Fat-Torching, Calorie-Burning Treadmill Workouts

Beginner

There’s no need to go over the top when starting out. A simple 20 minute interval session is all you need to take your results from good to great.

- 3 minutes warm up at a steady pace
- Sprint for 30 seconds, fast walk for 90 seconds
- Repeat 7 times
- 3 minute cool down

While there’s no specific speed needed for your sprints, a good rule of thumb is to use the RPE scale, or “Rate of Perceived Exertion.”

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being about as much energy as you’d need to go for a gentle stroll and 10 being an all out maximum effort, your sprints should be a 7 to 8, and your fast walk a level 5.

Intermediate

To step things up a gear you could simply make the beginner workout a little harder by increasing your sprint time to 45 seconds and reducing your rests to 75 seconds.

Alternatively increase your total time. Stick with the three minute warm up and cool downs, but try shooting for 10 intervals.

Your other option is to put your treadmill on a slight incline – just taking it up from zero gradient to a level 1 or 2 will make this surprisingly more challenging and increase your calorie burn.

Advanced

Okay, now things get interesting. Treadmill hill sprints are about to become your new ultimate calorie burning fat loss friend.

Stick with the same 3 minute warm up on a low gradient. As you’re coming to the end of the 3 minutes, with about 10 seconds to spare, increase your speed to a full on sprint and take the gradient up a few notches. Go as hard as you can for a full 20 seconds, then reduce the speed and gradient to a very fast walk on a low incline.

Walk at this speed for 60 seconds, then go again.

To start with five of these should be enough. As you get fitter and faster, aim to add more intervals, or increase your speed and gradient. You’ll probably find that as you start to get faster you’ll need to jump your feet onto the sides of the treadmill at the end of your sprint, rather than slow down your pace. This is fine; just make sure you have a firm grasp of the handrail and land lightly on your feet.

Finish with the same 3 minute cool down.

General Interval Guidelines

No matter what level you’re at, you must adhere to these guidelines:

- Warm ups and cool downs are not optional. You need them to fully prepare for the tough road ahead and to help you recover afterwards.
- A whole workout (including warm up and cool down) should be half an hour max. If you can go for longer than this you probably aren’t working hard enough.
- Rest periods should be at least as long as your work periods. A ratio of between 2:1 and 4:1 rest to work is ideal. Again, if you find you can go before your rest is up, you need to go harder on the sprints.