3 Simple But Effective Treadmill Workouts For Weight Loss
How Does The Treadmill Work? | Is The Treadmill Good For Weight Loss? | How Does The Treadmill Help With Weight Loss? | Diet Tips | 3 Treadmill Workouts | Treadmill Tips
Treadmills remain one of the most popular pieces of gym equipment to help you improve your cardio endurance and lose weight. Rain or shine, treadmills offer a convenient way to get you up and running, and are ideal for runners of any level.
Here, Tenzin Harley, a personal trainer at PureGym Holloway Road (London), provides her insights and some great treadmill workout routines to help you lose weight.
Read on for everything you need to know about treadmills for weight loss, or jump straight to the workouts here.
How Does The Treadmill Work?
We all know what a treadmill is, but knowing how to use one the right way can help you hit your fitness goals faster. All treadmills differ slightly in terms of layout and functionality, but the basic mechanics remain the same.
Before you jump on, you'll need to understand various features such as speed, incline, and workout programs, as well as maintaining correct form while running.
Here are a few of the treadmill beginner tips to remember:
Adjust the settings: Familiarise yourself with the treadmill's controls to adjust speed and incline according to your fitness level and workout goal.
Locate the emergency stop button: Your treadmill should come with an emergency stop button function (usually a clip) that you should tie to your wrist. If you were to fall off or lose balance, the clip is pulled and the treadmill belt instantly stops, minimising serious injury.
Start slowly: Begin with a gentle warm-up at a comfortable pace to gradually increase your heart rate and loosen your muscles.
Maintain proper form: Stand upright with your head up, shoulders back, and core engaged. Avoid leaning on the handrails excessively, as this can affect your posture and reduce the effectiveness of your workout.
Cool down: Finish your workout with a gradual cool-down period to lower your heart rate and prevent muscle soreness.
Is The Treadmill Good For Weight Loss?
Generally speaking, yes, treadmills can be effective for weight loss. However, the biggest benefit comes when it's combined with a structured workout and diet plan. In essence, you will lose weight if you consistently burn more calories than you consume - this is known as being in a calorie deficit.
Mixing up your treadmill routines with a blend of cardio workouts and strength exercises can also ramp up calorie burn and boost overall fitness. Keep in mind that sticking to your plan regularly and finding balance are key ingredients for a successful weight loss journey.
How Can Treadmills Help With Weight Loss?
As mentioned above, for fat loss to occur, you have to be expending more calories than you are consuming over an extended period of time.
You can achieve this by:
Making changes to the foods you eat: This involves adopting a healthier diet by reducing high-calorie, low-nutrient foods and focusing on nutrient-dense options like fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains. This can create a calorie deficit whilst still enjoying a filling, well-rounded diet.
Increasing your activity levels: Try to incorporate more physical activity into your daily routines. This might include structured exercise sessions and non-exercise activities like taking the stairs instead of the lift or even getting up to walk more throughout the day.
Combining both of the above: The best results come from combining a healthy diet with regular exercise. If you're able to do both consistently, you should see results faster.
The treadmill can help with weight loss by helping you to increase your activity levels. This could be through dedicated treadmill workouts, or by adding 10 minutes on the treadmill before and after your gym workout. Some people even opt for a treadmill under their desk so they can get steps while they’re working.
Maintaining A Healthy Diet Is Crucial
While exercising and knowing what foods to eat is important, consistency is key to achieving weight loss goals. Crash diets won't bring you long-term results, and they generally aren't sustainable. Instead, focus on sticking to foods that will help boost your energy levels and help with muscle recovery.
Here are a few diet tips to consider:
Increase your vegetable intake: Leafy greens, peppers, broccoli, carrots and tomatoes are all great options as they're low in calories but high in nutrients, fibre, and water content.
Choose high quality carb sources: Focus on whole grain options like whole wheat bread, brown rice, quinoa, and oats, which provide complex carbohydrates and fibre to keep energy levels up. Legumes such as lentils, chickpeas and black beans, as well as starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes and butternut squash, are also great sources of carbs.
Get plenty of lean protein: Chicken, fish, lean cuts of beef or pork, tofu and eggs are among the best forms of lean proteins. These protein-rich foods help support muscle growth and repair and help with weight loss, as they have a lower calorie density compared to fatty meats or processed protein sources.
Aim for 2+ litres of water: Try to make it a habit to carry a water bottle with you to ensure you stay hydrated. You could also try drinking water before meals to help control appetite and prevent overeating. As a general rule, aim to drink at least 2 litres (around 8 cups) of water per day.
You can find more nutrition and diet advice here.
3 Treadmill Workouts To Help With Weight Loss
One benefit of treadmill workouts is that they're great for all fitness levels. Here, PureGym London Holloway Road Personal Trainer, Tenzin Harley shares three simple but effective treadmill workout plans for all levels.
Remember to start by warming up with moderate paced walking and some dynamic stretches , and finish with some cooldown stretches.
Beginner: Incline Walk For 15-20 Minutes
- New to exercise? Keep it simple and start with 15-20 minutes 1-3 times a week. As your fitness levels improve you can look to increase the duration or frequency of your workouts.
- Set a moderately steep incline (8-10) and a pace similar to if you were running late to work (4-5 km/h)
- Try to avoid holding the handrails if possible, but if needed, lean forward to maximise the incline's benefits
Intermediate: 200m Incline Jog x4
- Jog at a quick pace with a moderate incline (5-7) and a speed between 9-11 km/h
- Once you've reached 200m, reduce the speed and incline and recover for 1-3 minutes
- Repeat this for a total of 4 times
- Time how long it takes to reach 200m and work on increasing your pace over time
Advanced: 30 Second Sprint Intervals x10
- This workout involves jumping on and off the treadmill using the handrails. If you've never tried this before, practice at a lower speed until you are confident with the technique
- Sprint at a pace over 15 km/h for 30 seconds
- After the sprint, jump off the treadmill belt and rest on the sides for 30 seconds
- Repeat 10 times
- As your fitness improves, progress by increasing the speed or reducing the rest periods
Top Tips For Burning More Calories On The Treadmill
As you get fitter, your body will become more efficient at the activities you do regularly. This means you'll burn fewer calories doing the same workout as you get more advanced. To maintain the same calorie burn, you need to keep making your workouts harder.
You can do this by:
Increasing the intensity of your workout each week by adding an incline (try these incline treadmill workouts) or increasing the speed. Known as progressive overload, this will keep your workouts challenging and burning calories as your fitness increases
Increasing the length of time you're using the treadmill
Taking fewer rests in between intervals if you're using an interval-based workout
Mixing up your workouts to include High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workouts, like these treadmill HIIT workouts
It's also important that you really understand the role of exercise in your weight loss journey. There is no specific workout that brings about weight loss. This is dictated more by your food choices throughout the days, weeks and months, as well as your general activity levels.
So, pick an exercise you enjoy and will be able to maintain moving forward. Exercise is for life, not just fat loss!
Ready to try some new treadmill workouts?
Whether it's your first time running or you're looking to improve your cardio fitness with some new workouts, every PureGym is equipped with a selection of treadmills. Try out these workouts solo, with a friend or partner up with one of our personal trainers for some additional advice and support on your fitness journey.
Kickstart your cardio at your nearest PureGym.
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