6 Best Treadmill Workout for Weight Loss

Treadmills remain the most popular machine in gyms, as they are good for building leg strength and losing weight. Moreover, you don't have to run through hell to get results. If you choose a good weight-loss treadmill routine, you can spend less time on the treadmill and still change the way your body looks.

A treadmill can help you lose weight as long as you do a mix of HIIT, interval, and steady-state cardio workouts. You'll also need to watch what you eat, and take care of yourself by doing things like putting sleep first to reduce stress and cortisol.

Best Treadmill Workout for Weight Loss

Check out these six best treadmill workouts you can do for weight loss:

1) Incline Walk

You may have heard of the '12/3/30' TikTok workout. That basically means you should set your treadmill's incline to 12%; set the speed to 3 km/h, and walk for 30 minutes.

To do this workout:

Start with a flat or 1% slope.
Take a quick 5-minute walk to warm up.
After 5 minutes, make the slope go up to 12%.
Walk for another 30 minutes at the same pace.
After 30 minutes, for your cool down, turn the incline back down to flat or 1%.

2) Run - Walk - Jog

This is a different take on HIIT training that lets you run, walk, and jog in the same workout. The good thing is that the constant changes in speed will keep you interested and keep you from getting bored, which will make the time pass quickly.

To do this workout:

To warm up, set your treadmill to a flat incline, and walk at 3 km/h.
Speed up to about 14–16 km/h, which is a running pace, and run for 30–45 seconds.
Slow down to about 4-6 km/h, which is a walking pace, and walk for 30–45 seconds.
Speed up to about 9–11 km/h, which is a jogging pace, and jog for 30–45 seconds.
Repeat the whole thing 5-8 times.
Slow down, and walk at a speed of 3 km/h to cool down.

3) Classic 5K

Any beginner or intermediate athlete can easily accomplish this simple workout. In this workout, you will run 5 kilometers at your own pace without stopping.

To do this workout:

Set your treadmill to a flat incline, and walk at 3 km/h to warm up.
Pick up the pace a bit, and run till the treadmill says 5.0 km.
Slow down, and walk at a speed of 3 km/h to cool down.

4) Sprint Interval

In this workout, you will switch between periods of hard work and periods of active rest.

That allows you to use a lot of energy quickly, which burns calories. As the body recovers from the bursts of high intensity exercise, it uses more energy by burning body fat.

To do this workout:

To warm up, put the treadmill on a flat incline, and walk at 3–4 km/h for 5 minutes.
Speed up to 15–16 km per hour, and run for 30–45 seconds.
Slow down to 5–6 km/h, and take a break for 30–60 seconds.
Run 5–8 times, and walk back and forth.

HIIT training is great, as you can tailor the workout to your fitness level by using your rate of perceived exertion (RPE) to decide on speed and timing.

For example, if you're more experienced, you might want to speed up your high-intensity bursts, and shorten your breaks. You could also switch between sprinting and jogging instead of walking and sprinting. When you sprint, you're doing it right if you feel like you're putting everything you have into it.

5) Low Intensity Steady State (LISS) Cardio

LISS is a great way to burn calories with moderate effort if you're just starting out and can't quite do HIIT training or incline walks. In this workout, you will set your treadmill to a speed you can keep up for at least 20–30 minutes, and just jog till the time is up.

To do this workout:

Set your treadmill to a flat incline, and walk at 3 km/h to warm up.
Increase the speed to one that's achievable.
For most people, that will be between 6-8 km/h, but you can try different speeds to see what works best for you.
Run for 20-30 minutes
Slow down, and walk at a speed of 3 km/h to cool down.

6) Up The Hill, Down The Hill

This treadmill workout is easy and short, but it burns fat quickly and very well. You will start with a flat incline, and try to keep your pace while the incline goes up by 1% every minute.

Once you've reached the steepest point, the slope should go down by 2% every minute till the road is flat again.

To do this workout:

Set your treadmill to a flat incline, and walk at 3 km/h to warm up.
Make the slope go up by 1%, and speed up to a jogging pace.
After a minute, make the slope 1% steeper again.
Keep doing the steps above till the treadmill's incline is as steep as it can go. You may need to start walking at this point, but that's fine.
When you reach the highest incline, run, or walk for one minute, and lower the incline by 2%.
Keep lowering the slope by 2% every minute till you can run on a flat slope again.
To cool down, slow down, and walk at 2 km/h.

Takeaway

Even though many people think of treadmill workouts as long, painful runs, there's no reason to be afraid of treadmill workouts.

Most people 'set it and forget it' when it comes to treadmill workouts. However, high intensity workouts mixed with inclines and a combination of sprints, jogs, and walks can be effective to cut time on the treadmill while burning calories effectively.