Treadmill Interval Workout for Beginners

It’s hot, humid, smoggy, dark, or all of the above. What do you do? Head for the treadmill, of course!

For beginning runners, treadmills - at home or at the gym - provide a safer, more manageable way to workout. And once you’ve been running for a couple of months on the ‘mill, you may want to go to the next level – interval training, which happens to be a great workout on a treadmill. What's an interval workout?  Simply put, it's when you workout alternating short, high-intensity workout "bursts" with low intensity rest and recovery periods.

Here’s a 20 minute workout from certified personal trainer Paige Waehner that will boost speed and improve your comfort level while running longer distances: 

Warm Up     5 minutes
Run at a comfortable pace at which you can easily hold a conversation

Rest             3 minutes
Set incline to 1% and increase speed.  You should still be able to hold a conversation.

Work            1 minute
Add 1 - 3% to the incline.  Now you should be slightly breathless as you run

Rest             3 minutes
Decrease incline and speed back to a level where you can talk easily without feeling breathless.

Work            1 minute
Increase incline 1-2% and increase speed 3-5 increments.  You should be slightly breathless  as you run.

Rest             3 minutes
Decrease both your speed and the incline to lower your effort level back to where you can comfortably hold a conversation.

Cool Down  5 minutes
Decrease both your speed and your incline further down so that you can easily talk while you run.

Believe it or not, adding this simple treadmill workout to your weekly running routine will help you build endurance faster and burn more calories.  Also, keep in mind that you can use this workout with any other machine (eliptical trainer, stair-stepper, etc) or do the workout outside).  You won't believe what difference interval training makes in your fitness level!

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