Treadmill workouts can be a seriously effective tool for losing weight, increasing cardiovascular health, toning, or just getting into overall good shape. The problem with most people’s treadmill workouts is that they aren’t tuned in enough to what they are doing.

Don’t get me wrong; you burn more calories on a treadmill reading a magazine or watching a talk show or sports game than you do sitting on a couch…but, you also miss the opportunity to capitalize on an hour or so that could yield you much more noticeable and profound fitness gains.

Working out, or moving at all in general, is always better than staying sedentary, but at some point you have to start considering whether or not you really want to look and feel fit. If you are serious about attaining your fitness or weight loss goals, start paying real attention to your workouts. When you pay attention to your workouts, you’re more likely to push yourself, which is a necessity for seeing progress in your efforts or losing weight on a treadmill.


How to do this Treadmill Workout Plan
Choose workout clothes that are comfortable and breathable. Wear running shoes that provide ample shock absorption and keep a water bottle close by so that you can stay hydrated throughout your workout. Music helps to make workouts less monotonous and to keep yourself motivated, so don’t forget some kind of tunes. You can do this 60 minute treadmill workout outside or on a track, as long as you have some kind of timing device with you so that you know when to change interval sessions. Do the different intervals during each set time period as in indicated below.


60 Minute Treadmill Workout

Minutes 0-5
Warm Up: Walk at a pace that is comfortable but gets your heart rate slightly elevated; a perceived exertion roughly at a level of 3/10

Minutes 5-10
Easy Jog: Choose a jogging pace that is very light and easy to maintain, just to get those muscles extra warm; a perceived exertion roughly at a level of 4 or 5/10

Minutes 10-30
Walking and Jogging Intervals: Walk for 2 minutes, and jog for 1; repeat until this 20 minute portion of the treadmill workout is complete.

Minutes 30-40
Walking and Side Shuffle Intervals (Right): Walk for 1 minute and side shuffle while facing the right for one minute; repeat the alternating until you reach minute 40.

Minutes 40-50
Walking and Side Shuffle Intervals (Left): Repeat the interval workout from minutes 30-40, only this time facing the left.

Minutes 50-60
Walking forwards and Backwards, Intervals: Walk forward for one minute, and backwards for another, alternating until the last 10 minutes of the routine is complete. Walk backwards as slow as you need to, but keep your hands off of the rails to make it the most effective. You may want to wear a watch or keep a clock on the wall behind you so that you can tell when your interval of walking backwards on the treadmill is complete.


Stretch thoroughly after this workout as you have used multiple muscle groups in ways that they may not be accustomed to.


Benefits of this workout
This 60 minute cardio workout will have you using the treadmill in all kinds of ways in order to render the most calories burned and the most muscle groups toned. The intervals are excellent for burning fat and stoking your body’s calorie burning furnace, and they make for an effective routine that is not so exhausting that someone even moderately new to exercising can’t finish the workout.

The side shuffling intervals in this routine tone inner and outer thighs, and calves. They also develop coordination and balance as well as build strength through the knee and ankle complexes. Walking backwards on a treadmill also has benefits; it increases balance, uses the lower body muscles in a different way than walking forwards, and forces your core to engage.


Note: This is an advanced treadmill workout routine that involves exerting yourself for an extended period of time, direction changes, and using cardio equipment in less than conventional ways (i.e. backwards, and sideways). If you are unfamiliar or uncomfortable in any way walking on a treadmill, wait until you get more experienced before you try this particular hour long cardio workout. Here’s a good place for beginners to start: 30 Minute Treadmill Incline Workout