Treadmill Interval Exercises

According to the Mayo Clinic, many benefits are associated with regular exercise including: fighting disease, managing your weight, improving sleep quality and increasing energy. Many people choose to exercise using gym equipment such as a treadmill. You can run or walk at a steady pace on a treadmill, but adding intervals to your workout uses different muscles, increases the number of calories you burn and helps keep your workout interesting.

  1. Speed Intervals

    • Warm up at a moderate pace for five minutes. You can choose to walk or jog, but you should be comfortable and have no trouble breathing or talking. After your five-minute warm up, increase your speed for one minute. Now, reduce your speed to your warm-up level for one minute. Repeat the one minute of speed and one minute of cool down for 10 minutes, then finish the workout with five minutes at a slow pace to cool down.

      The speeds you choose for your interval workout depend on your current fitness level. A beginner might start off walking at 3 miles per hour and then walking at 4 miles per hour during the speed interval, while an advanced exerciser might alternate jogging at 5 miles per hour with sprinting at 9 miles per hour. If you find that one minute of speed is too much, try increasing your pace for only 30 seconds at a time. Work your way up until you are jogging and sprinting at a faster pace for a full minute.

    Incline Intervals

    • Walk or run at a moderate pace for five minutes at a 0 percent incline to warm up. Increase the treadmill's incline for one minute; then return to a 0 percent incline for another minute. Repeat these intervals for 10 minutes; then cool down at a 0 percent incline for another five minutes. Just like the speed intervals, you can vary this exercise to suit your current fitness level. If you are a beginner, complete the entire exercise walking, and use moderate inclines. More advanced exercisers may choose to jog or run for the duration, and use steeper inclines. You might need to experiment with speeds and inclines until you find a pace with which you are comfortable to start off.

      Increase your endurance by slowly incorporating the incline intervals into your workout for 30 seconds at a time, instead of a full minute, and by using smaller inclines and working your way up to larger ones. As your strength increases, try longer intervals at steeper inclines and running or walking at a faster pace throughout the entire workout.