Staying Entertained While On Treadmill

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  • cmasonrock
    cmasonrock Posts: 50 Member
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    http://www.audible.com + Smartphone using Endomondo = Happy workouts!
  • Railr0aderTony
    Railr0aderTony Posts: 6,804 Member
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    DVR and Phone and tablet, I go between the 3
  • chezjuan
    chezjuan Posts: 747 Member
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    I mess around with my speeds.....basically interval training so that every minute something is changing and I tailor it to what I want to train that day....speed, endurance, etc. And great music....that is a must :)

    This is what I do a lot of the time. Other times I'll do the zone out to good tunes (generally when I am going for distance and endurance training).
  • jenbob555
    jenbob555 Posts: 36 Member
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    Yup, Netflix on my iPad. I can't do the treadmill any other way, I swear I have the shortest attention span
  • takumaku
    takumaku Posts: 352 Member
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    I watch the cardio bunnies in front of me. ^_^ If none are available, I'll watch a show, do a HIIT program, practice some cadence, mediate to my breathing, thank about a work-related problem and how to solve it, listen to music, or just suck it up.
  • Haili73
    Haili73 Posts: 8
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    I finally started using a treadmill, but I have several playlists of music I like - that I try singing with while working out when no one else is there.

    Otherwise, I watch TV shows or read. Or study.
  • thatismesammyg
    thatismesammyg Posts: 71 Member
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    I listen to music and watch tv (with closed captioning) at the same time. Sometimes I do all that and flip through a magazine like Us Weekly.
  • jessvaughn74
    jessvaughn74 Posts: 164 Member
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    Netflix on my Kindle. I tried reading and it didn't work for me. But I found if I find a series on Netflix to watch, I can sometimes watch two 45 minute episodes before I realize how long I have been on there. I watched the entire 6 seasons of Lost this way..lol
  • Colorfan
    Colorfan Posts: 230 Member
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    I dont use the treadmill at all. I like the elliptical, to warm up for lifting, but same situation as you. Its boring!


    Ill usually watch netflix while on the treadmill. In particular, Breaking Bad. If an episode is really good, Ill wind up staying on there longer. Basically any video will keep me well entertained and Ill forget Im even grinding away.

    Ive tried music, but my eyes get bored and start to wander. Music can only keep me focused for so long, especially if its a lot of songs Im not into at the moment.
  • QueenBishOTUniverse
    QueenBishOTUniverse Posts: 14,121 Member
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    Kindle books with the text supersized so that I can read it easily while running. When I'm doing HIIT training though I usually set it aside because I'm working to hard to think about anything else.
  • momwhosbusy
    momwhosbusy Posts: 154 Member
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    I listen to music and match my speed on the treadmill to the tempo of the song and keep track of how many MPH certain songs are. Surprisingly enough a lot of ballads have faster MPH than classic rock, oldies, or rock n roll! lol I then quite often will share my odd findings with my awesome hubby who is very good at pretending to care.
  • janinab75
    janinab75 Posts: 147 Member
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    I had the same question several weeks back and asked my MFP friends, the best answer I got was to do intervals. It breaks up he run and before you know it 30 - 45 minutes are up in no time. You're concentration on what to do next. It works so well! So when I run on the treadmill I only do intervals.
  • monkeesmom4
    monkeesmom4 Posts: 1
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    I have my treadmill next to a window, and its positioned so that I can look out the front window and side window. I put on a good oldies station that plays from the 60's to 90's. Then I zone out looking out the windows and listening to great music. What I have recently started doing is carrying either 5lb or 10lb weights for 5 to 10 minutes. Take a 2 minute walking rest and then start carrying them again for 5-10min again. I keep doing that for at least 30 min. Before you know it with the music and scenery, the time is up.
  • lseed87
    lseed87 Posts: 1,110 Member
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    I would so go on youtube and get caught up with watching certain user's i watch.

    Maybe make a game of it? Like if you see something blue or whatever color then you will do ___ more minutes of it? And keep on doing it?
  • creativerick
    creativerick Posts: 270 Member
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    I typically only run for 15 minutes at a time on a treadmill. This makes it easier to be motivated and stay focused. Today I only ran 1 fast mile. When you are running a 6 minute mile, you don't have time to think about much but running. When I run slower, I watch TV and listen to music. I prefer the treadmills that shows a track and my progress on the track. The keeps me entertained as well - running to the next marker, for the next lap, etc. Honestly my best advice is to go HARDER, the more you are exerting, the easier it is to stay focused.

    Btw, if I'm walking or biking at a steady pace, I read on my iPad or play Words with Friends.
  • rondaj05
    rondaj05 Posts: 497 Member
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    I listen to music and match my speed on the treadmill to the tempo of the song ..

    ^ This. And, my treadmill is in our dining room facing a window that overlooks our backyard which happens to also overlook a lake. I watch our cats playing, chasing leaves and/or climbing the tree, the various birds and when it's not gloomy I even catch the sunrise. Lately it's been foggy and gray, some days I can't even see the lake. C'mon spring!!! :sad:
  • cmasonrock
    cmasonrock Posts: 50 Member
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    Not sure how this would work on a treadmill, but it is a lot of fun to use when your going about your day! I got eaten while I was at East Side Mario's yesterday...lol!!
    I recommend the Zombies, Run! app.
  • mreeves261
    mreeves261 Posts: 728 Member
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    Not sure how this would work on a treadmill, but it is a lot of fun to use when your going about your day! I got eaten while I was at East Side Mario's yesterday...lol!!
    I recommend the Zombies, Run! app.

    I just got it last week to make winter on the treadmill a little easier. I absolutely love the app. You use it on the treadmill by setting it to use the accelerometer for distance instead of GPS. I then just add the distance the treadmill gives me.

    Damn polar vortex!!! I would love to use it outside! Just not ready for winter running yet, need better running gear for that.
  • sfbaumgarten
    sfbaumgarten Posts: 912 Member
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    I listen to music or watch shows on my tablet.
  • ejwme
    ejwme Posts: 318
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    All these suggestions are great - for what end up as "short runs" for me. I consider anything less than an hour a "short run".

    Unfortunately, I've hit sub-zero (Fahrenheit, so you know it's cold) weather on "long run" days, which, for me, is long enough that I'm talking multiple hour runs (12+ miles). So far, I've been able to find movies that interest me enough to keep me distracted. But as the training season picks up, I'm going to enter multiple-movie territory (there are only so many movies worth watching over 2 hours, and most are tear jerkers - I do NOT need to be sloppy sobbing at mile 18 when the love interest dies a horrible, slow death waiting for her savior who never arrives).

    Action movies I find are best - up-tempo music, not too many tears, not too many laughs, just the right amount of adrenaline. Pensive dark comedies are next best, with no tears and relatively few laugh-out-loud moments while still entertaining. Rom-coms slow me down, too much laughing, dramas can slog as well. Foreign action movies are good, they take a lot of focus, but reading bouncing subtitles can make me seasick.

    I'm counting on the weather turning though, because I'm going to lose my mind. For some reason, I can go for 2, 3, even 4 hour training runs and just not get bored. I can't do much less than a 6 mile loop at that point (I prefer out-and-backs), but I'll look at the same hour of scenery a few times before I've had too much. The thought of watching the same movie or show twice in a row on a treadmill makes me want to lift weights instead.

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