Treadmill settings?

My treadmill has all kinds of buttons and modes. I have no idea what they all do. The only useful buttons are the start, stop, speed and incline buttons. The rest is all useless.

I ignore all those and just start, and adjust the speed and incline to my needs.

I use the fat burn (because that's what I want to do- burn fat). But I was scared it would be intervals when it comes to speed and my machines at the gym do not change speed, just incline. I started at my normal speed on the treadmill and started at level two. Then worked my way up over time. I've increased up to Level 7 while increasing my speed over time as well. It just goes up and down throughout the workout. On my main machine the highest incline is .5 above the level; so level 7 goes up to 7.5. When I'm in a rush sometimes I'll increase the level but shorter time like last night I could only be on for 15 minutes before my yoga class so I went up to level 8.

Just start small and the nice thing about treadmills is even if you start small and it's too much you can decrease your speed or incline so it's adjustable. But it also helps you push yourself. I love it!

jemhh wrote: »

Those are different programs that are pre-programmed into the treadmill. I am basing the following my home treadmill so these may not be exactly what the treadmills you're using do but it will give you an idea:

Manual - This is the setting you use if you want to completely control how fast you're walking. Just pick a speed and go. Adjust up and down for speed and incline whenever you want to.

Fat Burn - This is an interval program. You'll be doing faster speed (possibly higher incline) intervals mixed with slower recovery-speed (and possibly flatter incline) intervals. Speed and incline depend on what level you pick.

Cardio - My treadmill doesn't have this.

Personal Trainer - My treadmill doesn't have this.

Random - Similar to Fat Burn in that it is an interval program with varying higher and lower speeds/inclines but the speed increases at random intervals instead of every X seconds/minutes.

Hill - Your incline increases at a regular interval (e.g., every 30 seconds) until you hit a peak and then it starts decreasing. It's like running up one side of the hill and down another.

Fit Test - My treadmill doesn't have this.

The description she gives sounds like a Life Fitness commercial treadmill, so the programs are a little different.

Manual--same

Fat Burn - this is a HR interactive program. The treadmill syncs with your heart rate (either via chest strap or handrail sensors) and automatically sets a target heart rate of either 60% or 65% of your age-predicted maximum. You set the speed and the treadmill changes elevation to either get you up to your target HR or keep you at the target HR. While the machine automatically calculates the target HR for you, you can override it at any time and set your own.

Cardio - same as Fat Burn, but it calculates an 80% or 85% target.

Personal Trainer -- these are some specialty workouts--can't remember exact ones. no one ever uses them

Random -- you set speed and the incline changes according to a random pattern. The upper and lower limits of the incline "range" change according to the intensity level you choose: At level 1, for example, the incline ranges from 0% to 1.5%, at level 10 it might be 0.6% to 10%, etc.

Fit Test -- several submaximal testing protocols that you can use to estimate VO2 max. The 5 min walk test is the most frequently used.