Treadmills can be an incredible weight loss tool. Not only are they extremely efficient and give you the ability to shed lbs. with a multitude of workout and exercise plans, they are also extremely convenient.
Many fitness enthusiasts own treadmills in their own home. With just 15 to 20 spare minutes per day they can perform an incredible workout. I recently bought a treadmill for home use and I have found it to be very effective for my weight loss routine.
On those days that I am short on time I am able to get in an effective workout in the same amount of time that it would normally take me just to DRIVE to the gym. I have no excuse not to get some form of exercise or cardio in every day.
There truly is no excuse not to stay in shape and exercise regularly when you own your own treadmill. That is the beauty of it and that is why treadmills are so effective.
Treadmills give you the best medium to be consistent with your fitness routine. From my experience, consistency is the most important factor to you losing weight. Most people will go back and forth between “healthy” days and “unhealthy” days. One day you are at the gym and eating well and the next day you eat like crap and “don’t have time to work out.”
Not having time to work out is a bogus excuse. You aren’t too busy – you just don’t know how to manage your time!
For all of those hardcore fitness enthusiasts that use the treadmill for their weight loss routine, you need to learn the most effective routines. That is what this exercise plan aims to teach you.
Even if you only have 10 minutes to spare per day for your workouts – we will break down an effective exercise plan for losing weight on a treadmill.
The problem is that most people do not choose an effective workout plan to shed those unwanted lbs. Our bodies want to be challenged, and to consistently see impressive results with your exercise plan you need to challenge your body and push yourself outside your comfort zone.
That is where high intensity interval training on the treadmill comes in. I have had a huge amount of success doing sprint intervals at different speeds and inclines on the treadmill.
I have changed my body fat from 12 percent to 8 percent in 2 months. I was also able to lose 5 lbs and improve my vertical leap and speed.
These may not seem like dramatic changes – but keep in mind I was already in good shape before I started doing this and was at a plateau for quite some time.
Let’s break down why this routine is so effective and why promoting muscle confusion and fast twitch muscle breakdown is the key to your weight loss progress!
What is all of this Muscle Confusion Hype?
Muscle confusion has been a popular term recently with the success of training programs like P90X and Insanity. The central thesis of these workout programs is that you are challenging your body in new ways and training at a different intensity than you are use too.
In fact – Jen over at the fithousewife.com recently shared that one of her favorite at home workouts was p90x due to its challenging and unique workouts. Check out the article here.
The goal of this program is to drastically change how you train on a treadmill thus creating muscle confusion with your routine.
When you confuse your muscles and force them to exert extra energy you are breaking down and tearing the muscle fibers.
Breaking down these muscle fibers through High intensity interval training is a huge component to how fast you lose weight.
The problem with your standard cardio routine is that your body has adapted to it and you are no longer challenging your body in different ways.
How many overweight people do you see at your local gym and you see them on the treadmill walking or lightly jogging at the same speed for long periods of time? I know these people are a dime a dozen at my local gym.
These are the people who are “comfortable” with their workout routine and feel good about themselves for just being there.
Let’s further break down why static cardio at the same speed for long periods of time is not an effective way to lose weight quickly on a treadmill.
Fast Twitch vs. Slow Twitch Muscle Fibers
You have two different kinds of muscle fibers in your body. Your body is composed of slow twitch and fast twitch muscle fibers.
We are all born with a different ratio of these muscle fibers – and this is what you could constitute as the “genetic” aspect of being gifted athletically or at a particular sport.
People who are mostly slow twitch muscle fiber athletes or fitness enthusiasts are geared more towards long distance and endurance sports. Marathon runners and swimmers would fall into this category.
Fast twitch muscle fiber athletes are the world class speed and jumping athletes. Think Olympic track stars, NBA players, and the quickest and fastest athletes in the world.
So what does any of this have to do with your weight loss routine?
Well you see – it takes your body different amounts of energy to repair these muscle fibers after working out.
When you are doing slow and static cardio – the kind of cardio that most people you see at the gym do – you are working out your slow twitch muscle fibers.
After a slow paced and long workout – it will only take your body a few hours to repair these muscle fibers. Your body will need to use extra calories when it is repairing muscle fibers- thus helping you burn a few extra calories.
When you run fast sprints or high intensity interval workouts – you are breaking down your fast twitch muscle fibers.
It takes your body much longer time to repair these muscle fibers. After a very high intensity sprinting workout or High intensity interval workout – it could take your body up to 48 hours to repair these muscle fibers fully!
That means for the next 24-48 hours – your body is a calorie burning machine while it is working hard to repair those fast twitch muscle fibers.
Chances are Your Current Treadmill Workout is a Waste of Time
Now I am not bashing any form of exercise for weight loss. If you are active and running or even power walking you are way better off than being sedentary.
This is a matter of efficiency we are talking about here. Are those 30 minutes per day that you dedicate to your weight loss and fitness the most “efficient” form of exercise for weight loss?
Are you burning the maximum amount of calories during your exercise routine or are you just going through the motions?
This workout routine is designed to help you burn more calories DURING your workout and also AFTER your workout.
You will be burning calories when you are simply at rest doing nothing with this workout routine.
Let’s get started to the good stuff and I will share with you my 30 minute high intensity interval workout that has given myself and all of my clients dramatic results.
Ultimate Treadmill Weight Loss Workout Plan
This workout routine is very intense. I would not recommend it to someone who is a beginner with treadmill workouts.
If you are looking for a simple and effective beginner workout program you can go for a month to prepare yourself for this intensity of program. Sarah over at Skinnyrunner.com shared a nice routine.
This is a sample workout that has worked extremely well for me and the people I have trained.
I trained a gentleman recently that started off at 6 ft. 215 lbs. Within 8 weeks of my workout program he had lost nearly 30 lbs! He was down to 189 lbs. and shed a great portion of his body fat.
This strategy of short bursts of high intensity cardio has worked for Jen over at the fit housewife. Check out her post on how to burn fat faster.
The ONLY thing he did differently was eliminate the “bad carbohydrates,” increase his lean protein and follow this High Intensity Interval Training treadmill workout three times a week and lifted weights at a high intensity two times a week.
I believe that you can achieve similar results to him even if you don’t lift weights. The great part of this workout plan is that you only need to dedicate about 2 hours per week to it!
4 Days a week for 30 minutes a workout will give you INCREDIBLE results with this program.
Let’s get started with the program.
For the purpose of this program you will need a treadmill that can reach a 15 percent incline and preferable one that can go 12 MPH.
Let’s Get started
My Ultimate Fat Loss Sample Workout:
5 Minutes Warm Up Jog – 0 percent Incline @ 5.0 MPH
30 Second Run – 5 Percent Incline @ 8 MPH
1 minute Power Walk – 5 percent incline @ 4 MPH
45 Second Fast Run – 7.5 Percent Incline @ 8 MPH
1 Minute 30 Second Speed Walk – 7.5 percent Incline @ 4.5 mph
30 Second Sprint – 9.0 Percent Incline @ 9.0 Mph
1 Minute Walk – 9.0 percent incline @ 4.5 mph
45 Second Sprint – 10.0 Percent Incline @ 10.0 mph
1 minute 30 second speed walk – 11.0 percent incline @ 4.5 mph
60 Second Sprint – 11.0 incline@ 10.0 mph
2 minute walk 12.0 incline @ 4.5 mph
60 Second Sprint – 12.0 incline @ 10.0 mph
Cool Down
2 Minute Speed Walk with High Knees – 6.0 Incline @ 5.0 mph
Final Stretch
1 Minute Sprint 13.0 Incline @ 11 mph
2 Minute Walk 13.0 incline @ 4.5 mph
90 Second Sprint 15.0 incline @ 9 mph
Final Cool Down
3 Minute Power Walk 15.0 Incline @ 4.5 mph
Let’s be honest – this is a pretty intense workout! This is the kind of workout I have used for my clients to lose up to 30 lbs. in 2 months and ONLY working out 2 hours per week.
If you want quick results you need an intense workout regimen. This workout regimen is designed for those of you who are “too busy.”
Follow a similar routine to this and I promise that you will see quick and immediate results. Consistently and religiously following this kind of workout routine just 4 days a week for 30 minutes per workout will results in dramatic body composition changes. I have seen it first hand!
What if I’m not at your current fitness Level?
Most of you will not be able to keep up with the kind of intensity that this workout routine has initially.
So how do you make up your workout routine?
Stick with the same walk/run/sprint format but just lower the incline and/or speed. Whatever you do you should aim for a 30 minute workout.
I came across a pretty good beginner interval routine over at fitnessista earlier this week. Check it out in this interesting and well done blog post
You need to constantly change up your speed, incline and intensity. A good rule of thumb is that if you sprint for 1 minute you should walk for 2 minutes at the same or higher incline. You will constantly be switching from high intensity sprinting at an incline to power walking.
Carefully track how long you spend on each incline and speed. Make sure that you increase your speed ever so slightly EVERY time you work out.
Slow and consistent improvements are the key to HUGE weight loss results over time.
Although this workout routine is very intense – it ONLY takes up 30 minutes. If you tell yourself that all you need to do is workout at a high intensity for 2 hours per week to see dramatic results – I’m sure most of you will find motivation in that.
And the beauty of this workout routine is you get rest in between high intensity sprints! You are actually only performing high intensity sprints or incline runs for 40-50 percent of the workout.
This kind of intense workout routine 4 days a week will turn your body into a calorie burning machine. This workout can burn up to 1,000 calories in 30 minutes!
Your body will also be burning up to twice as many calories for the 24-48 hours after this intense interval workout.
Due to your fast twitch muscle fibers breaking down with this intense regimen, your body will be working hard to repair and restore the muscle fibers that were torn during your high intensity interval training.
Who said you can’t take breaks when you work out?! This High intensity interval training routine is perfect for men and women of all ages looking to shed some unwanted lbs.
