Treadmill Workouts

Hello to all of you, I hope you are having a very active week!  Along with this blog, I also blog for a gym and post up fitness and nutrition information (600pusgym.blogspot.com).  Today, I posted a blog about changing up your routine on the treadmill as a means to get a better calorie burn.  I thought that it contained good information for our blog as well since we promote a healthy and active lifestyle.  Of course, keep in mind, that you are only allowed to do these workouts if you are healthy and have clearance from your doctor because they are rather difficult.  These types of workout aren't for those of you who have had a hip or knee replacement!  It's more for my sports medicine, active, patients.  Alright, so here it is!

1. Distance workout

Start with a 5 minute warm up at an easy pace (everyone's difficulty level is different so if a brisk walk is a warm up to you, start there, or if you're a little more advanced, start somewhere around 10 minute miles.  After the first 5 minutes of warm are up, pick it up two notches (press the "up" arrow twice).  Then, every 2 minutes after that, keep raising the speed two notches.  Do this until you find yourself at about 85% of your fastest speed- in other words, 100% would be a sprint.  After that, bring it back down to a pace that is just a tick faster than your warm up pace. The goal here is to never let your body get comfortable   If you still have the energy to do another set, go for it!  Make sure you get at least 5 minutes of cool down to let your heart rate slow down gradually.

2.  Sprint Workout

Start with a good 1/2-1 mile warm up.  Your going to be sprinting so you need to make sure your legs are nice and warm.  Your speed will depend on how fit you are cardiovascularly.  I can't tell you exactly how fast to set the speed, but what I can tell you is that it is definitely faster than a jog.  Get out of your comfort zone.  You shouldn't be sprinting at 100% but I do want you at an uncomfortable 85-90%.  You're going to do four-six, 400 yard sprints.  A 400 on the treadmill is one-fourth of a mile (remember there are four 400s in a mile...you still with me?).  So it's gonna go like this: you just finished your warm up, you jack up your speed to 90% of your fastest speed until you have been running for 400 yards, jump off to the sides and catch your breath for 2 minutes, jump back on, sprint it out again, jump off, repeat until you have done this at LEAST four times.  I challenge you to do six, though.  Remember to listen to your body so don't do more than you can handle.  To make this more difficult, you can decrease your rest time to 90 seconds, or even a minute.  You can also do another set, just make sure you give yourself at least 5 minutes of recovery in between.  Don't forget to cool down.  It is extremely important after a sprint workout.

3. Burn Baby Burn 

Climbing uphill is my least favorite thing to do on a treadmill because it burns so much...which means it's a really good workout.  I don't mind the burn when I sprint but there's just something about uphills that I hate.  Anyway, this one is easy to explain...you can do this if you're a walker or a runner.  All you do here is of course, warm up on a flat surface, then start to pick up the speed but also increase the incline as well.  Take it up to about a level 2 or 3.  If you only plan on being on the treadmill for a short amount of time (less than 20 minutes), I want you cranking up the incline one notch every two minutes.  If you're going to be there longer, you can raise it every five minutes. Remember, you can do this at any pace you like, but of course, the more you challenge yourself during your workout, the better the after burn.

Try these workouts next time you get on the treadmill.  You can even do the first two outside if your prefer running outside or on a track.  The change in the cardio routine will help you burn more calories and you will probably be a little sore since you're not used to it.  Being sore is awesome though!  I love it because it let's me know I had a great workout.  Hope this helps!