The most successful workout plan for you is the one that you can imagine yourself doing day after day. It's true: consistency is key. And sometimes, a rigorous exercise plan seems like a good idea at first, but it's hard to keep up with it over weeks or months. When we get burned out or our muscles get too tired and sore, we may stop working out.
Treadmills allow for you to create a consistent exercise regimen that's easy to keep up with. As long as you have a treadmill in your home, you can do it any time of day. You don't need to worry about the rain or snow (or blistering heat) outside your door.
The good news is that you really can lose weight by walking on a treadmill. The key is to work out at a high enough intensity, and to work out consistently.
Walking contains all of the necessary qualities that you need to lose weight and become healthier. It exercises the major muscles and gets your heart rate up, which will in turn boost your metabolism and help you lose weight. (Of course, you'll also want to pay special attention to your diet, too.)
In order to lose weight with treadmill walking routine, you will need to make sure you are working out long enough (or with enough intensity) to burn calories. Walking fitness experts say that, generally speaking, you can burn the same amount of calories with a short, fast walk as you can with a long, slow walk. The key is to find the combination that will make you actually want to return to the treadmill day after day.
Walking fitness experts generally recommend that you do your walking workout at least 5 days a week, for between 30 to 60 minutes each time. Make sure to talk to your doctor before you start your exercise program to get a good sense for what your target heart rate should be during your workout. You want to make sure the intensity of your workout is just right (and safe) for you.
If 30 minutes is too much when you are starting your walking workouts, adopt a smaller goal (10 minutes, for example) and work your way up. Stay at a good pace: if you aren't able to talk, for example, you need to slow down. Also, don't forget to stretch your muscles first and start and end each workout with about five minutes of slow walking to get yourself warmed up. And invest in a good pair of athletic shoes. Go to a store that specializes in athletic footwear and let them know that you need something ideal for walking on a treadmill.
A great way to build your endurance is to engage in interval training, in which you increase your speed or incline for a few minutes, and then drop back down again to a slower pace; cycling through these intervals many times in a workout. Many treadmills have programs built right in that allow you to do these intervals with varying levels of intensity.
As you walk for weight loss on your treadmill, keep an eye on the statistics on your treadmill screen, too. Celebrate those small accomplishments as you go.
