Here's the 20-minute treadmill workout I referenced in the Fitness Bullshit post, for those who asked. I do this about once a week, or whenever the weather is shitty, or whenever I only have 20 minutes. You get the idea. I SHOULD do it more often, or in place of some of my running workouts. But then I would have to interact with coworkers on my lunch hour. Me Time FAIL. I think you can see my dilemma.
Anyway. One problem with this workout is that I typically do it on an incline treadmill, which is a special kind of treadmill that allows a much steeper incline. Uh...HENCE THE NAME. But, you can still get a good workout on a treadmill that only inclines to 10 or 15%, especially if you are just starting out.
LESS TALKING, MORE WORKOUT-PROVIDING:
00-05: walk at min incline (5-10% for me)
05-06: walk at 15% incline
06-07: walk at max incline (20-25% for me)
07-08: walk at 15% incline
08-10: walk at 10% incline
10-11: walk at 15% incline
11-12: walk at max incline
12-13: walk at 15% incline
13-15: walk at 10% incline
15-16: walk at 15% incline
16-17: walk at max incline
17-18: walk at 15% incline
18-20: walk at min incline minus 5% (or zero)
I walk the same speed the entire workout (3.5 miles per hour for me). You could go faster or slower, but don't go so fast that you have to lean over and cling to the rails like you're about to go over Niagra Falls in a leaky barrel. Goddamn. As long as you're there, you may as well stand up straight and pump the arms, ya know?
If you do this right, you should be sucking wind by the end. You will feel it in your butt (especially if you lean back) and calves/thighs (especially if you lean forward). Your max incline should be high enough that you cannot do more than 1 minute at that level.
If your treadmill doesn't incline past 10 or 12 percent, just start at 1 or 2% and work up. It's still a good workout, especially if you go a little faster and really pump the arms, mall-walker style (TOTAL DORKFEST, I KNOW).
Hey, if YOU do any interval workouts (walking, running, biking, weights, whatevs), lay em on me, wouldya?
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8 comments:
Hey, thanks for posting this! I've been neglecting my treadmill in favor of the elliptical because I hate running and didn't know how to get a decent workout on the treadmill otherwise. I'll definitely try this one.
until my body EFFING GAVE UP ON ME (i hate you, ankle and knee) i was doing some good interval running. i started out inside on the treadmill, doing initially 2 mins running / 1 min walking, then bumping that up to 3 mins running or more. then i moved outside and had to basically start from scratch, but was up to 1 mile (!!!!!!!!) running, then a minute walking, then 2-3 mins running / 30 seconds walking (ish? i didn't time it) for the rest of the run. and now I HATE LIFE because my joints are dead. maybe they'll be OK after the weekend? DEAR BODY, I AM ONLY 28, PLEASE DEAL.
Here's a fave of mine:
1. Warm up on the treadmill, I usually do about 10 minutes at 6.5 mph
2. Do four repeats of the following:
1 min @ 5.5 mph
1 min @ 6.5 mph
1 min @ 7.5 mph
1 min @ 8.5 mph
The 5.5 feels SLOOOOW, but it's a recovery, so that's the point. I like this little one to shake things up when I've only got a few minutes to work out (if you do a shorter warm up, you could really be done in 20 min!)
Oh my god. Did I just click on a greek website or something? Because I know not of what you speak. Does this have something to do with exercise? Because it does not compute. The end.
(I'm going to go polish off that bag of Doritos now!)
Warm up. At. Six. Point. Five. Riiiigggghhht. Tessie, you are pretty much the funniest person I don't/do know. Not because of the six point five, though that is a contributing factor. Awesome post! Where do we find these 25 percent treadmills? Awesome!
Keep the workout posts a comin, because I heart them. Especially when you include imagery of niagra falls and say Goddamn. Because seriously? It's fantastic.
On my elliptical I warm up for about 10 minutes, building up to the highest level and highest incline and then go hard 1 minute, recover for 1 minute for 12 cycles (24 minutes) and then cool down/go normal for another 15 minutes.
Sometimes I'll do 30 sec/30 sec instead. I really hate intervals but it's fast and dirty.
For running (I don't have a treadmill), I'll just pick a spot and run like hell and then go slow. Repeat until I can't take it anymore.
Oooo! I like this!
I'm going to keep this in mind post-baby. I definitely fall prey to the "more is more" fitness bullshit. If I don't have time to run at least 4 miles, I figure what's the point and CAN the whole idea of working out. But easing off the run-run-run mentality can actually be a good motivator.
I tried this on Tuesday. Verrrrry challenging, yet so good for the tush.
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