I am going to be honest and tell you that cardio is my least favorite way to workout. It is necessary however. The classes I teach at the gym are mostly cardio based and cardio is fun in a group format. There are times when a group class is not available, for various reasons. And in those cases using cardio equipment in the gym becomes a necessity. Steady state running is BORING! And other then burring a couple hundred calories there really is not much benefit for running on the treadmill for 30 minutes. But there is hope! I am including a high intensity treadmill workout for you. High intensity cardio burns more calories, challenges your cardiovascular system, burns more fat, and even promotes strength building.
45 minute Treadmill workout
1 minute – run a nice easy pace to warm up the body. This pace should be about a jog.
2-5 minutes – increase pace to a run. This should be a pace that causes your breathing to increase but not cause you to be breathless.
5 minute – increase incline to 1.5 and keep pace the same.
6 minute – increase incline to 2.5 and keep pace the same.
7 minute – increase incline to 3.5 and keep pace the same.
8 minute – increase incline to 4 and keep pace the same. (this should start to be more difficult and you will feel like you are running harder to keep up with the pace).
9 minute – increase incline to 5 and keep pace the same. Stay at this incline for 2 minutes.
11 minute – start to slowly decrease incline. At 11 minutes decrease incline to 4.
12 minute – decrease incline to 3.5.
13 minute – decrease incline to 2.5.
14 minute – decrease incline to 1.5.
15-20 minute – decrease to 0 incline and run at pace.
21-22 minute – decrease pace back to slower jog pace. The next 5 minutes will be an active recovery to prepare you for the last half of the workout).
23-25 minute – increase pace to fast run. (Now we party).
26-30 minute – tabatas – Sprint for 20 seconds and rest for 10 seconds for 4 minutes. Sprint as fast as you can. Turn the speed up on the treadmill and RUN. Take your recovery by placing feet on the side so you do not have to worry about changing speed on the machine.
31-33 minutes – reduce speed to slow jog – You have earned this recovery.
34 minute – increase incline to 5 and sprint for 30 seconds – recover for 30 seconds
35 minute – keep incline and sprint for 45 seconds – recover for 15 seconds
36 – keep incline and sprint for 1 minute
37 minute – recover for 30 seconds – sprint for 30 seconds
38 minute – recover for 15 seconds – sprint for 45 seconds
39 minute – sprint for 1 minute
40-42 minute – decrease incline to 0 and reduce speed to jog
43 minute – decrease pace to fast walk
44 minute – decrease pace to slow walk.
45 minute. YOU ARE DONE!
This is a tough workout. I dread it when I have to do it. But it is effective. Enjoy!!