One of the biggest roadblocks to achieving your fitness goals is a phenomenon known as plateauing. Simply put, it means you’ve hit the wall with your workout routines. You keep doing the same things week after week and your progress stalls.

The best way to overcome the plateau factor is to change your workouts frequently. With a strength training workout, every six weeks or so is sufficient. With treadmill workouts though, you will want to change your routines more frequently.

Our treadmill class instructor gives us a new workout every two weeks. This prevents your body from getting used to one particular routine, thereby eliminating boredom and constantly challenging the body to adjust. Our latest workout is a thirty minute speed program. It is ideal for runners but can easily be adapted for walkers too. Let’s take a closer look…

The goal of this program is to warm you up relatively quickly and get you right into an endurance type workout. Run or walk the entire 30 minutes at 1% incline. We always recommend using a 1% incline instead of having the treadmill flat because 1% simulates normal outdoor running and walking conditions. Here we go…

Minutes 0-5: This is your warm up. For best results, walk the first three minutes and then break into a slow, easy jog. Here’s a rule of thumb for speed. Let’s say your top pace is six miles per hour. Your warm up pace should be slightly more than half that, so for this example, roughly 4 mph. So, for your warm up, your last two minutes should be a n easy jog of 4 to 4.5 mph. Of course, if you go faster and want to, go ahead.

Minutes 5-10: Now you are warmed up, so let’s get close to your working speed. Figure out your top pace and run.5 mph slower. Using the example above with a 6 mph top pace, that means you will be running for five minutes at 5.5 mph.

Minutes 10-13: OK, now go up to your top pace for three minutes.

Minutes 13-15: Back off your top pace.5 mph for two minutes. This is known as an active recovery. You aren’t cooling down here, you are just actively recovering so you can put forth the necessary effort in the next segment.

Minutes 15-20: Increase your speed back to your top pace for five minutes.

Minutes 20-22: Take two minutes of active recovery by reducing your speed.5 mph.

Minutes 22-27: Another five minutes at your top pace. Final big push for this workout!

Minutes 27-30: Cool down and finish.

Summary

This thirty minute speed workout isn’t complicated, but it is highly effective. By building in the two minute recovery periods, you are setting yourself up for success during the five minute top pace segments.

Use this workout as a break from incline programs and flat ground running at constant speeds. Your body will be challenged and you will be that much closer to your fitness goals!