Treadmill Workouts to Lose Weight

For those wanting to drop extra pounds and decrease belly fat from the comforts of their home, use of treadmills is a good option. Running or walking in open air everyday, is most of the time not convenient, especially during cold climatic conditions. In such cases, a treadmill comes in handy for losing weight.

The notion that walking does not help to burn fat is absolutely untrue. In fact, walking briskly everyday may allow you to lose weight faster than jogging. A leisurely treadmill walk won't provide any weight loss effects. Speed walking is what you should aim at when on a treadmill.

So, when you are walking on the treadmill, you should be able to cover up a mile in 12-14 minutes or 4.4 miles (7-8 km) per hour. So, if you find running too stressful for your joints, you need to walk at this pace on the treadmill for around 25-30 minutes.

All in all, if you take your treadmill walking seriously, there is no reason why you wouldn't lose weight in less time.

Treadmill jogging also has immense benefits and one of them is that it assists to burn fat effectively. However, one big mistake many fitness enthusiasts make, is holding the front bar of treadmill, while jogging.

This is an incorrect way of doing treadmill jogging and certainly would not give the desired results. A 20 minute jogging at a pace of 5-5.5 miles per hour everyday is an effective workout to lose weight fast. Usually, treadmill jogging routines are interlaced with short periods of slow walking to avoid excessive strain on the joints.

People finding it unsafe to run outside the house can always prefer running on a treadmill, as benefits are plenty. This exercise equipment also has a feature that allows to increase or decrease the speed of treadmill platform.

So, people looking for a rigorous treadmill workouts to lose weight, can always increase treadmill speed. As far as duration is concerned, you need to run for approximately 20-30 minutes at a speed of around 6 miles per hour.

It is said that running outdoors is more difficult as one has to face wind resistance. In order to make treadmill running workout more challenging, one has to simply raise the inclination of the treadmill platform. When running on an inclined treadmill, you need to put more efforts as it increases the gravitational pull against your body.

This in turn helps to speed up your calorie expenditure. The inclination expressed in percentage varies from 0 to 15. So, you can gradually increase the inclination as your endurance increases, to burn more calories and lose weight fast.

Just sticking to one treadmill workout can be monotonous and extremely boring. To avoid monotony of exercise, a combination of treadmill workouts could be the solution. For instance, adding a few sessions of jogging in between your running treadmill workout will not only help to add variety to your exercise but also reduce the stress on the muscles.

Thus, one can discontinue strenuous exercise (running) after every 4 minutes and begin jogging for around 4 minutes. Performing treadmill workout in this manner is less strenuous on the joints, yet effective in losing weight.

Thus, alternating between running and jogging repeatedly at regular intervals is more enjoying and allows us to break free from our everyday exercise.

Running as fast as possible for a small duration (seconds) is referred to as a sprint. The 100m running competition in athletics is the best example of sprints. In these events that last for 10-12 seconds, the participant has to run at his maximum possible speed to win the competition.

Amongst all the treadmill workouts, this is considered to be the most effective to drop those extra pounds. This is because sprints are a very high intensity workout as one has to run as fast as one can. So, the calorie expenditure increases dramatically and also the body continues to burn calories long after the exercise is over.

Tips for Following Sprint Workout

• Before you begin your sprint workout on the treadmill, a 5 minute warm up that involves running at a slow-speed, is a must.
• Once the warm up is over, gradually keep on running until you start breathing heavily. Run at this pace consistently for 4 minutes.

• Now, start your sprint session by increasing your pace and running as quickly as possible. Your sprint session should not last for more than 15-20 seconds.
• After sprinting, switch over to jogging and continue doing it for 4 minutes.

• Again, slowly increase you pace over a period of 5-7 minutes and then sprint at maximum achievable speed for around 20 seconds.
• Although, sprints are beneficial in losing weight, a defective heart will not be able to bear this high intensity workout. So, people with heart problems should stay away from this exercise routine.

This is one of the popular workout routines on a treadmill to lose weight. Interval training is a type of physical activity that consists of alternating periods of low and high impact workouts.

Thus, in interval training, short bursts of intense activity is spaced by low intensity exercises. This is more enjoyable and less stressful on the joints than doing a single high intensity workout.

An effective weight loss treadmill workout that incorporates interval training is given below:

• Start your workout with a 10 minutes of slow pace walking.
• This is followed by 30-45 seconds of running and 30-45 seconds of brisk walking.

• When you are running, your speed should be in the range of 7 to 10 miles per hour. Continue alternating between these two exercises for a stipulated period of time - around 10-15 minutes.

If you restart your treadmill workout routine suddenly after being 'out of action' for quite some time, then let alone losing weight, you might end up injuring yourself.

This is because, skipping a warm up session (slow walking and muscle stretches) can increase the risk of muscle injuries during exercise. A warm up increases blood circulation and improves flexibility in muscles, thereby making you more receptive to any exercise routine.

Also, you need to gradually increase the intensity of your workout to keep any sort of injuries at bay. Wearing proper footwear is also very important to improve comfort level and performance on a treadmill. Running barefoot on a treadmill can make you susceptible to knee-related pain.

If you don't want to sabotage your efforts of losing weight, make sure to eat the right food before and after treadmill workout. Our body derives energy primarily from carbohydrates. In order to ensure maximum energy during exercise, make sure to have high carbohydrate foods such as oatmeal 1-2 hours before a high intensity exercise.

During exercise, the muscles undergo a great deal of stress and strain. So, post workout, eat protein rich meals to repair exercise-induced muscle damage. Also, while exercising, a person may feel dehydrated due to excessive perspiration. So, to avoid dehydration and replenish lost fluid stores, drink adequate water prior, during and after exercise.

Remember, spending a couple of hundred dollars on a treadmill, is a wise decision and can go a long way in keeping you fit and fine for years to come.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this story is solely for educating the reader. It is not intended to be a substitute for the advice of a fitness expert.