please critique my treadmill workout!

caribeals

hi everyone! so i have been walking on the treadmill for 4 months now. i have built myself up enough that i can jog at lower speeds for short intervals. could you please take a look at my treadmill workout and critique? be brutally honest!! if there is something you think i can improve on, please feel free to tell me! here is an example. (what i did already tonight)

warm up 3.0 mph 3 mins
jog 4.0 mph 5 mins
walk 2.5 mph 3 mins
rotate jogging 2 mins 4.0/walking 2.5mp for 20 mins total
walk 3.0 mph for 10 mins
walk 2.5 for 5 mins

any thoughts?? (other than build jog time) by the end of this i am literally sweating buckets! i have tried going as fast as 4.5 mph to jog, but i am not quite there yet. i get wobbly and feel like im gonna fall off treadmill. (as well as my chest is gonna explode!)

klthomas59

I would try increasing the speed of your walking before increasing the speed of your jogging. Keep with it. It does get easier the longer you stay with it. Keep track of the miles you are doing to encourage yourself.

agordon415

I think it looks great and if it works for you, then keep it up. I do something similar, but I raise the incline on the slower walking. I can't run up a hill yet, but walking up the hill really helps burn more calories. That might help you turn it up a notch. Good luck!!

kelsully

I would second that idea about walking a bit faster...if you warm up at 3.0 mph then I would do you walking intervals no slower than that...also....when I am working on my speed I increase my small increments...ie instead of running 4.0 run 4.1 mph for a few days...then 4.2...Once I get up to 4.2 for ONE of my running intervals I would increase you warm up speed to 3.2....little incremental changes a little at a time.

Alysgrma

bump

fzyfrog

What goal are you trying to accomplish? Are you just running/walking/jogging to lose weight or are you training for something?

dhutt2011

Looks good. Check out this site - http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml it's for the The Couch-to-5K ® Running Plan. It gives you a guide on how to build up your endurance so you can eventually run a 5k.

Good luck!

maaalloryy

I'd warm up at 3.5.
Then walk at 3.8 or so if you can.
then jog at your regular 4.0
Keep your intervals around 3.2 ish
looks good other than that!

caribeals

thanks! i will bump up my walking speeds. i was so focused on the jogging speeds i guess it didn't dawn on me to bump up the walking speed! lol so maybe tomarrow i will try to walk at 2.7 for the intervals instead of 2.5. i have really weak ankles, so i might bump the incline to 1%, but i really doubt i can do a lot more than that right the moment. i have kinda hit a weight loss plateau too, so this might help cure it also! thanks everyone! this is why i LOVE this site!

shastacrystal

I think you have been doing a great job! After 4 months your body is probably fairly acclamated to these speeds and times so I would switch it up a bit. Up your speeds, so when you would normally jog at 4.0 try 4.3 or 4.5. When you would normally walk at 3walk at 3.5 instead. You can also try to add incline as well! You are definitely on the right track so keep up the great work!! I bet if you challenged yourself you could also job for a few longer intervals as well!!!

bizco

I think it's great! Switching from walking to jogging (interval training) is a great way to do it. My suggestions are to use the "incline" feature of the treadmill during the walking portion, even if it's a modest incline. Things you probably already know: try to slowly increase your jogging time to 3+ minutes during the rotation part; working your way up to a full-out run (4.5-5.0 mph) for 1-2 minutes. The key is to go slow, we don't want you to pass out or have your chest explode.

sallyLunn

Even at a 1% incline, you will burn noticeably more calories.

caribeals

What goal are you trying to accomplish? Are you just running/walking/jogging to lose weight or are you training for something?

i'm just trying to lose weight. i have lost 43 pounds since october. i workout to ea sport active 2 every day for 30 mins, do a 20 min leslie sansone walking dvd of a morning, and usually do at least 40 mins on the treadmill at night. but just plain walking was starting to feel easy. i was afraid i wasn't getting a good workout anymore. i have also plateaued. i have gained/lost the same 1.3 pounds for about 3 weeks now. my diet consists of a lot of fresh fruit, TONS of veggies, and a lot of fish and chicken. (pork maybe once a week.) i do have cheat days. today i had a breakfast crissant (sp?) and subway for lunch! but a very healthy supper.

fzyfrog

I would bump up your 2.5s to 2.7 or 2.8. Have you tried any type of ankle brace for your weak ankles? And if you're chest is killing you at 4.5 then that is too fast for you right now. Looks like you're doing great though! It's tough when you first start out. I know I felt like I should be able to jog for longer than 2 or 3 minutes when I first started. It's a slow process, especially when you carry around a lot of extra weight like me. Good luck and keep at it!! You'll see results!

gp79

Instead of going faster or slower, longer or shorter, why not buy a Heart Rate Monitor and train intervals (as you're doing already) but according to your heart rate. We don't really know your height, weight, age, or fitness level to really make a good recommendation.

loupammac

My trainer started me off with this program:

1 minute walking treadmill set to 6.00
1 minute jogging/running treadmill set to 7.00 or higher
(repeat until clock hits 11 minutes)

I'd never used a treadmill before and she encouraged me to just walk at a comfortable speed (for the first few weeks I used about 5.0) and then run at whatever level I felt comfortable at (for the first few weeks I used 6.5 - 7.00). If I feel like I can't possibly go on, I push myself but if I honestly can't run any more, I just walk it out with a 1.5 - 2.0 incline.

Just do what you can! Find your most comfortable walking speed and do that, then find your most comfortable running speed. Try and boost your walking speed if you can. I don't use inclines but if you want to, go for it.

Jess21684

yeah def try increasing the pace of your walks and also add in inclines as that will burn more calories as well! when your ready and up for it, take on an extra min of your jogging and keep moving up from there. All that matters, is that you stick with it and that it works for YOU before you know it, you will be attacking those jogs like you never imagined!!!

curleesam

I absolutely HATE running with a passion so I speedwalk on the treadmill at 7kmph and go at a 7.5 incline. I find that with the incline I burn DOUBLE the amount of calories that I would normally burn walking at that speed on a flat treadmill. So 36 minutes on the treadmill burns 465 calories for me. I have found the weight comes off well with this method combined with other cardio exercises.

If you have weak ankles you will have to build yourself up slowly and perhaps increase the incline by 1 every week. Even so, I hold on the the bar in front of me on the treadmill like this and still lose weight so perhaps use that for support?