with a 10-minute session at 2.5 mph with a flat incline.
Then for the next 10 minutes, increase the speed to 3 mph with a higher incline level.
For the next 10 minutes, increase the speed to 3.5 with a constant incline
During 30-40 minutes, increase the speed to 4 mph and raise the slope to level 2
For the last minutes, walk at 4.5 – 5 mph with the same incline.
Brisk walking can help fix your posture and build lower body muscles. Although it isn’t the most efficient method for fat loss, it will still help you improve your fitness levels.
07) Incline HIIT Workouts
Finding the best HIIT treadmill workouts for fat loss can be confusing, as there is a wide range of various patterns. However, Incline HIIT workouts are pretty simple to understand. They are effective in increasing the calories burned throughout the workout.
A higher incline level and pace also help build endurance; so, your need for strength training will be fulfilled at the same time. It’s a 30-minute workout, including a 5-minute warmup and 5 minute recovery period.
The process
Start with a 5-minute warm-up period, making sure your muscles aren’t feeling sore.
For the high-intensity level, the speed should be 7-mph with an incline level of 4. It will feel like running uphill.
You can set the pace to 3 mph for the rest intervals with a flat belt.
Repeat the cycle about ten times.
After the cycle completes, you can take a 5 minute recovery period with a low-intensity walk.
HIIT workouts involve varying paces, causing heart rate fluctuations that improve your metabolism. The changing strain levels also enhance the perceived exertion that increases fat loss.
08) The instant sprinting workout
HIIT workouts generally test your maximum heart rate with sessions of high intensity. The instant sprinting workout is a step ahead; it involves two high-intensity periods separated by short resting time.
The high-intensity exercise is short and can be completed within 10 minutes of your day and the increased pace and incline will help you burn calories without spending a long time on the treadmill.
The process
As the workout has a small time frame, we will usually have a 1-minute warmup at 4-mph with an incline level of 2.
For the next four minutes, we will be strength training at 10-12 mph with an incline level of 4. O
Once the high-intensity session is completed, you can take a rest interval of 1 minute.
For the next 4 minutes, higher the intensity level to a pace of 10-12 mph with a level 4 incline.
The workout will push your heart rate to a maximum, so medical advice from a certified personal trainer is essential before you get started.
09) Power Walking Workout
We have talked about multiple strength training workouts, but sometimes your body might not be willing to take on the strain. For those days, you can try the power walking workout.
The exercise involves walking at a comfortable pace with a high incline to tone your hamstring muscle and burn more calories.
The process
Start with a 3 minutes warm-up session at 3-mph.
For the next 5 minutes, increase the pace to 4 mph with an incline level of 2. This will engage more muscles, thus enhancing the calories burned.
During the next 5 minutes, higher the incline to the maximum with the same pace.
Finally, lower the pace to 3 mph for the recovery period.
The easiness of this exercise workout makes it ideal for your rest days.
10) 5 KM workout
If you struggle to work out on the treadmill for more than half an hour, the 5 KM workout can be great for improving your capacity. The intervals for exercise don’t change with time; instead, they change as a target is achieved.
The goal for each interval is 1Km. Once you have achieved the distance, the interval changes. There are about five intervals in total. So, you will complete about 5Km by the end of it. The workout takes about 40 minutes to complete.
The process
For the first kilometer, set the pace to 4 mph.
For the second kilometer, change the pace to 6-7 mph.
During the third kilometer, increase the pace to 9 mph.
For the fourth kilometer, change the pace back to 7 mph.
For the final kilometer, slowly reduce the pace to 3 mph.
You can take one minute recovery period between the second, third and fourth intervals.
Conclusion
We have finally come to the end of the blog and I hope it has helped you to learn more about the best treadmill workouts for fat loss. For more advice please continue to look around our site.
You can practice the exercises on your own without a certified personal trainer. However, if you have had troubles with heart disease in the past or any other serious conditions, it is better to seek professional medical advice.
HIIT training is a challenging addition to your life, but once you start practising it regularly, the results are more than worth the effort.
FAQs
How long should HIIT workouts be?
You should run for at least 150 minutes each week. If you want to lose weight, it is better to choose workouts that last for about 30 minutes and burn up to 300 calories. The ladder workout and 10-minute sprinting are excellent choices.
What is the right intensity for me?
HIIT workouts will increase your heart rate; however, a very high heart rate can be problematic. Hence, you should select exercises that take your heart rate to about 75% of the maximum heart rate.
