How to Lose Weight Through Treadmill Workouts (Updated 2020)

January 1, 2020 10:30 am

Edited By Pinki, Reviewed By Vardhan

Want to know how to lose weight at home or rather how to use treadmill for weight loss? Read this article to get the answers.

The treadmill is considered to be one of the most effective exercising equipment. But most people seem to use the treadmill wrong more often than not.

Even if you spend almost 1.5 to 2 hours on the treadmill, every day, almost bored out of your mind, you don’t seem to have any results when it comes to weight loss.

This not only makes it hard for you to keep going back to the gym and exercise for weight loss every day, but it also makes it hard for you to keep up the motivation on the whole weight loss idea.

People just seem to use treadmill for warm-up before the actual exercise, if ever, when properly used, a treadmill is great for weight loss and as good as walking, jogging, running or sprinting.

How to Lose Weight Through Treadmill Workouts

Among all the benefits of treadmill one is that you can install a treadmill exercise machine at your home and workout for weight loss, thus there is no need to go to a gym.

So, how to use treadmill for weight loss? Here are some ways:

HIIT – High-intensity interval training

How does it work?

When you are stuck in your weight-loss journey, HIIT is generally the answer, and it works with the treadmill too.

High-intensity interval training is advantageous for weight loss as it quickly uses up the extra calories, helps in burning fat and doesn’t adversely affect the muscle tissue.

Treadmill workouts are ideal for people who are short on time. The basic idea behind HIIT is to work high-intensity for a short span at pre-fixed intervals with low-intensity effort in between the intervals.

To put it simply, you can run for a few minutes on high speed followed by a few minutes of jogging and then going back to running for a few minutes. Thus a cycle of high intensity followed by low intensity will help you easily burn the extra fat quickly.

The best advantage of this type of treadmill workouts to lose weight, that even if you can spend only around 45-50 minutes/day, you can see results almost within a couple of months.

Additionally, you won’t have time to get bored as this type of exercise will pull you away from your comfort zone, thus, leaving you no time to get bored. And since it just needs less than an hour per day and will provide you with immediate results, it helps you stay motivated to lose the extra pounds quickly.

So all those who were wondering how to lose weight fast with exercise, treadmill workout is for you.

How to run on treadmill for weight loss? What steps can one follow?

A simple treadmill workout for weight loss via the HIIT method should look like this:

A warm-up session is very important: For the HIIT, or any intense work-out session for that matter, a good warm-up is essential. A proper warm-up will not only ensure proper blood flow to the whole body but will prepare your body for the intense session next and ensure that there are no adverse effects. Generally, a 10-20 minute warm-up on the treadmill, walking or slowly jogging is advantageous. A slow and very comfortable pace is ideal. Once the 10 minutes are up, you can gradually increase the pace to something you are comfortable with. Ideally, you should either be speed-walking or running, but at a comfortable pace.
High-intensity work out session: Once you get started at a comfortable pace, the next step is to pull your body out of the comfort zone. Start walking or running in such a way that there is an increase in speed, and you can feel your heartbeat. In a few minutes, you should be able to break a sweat, and your breathing should quicken. Depending on your weight-loss goal and your fitness level, this level of high intense walk/running can last from a couple of minutes to 8-10 minutes.
Take rest after a high-intensity work-out session: Once the time for the high-intensity period is over, the next step will be the low-intensity rest period. For this, you need to slowly bring down your walking/running speed to a comfortable level and keep doing it for the entire rest period. The amount of rest period depends on the time for the high-intensity period. Generally, the time taken for rest can be the same as the high-intensity period, or it can be 2-3 times more. The amount totally depends on your comfort and fitness levels.
Repeat the cycle: Once the rest period is over, you need to again gradually start the high-intensity session and repeat the cycle for 45-50 minutes. As you go through the cycle, there will be a point where you start slowing down more quickly. Though this is totally normal, try to push yourself to be consistent during the whole cycle as it will give better results.
Wind-down: Just as a warm-up is important before starting any intense work-out session, it is also important to not just stop abruptly. Once your allotted time for the HIIT session is drawing to a close, start to slowly bring down the pace to a comfortable level and then slow down your speed until you are walking or jogging. Keep at it for at least 10 minutes before quitting.

To sum up, the work-out should look something like this:

Warm-up: 10 to 20 minutes

High intensity: <8 minutes

Rest period: 1 – 3 times high-intensity period

Repeat high-intensity followed by rest period cycle for 50 minutes with no breaks

Wind down for 10 minutes before stopping

Use the incline for quicker weight loss

How does it work?

If you are running for weight loss then using the treadmill for a finite time at the same speed is the worst thing you can do. Instead, you get better results if you keep changing the workout around. If sprinting and HIIT isn’t your thing, you can play about with the settings, especially the incline, to realize quick weight loss.

The main aim here is to bring yourself and your body out of the comfort zone and force it to work and burn those extra calories. As it is a commonly known fact, running uphill is a hard job and burns more calories than running on a flat road.

Applying this strategy to the treadmill too and increasing the incline will help you lose weight faster. This way, calories burned on treadmill will be more. Also, it is more challenging for you as you will have no time to be bored and you will be able to see results faster! This is one of the benefits of running on treadmill.

Just like the HIIT method, you can keep changing the incline bit by bit with periods of rest in between. The main aim here is to increase your heart rate, which will then lead to burning of the extra fat and hence weight loss. A number of machines allow you to easily change parameters like the speed and incline so that you can exercise better.

Some of them even have in-built modes where the machine simulates running up and down hills. There are modes where you go on an incline and then on a flat run as a cycle, and there are modes which mix things up randomly too.

Both can help towards using the treadmill more effectively to lose weight and what you choose depends on your requirement and level of fitness. This is the best way to lose weight at home. So, put on your running shoes and shed those extra killos!

What steps can one follow?

The steps involved are fairly simple. As always it is important you don’t forget the warm-up and slowing down at the end before eventually stopping. At least an hour on the treadmill per day is essential if you want to see quick results. The steps involved are as follows:

A warm-up session: As with any exercise, it is important to warm-up before beginning the actual exercise. During the warm-up phase, walk or run slowly for at least 10 minutes. At the end of the ten-minute mark, slowly start picking up your speed until you are walking or running at a comfortable pace.
Increase the incline and push yourself: The next step is to start with a 1% incline. Increase the incline by 1% and maintain the same pace as at 0%. Once you settled in rhythm and are confident about your pace, increase by another 1%. Keep doing the 1% increase until you reach your maximum potential. You can make a sort of interval training using the incline too. Just run on the maximum incline you can work with for 10 minutes and then take 10 minutes to break on 0%. Keep doing this as a cycle.
Gradually slow down towards the end of the session: Once you are near the end of your exercise, start decreasing the incline and start slowing down gradually. This step is important as it is ideal to slowly come to a halt rather than just suddenly stopping.

Thus, your whole exercise regime should look something like this over a span of at least 60 minutes:

Warm-up: 10 minutes

Slowly building speed to a comfortable level: 10 minutes

Increase incline to a comfortable level and walk or run: 8 minutes

Run-on 0% incline: 8 minutes

Repeat cycle: >60 minutes

Slowly decrease incline and speed before eventually stopping

If done right, it is possible to use the treadmill effectively to lose weight. As opposed to walking, jogging or running outside, using a treadmill ensures that you can work out every day no matter the weather outside.

Also, you do not have to starve yourself to lose weight, it is possible to lose weight without dieting. There is no rocket science involved in this, just changing your eating habits and replacing unhealthy food with healthier food will show significant results.

For example, replacing salted butter with peanut butter or replacing tea/coffee with green tea.

Green tea not only helps in removing toxins from the body but also helps in boosting metabolism which in turn helps in burning more calories than usual. These are some of the proven benefits of green tea.

The secret to losing weight on a treadmill is to keep stepping-up the difficulty level so that your body is pulled out of its comfort zone and forced to burn those extra pounds quickly. So, keep changing it with the exercise regime and realize your perfect weight, look good and keep fit! Plan well, and you won’t get bored!

Pinki

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About the Author

Pinki Bakshi has started her career in writing abstracts for research papers. Her education in microbiology, biotech, and yoga has helped her in broadening her knowledge base from the scientific to the spiritual domain. She has previously worked with HCL healthcare as an analyst. She is spiritually inclined and now imparts her knowledge of yoga and meditation to others. Her passion for words and their usage to create a rhythm is reflected through her writings. She is diet-conscious and is a fitness enthusiast as well. Know More About Pinki

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