How to burn more calories on your treadmill

It’s time to get yourself in shape. Your objective: a firmer, slimmer body with more muscle tone. To lose the weight, you know you have to eat healthier and regularly perform some sort of athletic activity. Your new treadmill will help you get to where you want to be. If you’re wondering how to optimise your efforts and, just follow our advice with help from MayoClinic (Jagim, 2021).

Regular workouts are the key

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Your treadmill will help you to build muscle at the same time you’re working out. Of course, the more time you try to dedicate to each workout will have an effect and here’s a tip for staying on track at home: run while watching your favourite TV show!

Interval training

By alternating a heavy workout with a less intense activity (such as walking) you can attack that extra fat. Various scientific studies have proved the value of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT).
In one study1, overweight young men who alternated 8-second sprints with 12 seconds of walking for 20 minutes per session over 12 weeks lost the same amount of fat as others over 16 months of aerobic exercise performed 5 hours a week. Another study2 was carried out on young women with the same HIIT routine over 15 weeks: the women in the HIIT group on average lost 2.5 kg of subcutaneous fat, compared with no change in the women from the aerobic activity group.

Better still: with interval training, fat loss continues even after your workout! How can you accomplish this, you ask? Start with 1:2 intervals (1 minute of intense activity, then 2 minutes of soft recovery), then 1:1, performing intense but brief sessions.

Rise up!

When you increase the incline of your treadmill, you’ll burn more calories. Work your way up gradually to a steeper incline, giving yourself time to adapt your breathing and keep your heart rate steady. You don’t need to exercise to the point of exhaustion. Instead, you should aim to increase your activity in a reasonable fashion.

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Listen to your body

On days when you feel full of energy, extend your training session a little: you’ll burn more calories over your longer workout. Stay in tune with your body, and listen to what it’s telling you.

Eat right

The best way to lose weight is by combining exercise with a balanced diet. This doesn’t mean you have to starve yourself. Running in the morning on an empty stomach, for example, is not advised. Instead it is more recommended (MayoClinic, 2021) to eat carbs and high energy foods to give you energy for your training.

Remember also to keep hydrated during your workout and always keep a water bottle within reach.

Mix it up

Don’t repeat the same workout over and over again. Optimise your overall programme by varying your training sessions. And come up with different objectives: interval training, endurance work, “hill climbing” (increasing your treadmill’s incline), etc. Alternate between different workouts according to your desires and to how you’re feeling on a given day. Remember: exercising should be fun!

Choose wisely…

Finally, you need to choose the right treadmill. You want to look for a comfortable model, one that offers a steep incline and can vary your workouts. A nice bonus: one with a built-in tablet so you can watch your favorite series while you exercise.

Ready to start? Discover the complete range of NordicTrack treadmills, and you’ll be sure to find the model that meets your needs. What are you waiting for? After only a few weeks on your new machine, you’ll love it!

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Pinpointing weight loss

Exercise requires energy. You can turn your body fat into energy, so when you exercise, you lose weight by burning fat (MayoClinic, 2022).

Fitness in practice, it can be very important to take into consideration all other criteria when looking to lose weight:

  • What sort of physical activity you’re performing regularly
  • Your diet… and the calories that come along with it
  • Your height and weight
  • Your age
  • Your gender

Finally, when you exercise, you naturally could build muscle but keep in mind that you may not lose weight. When creating your routine, give yourself the best plan of action by covering all the bases that suit your body.

1 Journal of Obesity – Volume 2012, Article ID 480467 – “ The Effect of High-Intensity Intermittent Exercise on Body Composition of Overweight Young Males ” 
2 International Journal of Obesity – volume 32 (2008) “ The effects of high-intensity intermittent exercise training on fat loss and fasting insulin levels of young women

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