Running is a great way to get into shape, but the weather doesn’t always want to coordinate with our schedules. Whether it’s a torrential downpour or a blistering day that’s keeping you in your house, that doesn’t mean you have to cut a day out of your routine, in fact, this is one of the best reasons to run on a treadmill. Plus, when you use a treadmill, you can adjust the speed and angle to simulate a variety of terrain that might not even be present on your normal running route. However, not everyone has used a treadmill or even practiced a regular running routine before and that’s why I’m here to help with a few easy workout ideas!
Treadmill Running Program
The best way to get started if you’ve never used a treadmill or even gone on regular runs is to take things slow. Try a simple 10 minute jog, increasing the speed as you see fit until you are comfortable, but not overexerting yourself. After you hit your comfort zone, increase your jogs to 15 minutes and increase your speed exponentially until you’re happy with your pace and then add another 5 minutes to your routine and another speed increase.
After a few months you’re probably going to feel much better about using a treadmill and thus you’re going to need to change things up a little to keep that heart rate up. Now that you’re regularly running for 20 minutes, it’s time to take it to the next level, inclines! The science here is pretty simple, an increased incline is going to make the workout a little tougher and a decreased will make things a little easier.
To start this exercise, set your time to 20 minutes and no incline. Start at a brisk walking pace and keep this up for 3 minutes. At the 3 minute mark it’s time to bump that incline up to 1.5. Before the 7 minute mark, increase it by .5 once you’re comfortable and then another .5 once you hit 7 minutes. Work your way up to a full 3.0 incline as you see fit and then begin to decrease the incline at 15 minutes. Continue to decrease it to the lowest setting until you finish at 20 minutes.
This should cover you for the first few months and provide enough of a challenge to keep you on your toes as you jog your way to a healthier you!