A guide to treadmill workouts

A guide to treadmill workouts

The workouts available on modern machines offer variety to keep you motivated as you progress towards your goals, whether they are to lose weight or tone up. With the latest technology they are kinder on your joints than road running too.

The most popular treadmill workouts are as follows.

Target workouts

With target programmes you can aim for specific distance or workout durations. They are Ideal if you are training for a race or have a limited time for your workout.

If you have limited time to train, target programmes are perfect for getting the most out of your time. You can break up workouts into smaller chunks. For example of you wanted to run for 45 minutes in a day, you could have a 25 minute run in the morning and a 20 minute run in the afternoon or evening.

With a distance target you can work towards a personal best time, without the distractions that you can get either on the road, or in race conditions.

Calorie targets allow you to work towards burning a specific amount of calories. The treadmill may use a combination of speed and incline adjustments to help achieve your target. Please remember that this will be a theoretical number as we are all different shapes and sizes and as such will all burn calories at different rates.

Heart rate controlled programmes

Heart rate controlled – these programmes are the most safe and effective way to lose weight and tone up muscles. The treadmill monitors your heart rate and continually adjusts the intensity of the workout to keep you in the correct heart rate zone for an efficient and safe workout.

Traditionally, monitoring your heart rate and keeping in the correct zone for your goals was a complicated affair. With the introduction of heart rate monitors this became easier but still required the user to change the intensity of the workout of their own accord.

Treadmills with heart rate control functionality take all the guesswork out of the whole process. All you need is a compatible chest strap. The treadmill will then ensure that your heart rate is kept in the right training zone by adjusting the difficulty of the workout. If you are working too hard then the speed of incline will be reduced. If you are not working hard enough then the incline or speed will be increased until you are.

The constant monitoring and feedback means that the workout is much safer and more effective than the old fashioned methods.

A modern treadmill will enable you to workout in one of the following zones:

•Recovery Zone - 60% to 70% -> Workouts in this zone are the least intense. You will still burn fat though so they are valuable workouts.

•Aerobic zone - 70% to 80% -> When working in this zone you are developing your cardiovascular system. This is great for improving overall fitness.

•Anaerobic zone - 80% to 90% -> Training in this zone will allow you to find your anaerobic threshold as well as develop your lactic acid system. By developing your anaerobic threshold you can increase your body’s ability to remove lactic acid from the muscles. Workouts will use more glycogen stored in the muscles as opposed to fat, meaning you can work out for longer and more safely.

•Red line zone - 90% to 100% -> This occurs in the most intense workouts. If you are very fit, you can work in this zone to develop speed as you work on fast-twitch muscle fibres. It is advisable to only workout in this zone for short periods, as part of interval training with recovery periods.

Your heart rate can also vary for the following reasons:

•Biological – As your body changes from day to day, a variation of a few beats per normal is normal

•Hydration levels. – if you are dehydrated this can increase your heart rate by around 8%

•Location and climate – Heat, Humidity and Altitude can all increase your heart rate, even if you have acclimatised to your location.

Hill and interval programmes

Hills and intervals – Hills offer an intense workout whilst intervals are great to alleviate boredom and improve fitness. They are ideal for those who want a challenging workout at lower speeds.

Treadmills by their nature, allow you to fine tune your workout with almost limitless variations in speed and incline. The hill programmes can give a challenging workout for those who cannot run at speed, or for people who are recovering from an injury. Those with knee pains may find that the incline of a treadmill can actually be more comfortable that walking on level ground.

Walking on a treadmill with an incline will increase the efficiency of your slow twitch muscle fibres – especially the calves if you are new to hill walking. This helps build strength and endurance.

If you have any medical conditions or injuries it is advisable to speak to your doctor before starting any new form of exercise.