How to Use a Treadmill for Beginners
Almost all the training principles athletes use to prepare for a race are no different from what you need to learn to know the proper use of a treadmill. You have to gradually increase stamina to minimize the occurrences of dizziness, blood pressure complications, extreme loss of water in the body, and injuries.
You can use a treadmill at any time of the day, but most people use it early in the morning and late in the evenings. Learn how to easily workout on a treadmill by following these easy-to-follow steps.
Table of Contents
Treadmill Tips For Beginners
● Consult a doctor if you have spinal cord and joint issues
A doctor’s advice here is valuable to determine the nature of activities you can engage in. To do an intensive workout like running or simple non-strenuous activities like walking.
● Acquire comfortable athletic shoes
Find a pair of properly fitting, well-cushioned running shoes that will offer support to your arches and also leave some breathing space for your toes. You don’t need any extra weight or any form of discomfort during a workout.
Fit in them daily for one week before starting your exercises to ensure they are nothing less than fine. Find a thick pair of socks as well to help prevent blisters.
● Drink enough water
You can expect profuse sweating since you will be working out on a treadmill for over 20 minutes in each session. That may lead to dehydration. To replace the water loss, carry at least 0.5- 0.7 liters bottle of water. Drink the water before getting on a treadmill.
Breaks taken in between workout sessions are known to interfere with the rhythm and aerobic gains. Therefore, go to the washroom before using the treadmill for maximum benefit.
● Warm-up and settle down
Save time to warm up before and after embarking on any treadmill workout. The importance of such a warm-up is to help save you from an injury and increase your body muscle temperature.
That heightens the energy production rate and optimizes reflex. A warm-up prepares you mentally for exercise and also heightens the range of motion.
● Swing your arms
Do not fall to the temptation of holding the handles on your treadmill for balance. It may not be easy at first, but practice swinging your arms to help you burn calories and maintain an upright posture to help work your chest and abs.
If you fear letting go of the handles, start with a slow walk to keep you comfortable without holding and gradually accelerate the speed.
● Stay attentive to the treadmill settings.
Take note of the speed increase and decrease settings as they are the main switches you will be using.
Since you are only acquitting yourself with a treadmill, begin using pre-programmed workouts until you can use manual settings.
● Use the safety clip
The safety clip is for emergency shut down, and you can decide not to use it if you feel at ease. It’s helpful, especially when you lack balance initially, and will prevent you from tripping or acquiring severe injuries.
Ensure the safety magnet is fixed onto the equipment. Most treadmills with this feature will not start until the safety clip is on.
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Starter Workout Treadmill
Step 1:
Begin with a 30 mins starter workout. In the first quarter of your workout, you probably are burning the recently ingested carbs. After that, your exercise helps burn fat and build endurance.
Step 2:
Five minutes warm-up. Warm-up is very important as it will help you get the balance as well as prevent injury. Remember to attach the safety clip onto your body before the warm-up.
- Set the machine to help you walk at a pace of (2.4 to 3.2 km/h) for 1 minute.
- In the following minute, increase speed to 2.9km/h. Thirty seconds of that minute will be spent toe walking and for the next 30 seconds, use your heels to walk.
- With an incline of 6, walk for 1 minute while keeping the distance at 2.4km/h and 2.9 km/h.
- Increase your strides for 1 minute. If it gets tricky because of the incline, slow down. Reset incline to zero after two minutes’ walk at six.
- In the final minute, accelerate the speed to 2.5
Step 3:
Maintain 4.8km/h and 6.4km/h pace for 20 minutes. In the first week of treadmill use, you can stick at the same incline and speed.
Step 4:
Slowly reduce the pace for each minute of 5 minutes to calm down
Step 5:
Start practicing the use of inclines and faster speeds after the 1st and 2nd weeks. Use level 4 incline for one to two minutes and reduce it to a lesser speed. Increase speed by 0.80 km/h for one to two minutes. A sure way to increase speed, endurance, and fat burning is interval training. A 1-2 minute interval is enough to increase your heart rate and then get back to medium intensity.
A medium-intensity workout is a rate within which you can breathe deeply and still proceed with a sporadic talk. Note that if your legs feel hurt on your first day on a treadmill that would probably mean you are doing much too soon. If that’s an entirely new exercise to you, begin on a level plane at the speed of 2km/h and slowly increase the speed to your comfort.
Interval Treadmill Workout
Step 1:
Jogging or fast walking is an excellent way to start an interval workout – High-intensity intervals are meant to increase the heart rate.
Step 2:
Do 5 minutes warm-up as discussed earlier
Step 3:
Do a minute fast walk or jog – Look forward to increasing the treadmill speed by 1.6km/h – 3.2k/h in the course of this interval. A person in perfect shape is in a position to increase it further.
Step 4:
Resume to a 4.8km/h – 6.4km/h for four minutes
Step 5:
Continue with four more intervals, 1-minute high-intensity walk or jog, and 4 minutes medium intensity.
Step 6:
Finally, cool your system down for 5 minutes at the end of your workout session. Keep increasing the high-intensity interval every week by 15 to 30 seconds.
It would be better if you also attempted interval workouts programmed in advance once you are comfortable with 1-minute intervals. Hill workouts will also help you to add intensity with incline.
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