Trade in your boring, unsatisfying treadmill workouts for a metabolism boosting cardio treadmill exercise that will make your mind and body scream for more!
Running or walking on a treadmill is a great cardio exercise, but can easily go downhill when it becomes repetitive and unexciting. Try these treadmill tips to spice up your workout--you might see more results than ever before.
Cardio Treadmill Tip #1: Make a Fitness Playlist for Your I-Pod
Music is great for keeping you energized and motivated throughout your workout, especially when you are on a treadmill staring at the wall or mirror. Try picking your favorite songs you love listening and singing to. This can help you forget about time and make you want to stayon the treadmill longer than before.
Cardio Treadmill Tip #2: Warm Up and Cool Down
It's always important to warm up and cool down. Warming up will allow your muscles to loosen up, and prepare your mind and body for a rigorous workout. Try starting off at a comfortable speed, and then increase the speed by one every one to two minutes for at least five minutes. This will slowly get you up to a great base speed for your workout. Afterwards, make sure to cool down so your heart rate and breathing recovers back to normal. Try going back to your base pace, and decrease the speed by one every one to two minutes like your warm up. Remember, warming up and cooling down also helps prevent injury and cramping.
Cardio Treadmill Tip #3: Keep Track of Your Progress
Keep track of your progress. Running or walking on a treadmill makes it very easy to keep track of your time, pace, and mileage, so do it! This will help you push yourself and improve much quicker. Have a set speed for warming up; this will set you up for a base pace like mentioned in tip three. Once that pace gets easier, don't enjoy it too long. Instead, challenge yourself to a faster pace. Also, keep track of your mileage and time. This helps keep yourself engaged in your workouts, and eager to increase your mileage for your next workout. If you have trouble remembering what you did during a session, bring paper and a pencil with you and write it down.
Cardio Treadmill Tip #4: Add Intervals
A very easy way to mix up your treadmill workouts and keep them exciting is with intervals. It doesn't matter if you are walking or running, intervals can be done through varying your speed, incline/decline, or both. By constantly changing your intensity, your heart is challenged at a greater level, which is then linked to boosting your metabolism. Interval workouts also help target different muscle groups. This occurs when you increase/decrease your speed and your incline/decline. Once you have reached a base speed, try a near sprint for two minutes and then recover for two minutes at your base speed. To make it even harder on the recovery, increase your incline.
Cardio Treadmill Tip #5: Add Forward and Backward Lunges
You don't have to stick with the basic walking and running on a treadmill. Lunges are great for sculpting your butt, thighs, and abs, so you might as well challenge yourself by adding them to your treadmill routine. Make sure the speed is on a moderately slow pace where you can perform a lunge correctly. You are wasting your time if you can't do the lunge the right way. Also, by doing lunges on a treadmill, you are engaging your abs much more than if you were to do them on the ground.
So try spicing up your next 30 minute run or walk on the treadmill with these tips; you might find yourself enjoying your workout and achieving more results.
