The following treadmill workouts can also be used outdoors when running on the road or track, as well as running on a fitness treadmill. These treadmill workouts are aimed at increasing your fitness levels. I’ll be publishing some treadmill workouts for weight loss and other benefits in the near future – so stay tuned (or subscribe to the feed)
Threshold runs
Treadmill Workouts
Threshold runs – sometimes known as tempo runs – involve running at about your anaerobic threshold (sometimes called your lactate threshold – this is also one of those treadmill workouts that are good for burning fat). The anaerobic threshold is the maximum effort at which your body can work for long periods. It is thought that by training at this level, you can gradually increase the body’s capacity to produce energy and its ability to cope with the build-up of lactic acid (which is a by-product of intense exercise).
A threshold run treadmill workout generally consists of a 10-minute warm up, followed by 20 – 30 minutes of running at just below your anaerobic threshold, followed by 5 minutes of warm-down.
The tricky part is getting the pace right. One way to gauge your threshold run is to find the pace at which you can just hold a conversation. You should be able to talk, but perhaps not in complete sentences. If you are too out of breath to speak at all, you are running too fast, but if you can speak normally, you are running too slowly. You are aiming to run ‘comfortably hard’.
If you are an experienced runner, your threshold pace on these treadmill workouts should be somewhere between your 10-mile race pace and your half-marathon race pace, or about 10-30 seconds a mile slower than your 10 km race pace. You can use the calculator at runningforfitness.org to calculate the correct pace.
Alternatively, you can use a heart rate monitor to ensure that you do your threshold run just below your aerobic threshold. Your aerobic threshold is generally about 78-85 perent of your maximum heart rate.
The key to threshold runs is to resist the temptation to go too fast. This is deliberately not a maximum effort workout. As you become fitter, these runs should become easier, until you review your threshold pace and adjust. You should not go as fast as you can from one week to the next: as you feel stronger, you should try to achieve the same pace and distance with less effort.
Fartlek Treadmill Workouts
Fartlek literally means ‘speed play in Swedish (the idea was invented by Swedish coach Gusta Holmer). It means the introduction of faster bursts into a slower run. The purpose of fartlek is to ensure that the whole muscle is getting a good workout; and to build speed and strength.
Fartlek runs can be done as an unstructured session (i.e. running faster as you feel inclined); or in a more structured way (e.g. 10 surges of 400 m). The best place to do fartleks is generally on a programmable fitness treadmill, a trail run or in a park, though some athletes prefer to do them on a track.
A typical fartlek session might be a 10-minute warm-up jog; then hard strides for 3-4 minutes, with 1-minute recoveries, for 10-15 minutes; then a 10-minute jog to cool down.
Another way to do a fartlek is to use landmarks, such as lamp-posts or trees. For example, you might decide to run hard for the next eight lamp-posts, and then jog for a minute. Some running clubs organize fartleks in which different runners take it in turns to lead the group, increasing the pace to hard strides periodically as they see fit, while the rest of the group keeps up with them.
Long Runs For Treadmill Workouts
The long slow distance run is the cornerstone of a long-distance runner’s treadmill workouts and training program. Runners call them the ‘LSD’ – which stands for long, slow, distance run – but the term has stuck because the LSD is one of the most reliable ways of getting the ‘runner’s high’.
The long run has many benefits. First, it helps to adapt your joints and muscles for endurance. Second, it improves your cardiovascular system, strengthens the heart and increases the blood supply in the muscles; it therefore enhances the body’s capacity to deliver oxygen to your muscles. Third, it enhances your body’s ability to burn fat as a source of energy. Fourth, it teaches your body to store more energy as glycogen in your muscles. And finally, long slow runs teach the body to run efficiently, minimizing the energy expenditure needed to move you along. Even if you are not training for a marathon, the long slow distance run should be a key element in your overall fitness program.
LSD treadmill workouts should be run slowly. As well as reducing tiredness and the risk of injury, there are benefits to running slowly which you do not get from running faster. (You would probably be surprised how slowly the best athletes run for their long run.) If you use a heart rate monitor, try to keep your heart rate within 70-80 per cent of your maximal heart rate. It is hard to go too slowly for your LSD; but all too easy to go too fast.
The distance of the long slow distance run depends on the length of the race for which you are training. For a 5 km race, the LSD need not be more than 5 10 miles; but for marathon runners it needs to be more like 20 miles (or longer for advanced runners). Another way of looking at it is that the long run should be between one-quarter and one-third (certainly less than half) of your weekly mileage. So if on your treadmill workouts you are running 20 miles a week, your long run should be around five to seven miles. Unless you are an experienced runner, your long run should not exceed 21 miles.
You must log in to post a comment.