Lose Weight With a Treadmill: A Guide to Effective Use

When using a treadmill, the natural movement engages all the muscles in your body and promotes calorie burning and muscle toning. Weight loss occurs when your energy output is more than your energy intake. As a rule of thumb, you’ll need to burn roughly 3,500 calories to lose half a kilo. Try this 20 minute, workout to burn 300 calories and fast track your weight loss goals. 

The 20 Minute Workout  

Warm Up: For the first 3 minutes, start on gentle pace and an incline of 1% 

Incline: After the warm up, things are going to happen very fast. After every 30 seconds, start increasing the incline by 1%. Once you’ve reached 7%, drop back to 1% and repeat this sequence. 

Cool Down: In the last 3 minutes, reduce pace and settle into a light walk. Remember to stretch! 

Tips  

• Push yourself: Don’t use the same settings for your treadmill. Change it up! Mix up your routine and change the incline and speed each workout. The higher the speed and steeper the incline, the more calories you burn. And faster too! 

• Good Posture: Keep your body relaxed and your head upright and make sure your shoulders are directly over your hips. If you’re tensing whilst working out, this could lead to pain in the neck, shoulder and lower back and hinder your progress. 

• Measure: Almost all treadmills will have a counter that shows how many calories you’re burning. Other will even allow you insert your age and weight in the console so you can track your progress. This will keep you motivated and engaged with your treadmill workouts. 

• Diet & Fitness: Running on a treadmill alone will not help you lose weight quickly. You also have to consider your diet, your current fitness level and weight.