19 Jan Getting a Good Workout on an Incline Treadmill

Treadmills are a great way to work out year round without having to worry about weather, temperature or having to figure out a good route.  There are many factors involved in getting a great workout by using a treadmill.  Outlined below are some important points and tips to consider when you work out on the treadmill.

Finding the Right Treadmill

If you are shopping for a treadmill there are a few things you can look for when comparison shopping.

• Make sure that the treadmill that you get has a wide running surface
• Choose one that has a good choice of treadmill speeds
• That is can convert into an incline treadmill
• Offers the ability to monitor your speed, distance, calories burned, pace, etc
• Can hold up to 300 lbs. (this tends to make them much sturdier and longer lasting)

These are a few of the things that can provide a treadmill that you will be able to use for a long time. There are many treadmill brands on the market, so finding one that fits your workout needs won’t be hard.  If you like to do comparisons, you can choose several brand names and look them up to see the different specs and options to choose from that are available.

Getting Started with Your Workout

Once you have the treadmill, or if you already have one, you can get a great workout that can really put you through your paces.  It is important to get started with a good warm up. It doesn’t take long; just 5 minutes on a lower speed of 2 or 3 with no incline is good for the warm up phase.

Once you have warmed up, it’s time to start using the incline part of the treadmill for what it’s for…to give your legs, butt and hips a great workout that will help you get in shape.  Once the main part of the workout begins, plan on exercising steadily for the next 20-45 minutes.

The best way to use the treadmill speed and incline the proper way is to use one of the pre-programmed choices, but if your treadmill doesn’t have those or you just don’t like them, you can make up your own easily.  Changing up the pace and incline during your workout is the best way to really get those muscles burning.

Setting the Pace and Incline

Start raising the speed to 3 or 4 and increase your incline to 1.  About every 3-5 minutes increase your incline by 1 and your speed up as well.  As your incline increases, you will begin to feel the resistance building up in your legs as they are worked harder. This is the same feeling you would have being out running somewhere and going up a fairly small hill.

Be sure that if you are new to working out on a treadmill, that you don’t overdo it.  For the first little while plan on not going over a 4.5-5 walking speed and a 7 incline which will really give your lower body an excellent workout.  Once you’ve been doing it for a couple of weeks, you can increase this if you feel the need to.

Continue to cycle up for at least 20 minutes solid and then you can start decreasing everything back down to a cool down walking pace which would be 2.5 to 3 depending on your stride.  Cool down at a walking pace with no incline for another 5 minutes and you’re treadmill workout is over.

Workout Variations and Frequency

Since treadmills are really just about walking, you can do a treadmill work out every day if you choose.  Once you have been working out for a few weeks, you can add many variations that will help keep your muscles off balance so they don’t plateau and become immune to the workouts you do.  This can happen when you do the exact same routine, the exact same way each time.

Change up the pace each day, change the types of exercises you do (fast walking, jogging, running) and increase the speed and incline and you will have an effective workout that will help you reach the goals you have.