I have been jogging (not running) for about 2 months now. I don’t do it for a long time and I certainly don’t do it for a long distance. But I enjoy being able to read my book and get my cardio done at the same time. How do I read and run? Well, maybe I will save that for another blog post.
I wanted to change up my routine the other day so I went on the Planet Fitness app and they have follow-along running workouts so I thought “OK! I will give that a try!” Um, not really for me. There’s nothing I enjoy less than long periods of faux encouragement from an instructor. Mix that with a lot of heavy breathing and I’m OUT! So I thought about it. Why not do a blog post with some cool ways to change up your treadmill routine. There’s a lot of ways you can change up your treadmill but I wanted to KISS (keep it simple stupid!). There’s also nothing more annoying than a workout that’s complicated just for the sake of being complicated. So here they are!
1. Speed Intervals
Always start with a 5 minute warm up pace at a 1% incline (Assume this for the following 4 methods that way I don’t have to say it again). Your set pace will either be a slow jog or a decent pace walk. Increase your speed on the tenth mile mark and go back to your set pace at the next tenth mile. Repeat this for 20-30 minutes or as long as you want to go. Challenge: increase your sprint speed every interval until you get to a pace that you can’t complete for a tenth mile.
2. Hill Climb
Begin with a 1% incline. You can do this for time or distance. My recommendation is to increase 1% incline every minute or every tenth of a mile until you get to the peak. Then decrease your incline 1% until you get to the bottom. If you need to, you can decrease your pace as you increase your incline. Most treadmills will go up to 15% incline so the workout should take you about 30 minutes. Do not hold onto the handles on the treadmill while on a hill. If it’s too hard to handle the high inclines, make your peak much lower and you can increase the distance or time at each incline. Challenge: Hold your peak incline for 3-5 minutes before beginning your descent.
3. Speed and Hill Intervals
Again, you can do this in mileage or time. I will do one tenth mile or one minute at a moderate to steep hill (5-7% incline). Decrease the incline back to 1% and increase your speed to a sprint pace. Then go back to your set pace or recovery speed for one minute. Repeat this sequence until you have completed your goal mileage or time. Challenge: increase your pace and/or your incline every round.
4. Pyramid Speed Training
1% incline is similar to running outdoors so I always recommend keeping at least a 1% incline on your treadmill. In this pyramid, you will start out with your set pace and gradually increase until you are at your max speed. Once you have reached your max speed, you start to decrease your speed until you are back to your set pace or recovery. This is really challenging and good for those who enjoy and are comfortable with running or jogging for a fairly long period of time. You can increase on the mileage marks or time marks of your choice. Challenge: Once you are back at the bottom of your pyramid, do it again but at a slightly slower pace.
5. Cross Training on the Treadmill
I really love to use the treadmill as part of my cross training and you can do this in a multitude of ways. You can add walking lunges to your treadmill workout or you can add speed or hill intervals in your strength training or HIIT workout. I really like to do either quarter or half mile intervals in between my strength training sets. And I usually do these on leg day. For instance, I will do a super set of squats and deadlifts (3 sets each) and then hop on the treadmill and do a half mile at a challenging pace.
There’s a reason the treadmill is called the hamster wheel. It can feel like you are working so hard and really getting nowhere. Hopefully these small adjustments will make your next treadmill workout more enjoyable and less boring. Let me know what you like to do to change i up in the comments below!