Fat Burning Interval Training: Treadmill Workouts

Yuri Elkaim, BPHE, CK, RHN
myTreadmillTrainer.com

Don’t you just hate the word fat? Don’t you just love the word fat-burning? (I think that’s one word). Truth be told, all of us are like that.  Fortunately, we innovative humans have devised many methods of torture that give us more of the second word than the first ñ sometimes.

Sure, running miles and miles through hill country has its merits.  And sure, swimming miles and miles through lake country has its merits.  But most people, in order to lose weight, need to do an activity that they perform at their convenience. . We don’t always have the time to go on these hour-long treks.

So what to do?

How about using a treadmill?

Interval Training: Treadmill Benefits

We’ve all seen them.  You may even have one at home.  These are the big, scary-looking machines that have a belt like the one you see at the supermarket - except it goes fast.  The idea is that you stand on the belt and run like you would normally. Simple, right?

Treadmills really are great exercise tools, because they give you the convenience of running in your own home whenever you can. You don’t have to find time to drive all the way to the gym, plus, you can run indoors whenever the weather is bad.  They also serve as a coach of sorts, since you can run with pre-programmed routines (or make your own).   In short, treadmills rock.  Now on to the interval training part.

Interval Training: Treadmill Becomes Your Best Friend

Interval training is quite different than normal running.  In normal running, you head out on the road or track (or treadmill) and seek to kick up your heart rate high enough over a long enough period of time that your body tears through its fat stores to get energy.  This can work, but there’s a better way.

Interval training is when you set up a routine where you alternate short, fast periods of intense running with longer, slower periods of “recovery” (although you’re not resting; just taking it down a notch or two).  This pattern is actually far more effective than what I call normal running.  The fluctuation in intensity does more to stimulate your body’s metabolic rate (i.e. how fast you burn calories) than running a few miles at a constant pace.

So, when talking about interval training, treadmill usage really helps.  You can actually select pre-programmed interval training routines that speed up and slow down the belt for you ñ and tell you how long you have in that particular stretch of the run. 

Isn’t that awesome? It’s like having a coach there next to you with a stopwatch - minus the yelling.

For anyone who is doing interval training, treadmill routines are some of the best tools out there.  It takes the guesswork out of the whole shebang, ensuring that you will incinerate the pounds with a vengeance.  I highly recommend trying it out.

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