The best machine to lose weight is the treadmill. There’s no more. Due to its simplicity and the type of exercise that is performed, the treadmill is the best way to burn calories. Perhaps you already sensed it a long time ago and you have been incorporating a few minutes of continuous running into your daily routine for several months. But, for some strange reason, you are not seeing the results… Why?
Although each case is special and each one has a different metabolism, I dare to venture that your problem is how you run on the treadmill. Keep in mind that when you pursue a specific fitness goal, you must pay special attention to all the details to achieve your goals. Here we present 10 essential tricks to lose weight using the treadmill.
How to burn more calories on the treadmill?
1. Focus on swinging your arms
To lose weight on the treadmill it is essential to swing your arms. Although it may not seem like it, the arms have a fundamental role when you run. If you learn to do a good arm swing, you will be able to multiply the benefits of the race. The arms direct the coordination of the lower body with the upper body, so a correct arm movement will help you to involve more muscles in the body and, therefore, burn more calories.
It is best to rock them front to back without crossing or tilting. You must maintain a 90-degree angle and move your elbows parallel to the direction you are moving. As for the shoulders, keep them relaxed, without contracting them and without hiding your head inside them.
2. Give yourself a few minutes of recovery
If you are one of those who finish training on the treadmill in one jump, this may interest you. Ending the routine with a bang, without allowing the muscles to gradually recover, can cause serious injuries and slow down your body’s recovery.
To burn calories on the treadmill we must finish the training by gradually lowering the intensity of the race, it is much more natural, safe and, “you get the body to work more, adding more minutes to the fat burning session”, says David Sic, running instructor. Keep in mind that the body begins to burn fat after the first 17 minutes of cardio, so the longer your session lasts, the fatter you will burn.
3. Forget about the weights
If your goal is to lose weight, forget about running with weights. That will only make you run more artificially and prevent you from concentrating on the race. Without the weights, you’ll run faster, stronger, and longer. Keep in mind that a well-done treadmill workout should exhaust you. If after your session you feel that you could incorporate weights into your training plan, it means that you have not trained with the required level of intensity.
4. Use the incline of the treadmill
Running on an incline is a great way to increase the intensity of your workout. The increase in effort implies a greater number of beats per minute, which automatically translates into burning more calories.
These types of workouts are highly recommended if you are thinking of having a long session because the incline reduces pressure on the knees. It is best to alternate, throughout the session, different degrees of inclination.
It is important to use a treadmill with various levels of inclination if we want our results to be optimal. For example, the Body tone DT22 treadmill would be an option.
5. The intensity is more important than the number of kilometers
The treadmill allows you to focus on running technique and precision. Speed, inclination, heart rate, intensity… All factors are controllable! For this reason, when you run on a treadmill, you should look for the quality of the training and not obsess over the distance covered.
6. Work in intervals
Interval running is much more efficient than long duration runs. In addition to burning more calories on the treadmill, you will be able to minimize the impact suffered by the knees and ankles. Try to run at high intensity intervals combined with low intensity continuous running. With this type of training you will be able to strengthen the core and fight abdominal fat.
For interval training, it’s important to have a treadmill that has multiple levels of resistance. An example could be the Cadenza Fitness T50 treadmill.
7. Gradually increase speed
Gradually increasing the speed will help you increase the level of demand of the session. When it comes to burning calories, the key is beats per minute. The more pulsations, the more calories are burned.
When you become physically fit enough to sustain a certain race pace, your heart rate also becomes habituated and ends up making less effort to sustain the level. That’s why I encourage you to always run away from your comfort zone.
8. Change your routine
One of the biggest risks you have when you work on cardio is falling into a training routine. Therefore, you have to try to include innovations and variations so as not to get bored with your daily sessions. Remember that if you do this it is because you like it.
9. Make circuits
There is no reason to separate cardio training and strength training. They are perfectly compatible and, combined, powerfully multiply your results. If you already follow a bodybuilding program at the gym, you can take advantage of the breaks between each series to walk on a treadmill. In this way, you will keep the intensity and the level of pulsations stable throughout the session.
10. Run with music
I am not revealing any great secret if I affirm that motivation is essential to be constant in the gym. Therefore, you have to enjoy your fitness plan. A good way to achieve this can be to listen to music during the session. In addition to distracting you, it will help you keep a steady pace. It is proven that when we run and listen to music at the same time, we tend to synchronize the rhythm of the race with the rhythm of the music.
Treadmill exercises to lose weight
Siik Training
If your purpose is to follow a fitness routine to lose weight but you really don’t know where to start, losing weight on the treadmill can become a powerful ally. The program of the treadmill training expert, David Siik, that we present below can be very useful to achieve your goals. First, stretch well and start with a gentle warm -up for two minutes:
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- 0:00 – 1:00:Average speed (for example 10 km/h) with a 4% incline
- 1:00 – 2:00:Low speed (for example 6 km/h) with a 0% incline
- 2:00 – 3:00:Increase +0.5 km/h (10.5 km/h) with a 3% incline.
- 3:00 – 4:00:Low speed (for example 6 km/h) with a 0% incline
- 4:00 – 5:00:Increase +0.5 km/h (11 km/h) with a 2% incline.
- 5:00 – 6:00: Low speed (for example 6 km/h) with a 0% incline
- 6:00 – 6:30:Continue with the speed you had up to that moment (11 km/h) with a 3% incline
- 6:30 – 7:30:Low speed (for example 6 km/h) with a 0% incline
- 7:30 – 8:00:Continue with the speed you had up to that moment (11 km/h) with a 4% incline
- 8:00 – 9:00:Low speed (for example 6 km/h) with a 0% incline
- 9:00 – 9:30:Continue with the speed you had up to that moment (11 km/h) with a 5% incline
- 9:30 – 10:00:Recover
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These are our tips for losing weight on the treadmill, now it’s your turn! Do not forget that if you have any questions, you can contact us and we will try to help you!
