One of the problems beginners face when first using a treadmill is exactly what they should be doing. To get the most out of a treadmill, you should be doing a full workout, not just ‘going for a run’. The biggest mistake a beginner can make is to set the treadmill to a running speed and wear yourself out. Here is a guide to treadmill workouts for beginners.

Starting Out On The Treadmill

If you are a complete beginner to the treadmill, you need to get used to how it works before you start your workouts. Familiarise yourself with the controls, ensuring your know where the speed is and how to stop! You should practice getting on and off the treadmill a few times before you start doing workouts. You should stand on the sides of the machine, either side of the belt, with the treadmill stopped. You should then get the belt moving at a slowest speed, get on it and keep moving! Once you are in a good rhythm, you can increase your speed to a gentle walking pace. Getting off the treadmill is the same but in reverse; slow down to a crawl, step onto the sides, and stop the machine. It is advised to do this rather than dismounting from the rear as it reduces injury. Getting of while it is moving either means turning around (and falling over), or getting of backwards (and falling over!).

Your First Workouts

For your very firs workouts, you don’t want to push yourself. Start off with a gentle walk on the treadmill for 10 minutes. You can change the speed to a brisk walk if you want. The idea is to get used to to movement of the treadmill, and prolonged exercise. Once you get comfortable with this, you can increase the length and speed of your workout. Start by increasing your workout by 5 minutes, and including a few minutes of jogging here and there. You should also set your incline to 1% after your first few workouts. When you feel comfortable with this, or after about a month, you can start varying your speed, incline and length of your workout. You aim is to be comfortable with all the various settings, and prepare your self for your first proper workouts.

Your First Scheduled Workouts

When you feel ready to do your first workouts, you can create a little workout schedule. Below is a schedule, that is a 40 minute workout that will take you around 4 miles. This is a good workout for beginners to try and stick to, but don’t carry on past your limit! If you find it too much, just slow down and stop. You will notice that the beginning and end of the workout has a slow speed. You want to spend 10 minutes warming up and down to get ease your body in and out of the workout. An advantage of having a scheduled workout is that you can gauge your fitness increasing. If you find your first time you can only make it to 20 minutes, it makes you feel better when you can make it to 22 minutes, and 24 minutes and beyond. You can measure yourself improving!

Once you find the above workout comfortable, you can start upping the speeds. Below is another workout, but a bit tougher. Once you can do this one, you are ready to move onto tougher workouts.

You can download these workouts as PDF to take to the gym.