This is a guest post by Anna Moore.
Most people choose to run on a treadmill because they want to lose weight. And they make the right choice. Cardio equipment and treadmills in particular can help you get in your fat burning zone easy.
As a general rule, you exercise in your fat burning zone when you reach 75%-90% of your target heart rate zone. The Target Heart Rate equals 60%-90% of your maximum heart rate.
There is an easy way to calculate the maximum heart rate (in case your treadmill doesn’t already do this):
Maximum Heart Rate for men = 220- age
Maximum Heart Rate for women =226 – age
Smart treadmills will change the treadmill speed and incline automatically so that you remain in your target heart rate zone throughout the workout. How this works: at the beginning of the workout introduce your personal details (age and weight) in the console. Then you attach a wireless heart reading system to your chest. This is recommended so you can keep your hands free during workout. Last, you start exercising on the treadmill while you monitor your target heart rate and your fat burning zone.
The formula for how you reach your fat burning zone is pretty easy. But if you are a beginner, you must start by training your body to burn fat during workouts.
In this case the first step is to build a base of aerobic fitness and endurance. It may appear hard, but after 3-4 weeks of training you will consider this routine easy as A-B-C.
Beginner Weight Loss Treadmill Workout:
Workout duration: 20 minutes
Warm Up: 2 minutes at 0 incline and 1mph speed and 2 minutes at 0.5 incline and 1.5 mph speed
Workout:
30 seconds: at incline 1.5% and speed 2mph
30 seconds: at incline 1.5% and speed 2.5mph
30 seconds: at incline 1% and speed 3mph
30 seconds: at incline 0.5% and speed 3.5mph
30 seconds: at incline 0.5% and speed 4mph
30 seconds: at incline 0.5% and speed 3.5mph
30 seconds: at incline 1% and speed 3mph
30 seconds: at incline 1.5% and speed 2.5mph
Repeat the exercise 5 times.
Cool Down: 2 minutes at 0.5% incline and 2.3mph speed and 2 minutes at 0% incline and 1.5mph speed
At the beginning, while you exercise your target heart rate should be at 65%-75% of your maximum heart rate. During warm up and cool down your heart rate should be at 55-65% of your maximum heart rate.
Your workout routine should start with 3-4 workouts a week. But if you feel the need to rest, don’t hesitate.
After this period you will have stronger quadriceps, calves, hamstrings and a stronger heart. Now you are almost ready to complete the weight loss workouts correctly.
Intermediate Weight Loss Treadmill Workout:
Workout duration: 30 minutes
Warm Up: 2 minutes at 1% incline and 2mph speed and 2 minutes at 1.5% incline and 3mph speed
Workout:
30 seconds: at incline 2.5% and speed 4mph
30 seconds: at incline 2.5% and speed 4.5mph
30 seconds: at incline 2% and speed 5mph
30 seconds: at incline 1.5% and speed 5.5mph
30 seconds: at incline 1.5% and speed 6mph
30 seconds: at incline 1.5% and speed 5.5mph
30 seconds: at incline 2% and speed 5mph
30 seconds: at incline 2.5% and speed 4.5mph
Repeat the exercise 8 times.
Cool Down: 2 minutes at 1.5% incline and 3.8mph speed and 2 minutes at 1% incline and 2.5mph speed
At this stage warm-up and cool down should be 55-65% of your target heart rate and during the workout you should reach 75-85% of your target heart rate.
If you feel you can push more, you can increase speed and incline for each segment. If you are not a speed runner, change incline to increase your heart rate, and keep speed at the same level.
After repeating this exercise 4-5 times a week for another 3 or 4 weeks, you will feel the need to increase effort so that your target heart rate reaches 80-90% of your target heart rate (which is the most efficient fat burning zone).
Advanced Weight Loss Treadmill Workout:
Workout duration: minimum 40 minutes
Warm Up: 2 minutes at 2% incline and 3.3mph speed and 2 minutes at 2.5% incline and 4.9mph speed
Workout:
30 seconds: at incline 3.5% and speed 6.5mph
30 seconds: at incline 3.5% and speed 7mph
30 seconds: at incline 3% and speed 7.5mph
30 seconds: at incline 2.5% and speed 8mph
30 seconds: at incline 2.5% and speed 8.5mph
30 seconds: at incline 2.5% and speed 8mph
30 seconds: at incline 3% and speed 7.5mph
30 seconds: at incline 3.5% and speed 7mph
Repeat the exercise 10 times.
Cool Down: 2 minutes at 2.5% incline and 5.6mph speed and 2 minutes at 2% incline and 3.8mph speed
Weight loss workouts are strongly recommended for those who want to improve their heart muscles. So don’t consider this routine useful only for those who want to lose weight.
Treadmill running may be boring to many runners, but it has advantages that are hard to replicate in ground running. Good treadmills are built to help your exercise smart and efficiently. This is a treadmill fact hard to deny.
If you are on a budget, Livestrong Treadmills have weight loss workouts based on the target heart rate included in their consoles and they don’t cost that much.
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