Treadmill Walking

Treadmill walking is a common type of cardio load for all athletes who want to improve aerobic endurance and the cardiovascular system. Аctivate their metabolism or get rid of subcutaneous fat.

Regular performance of fast treadmill walking gives a result comparable to interval jogging in city parks, long cardio sessions on an ellipse or a stepper. But for most amateur athletes it is much easier both physically and psychologically.

What muscles work by treadmill walking?

Let’s start by understanding which muscles work when you treadmill walking.

During aerobic exercise, we train, first of all, the heart muscle, the state of which determines the lion’s share of our health. But also while you treadmill walking, quadriceps and abs muscles are actively involved in the work.

If your gym is equipped with modern treadmills in which you can adjust the angle of inclination of a moving surface. Then walking uphill on a treadmill will additionally strengthen your calf muscles, thigh biceps, gluteal muscles and extensor spine.

The benefits of treadmill walking

It’s no secret that treadmill walking is very useful, despite the simplicity of this exercise. In particular, for weight loss brisk treadmill walking will do just fine.

Calorie consumption for this form of physical activity is quite large – for an hour of work with an average intensity, we burn about 250-300 calories. This is equivalent to 150 grams of lean boiled beef or an abundant serving of buckwheat.

The regular implementation of such cardio workouts increases the metabolic rate, which allows us to quickly get rid of the accumulated excess fat or gain high-quality muscle mass without increasing the subcutaneous fat layer.

The undoubted benefit of treadmill walking is also manifested in an increase in endurance. Which greatly simplifies the task when doing crossfit or during classical training in the gym. No wonder cardio on the treadmill is an essential part of the training process of any experienced crossfighter, bodybuilder, mixed martial arts fighter, cyclist or swimmer.

Who is recommended exercise?

There is a lot of debate on the net about what is best to include in your training program: walking or running on a treadmill. It should be said that walking is no less effective, in terms of developing endurance and getting rid of excess fat, and certainly healthier. The fact is that the treadmill is designed in such a way that we do not run along it – we are catching it. This creates an undesirable load on the knee joints and over time can lead to injuries of the meniscus or hamstrings.

So, here are a few categories of people who are ideally suited for this exercise:

• treadmill walking is recommended for people with knee problems. It will help maintain physical fitness and avoid exacerbating injuries;
• This is a great exercise for those who are just starting to play sports. Performing treadmill walking from the first days of classes, you will gain excellent stamina and keep your knees;
• Interval treadmill walking is perfect for athletes suffering from hypertension. It allows us to work with a comfortable heart rate (115-130 beats per minute), while running increases the heart rate to 140-170 beats per minute, which is too much for the cardiovascular system hypertension;
• Also measured treadmill walking will suit those people who have just recently quit smoking and started to lead a healthy lifestyle, and their respiratory system is not yet ready for serious strength or cardio stress. After a month of regular treadmill walking, their shortness of breath will decrease or completely disappear, the cardiovascular system will normalize, their lungs will get used to deliver more oxygen to their muscle cells, and only then can they begin full-time exercises in the gym.

Efficient Treadmill Walking Rules

To get you the most out of this type of cardio workout, follow these simple guidelines:

1. Always start your workouts with a thorough workout. Particular attention you should be paid to the knees and ankles, and quadriceps and calf muscles should also be warmed up well.
2. Consume enough water during exercise. Drinking at least a liter of still mineral water in small sips, you will protect yourself from disturbances in the layer balance in the body.
3. Do not change the length of the steps. Try to take steps of the same length throughout the workout – this will keep the walking pace even and increase the efficiency of the cardio load;
4. End your workout with a hitch. When you are exhausted and cannot walk at a fast pace, do another 10-20 minutes walk at a walking pace. Due to the increase in heart rate during fast walking, during a hitch, fat burning and metabolic processes in your body will not weaken.
5. Decide on the optimal training duration. Scientists believe that lipolysis processes during exercise begin to occur with full power only after 35-40 minutes, but, at the same time, too long cardio (more than 80 minutes) can lead to the breakdown of muscle tissue. Therefore, the optimal duration of treadmill walking is about 60 minutes.

How to lose weight by treadmill walking?

In order to enhance the processes of lipolysis during cardio training in the form of treadmill walking. There are several technical subtleties. Here are some of them:

The right training time

The best time to do cardio workouts to lose weight is in the morning on an empty stomach. At this time, your catabolic processes prevail in our body. Glycogen stores in the liver and muscles are minimal. And the only energy source is subcutaneous or visceral fat, which our body begins to actively expend. If you are worried that fasting cardio will negatively affect your muscle mass. Use a portion of BCAA or complex amino acids before training.

Combination with other exercises

Equally effective is treadmill walking after strength or functional training. Walking with medium intensity will increase the fat-burning effect of your workout, as you will use up even more calories.

Regularity

Regularity is the key to progress. If, in addition to walking, you work out with weights, then two hours of walking treadmill walking per week will be enough. If for one reason or another, classes in the gym are contraindicated for you, go on a treadmill 4-5 times a week.

Variety in training

Add variety to your training process. More often perform brisk walking, almost turning into a run. So you will achieve an even greater increase in stamina and reserves of the respiratory system. Also an excellent tool for weight loss is interval treadmill walking. In which you alternate walking at a fast pace and walking at a walking pace. Interval walking will be especially effective if you have a fitness bracelet or heart rate monitor – so you can track calorie consumption and heart rate at different walking speeds and based on this. Make adjustments to your training schedule and try to increase the intensity of your cardio workouts day after day .

Training program

Below are a few interval walking patterns for athletes of primary and secondary levels of training:

First level

Walking Duration / Walking Speed

• 10 minutes 5-6 km / h
• 4 minutes 8-9 km / h
• 2 minutes 10-11 km / h

Average level

Walking Duration / Walking Speed

• 3-4 km / h – 5 minutes
• 6 km / h – 5 minutes
• 8 km / h – 5 minutes
• 10 km / h – 5 minutes

Each scheme should be repeated you 3-4 times as part of a single workout. To increase energy consumption. You can vary the angle of inclination of the moving surface of the treadmill, making it larger with low-intensity walking. And less when walking at high speed.

Treadmill Reviews

If you read the reviews of many fitness experts. There is practically no doubt that treadmill walking is one of the best weight loss exercises possible. Professional experts are also in solidarity with those who actively use this simulator to improve their own body and improve athletic performance.

UFC champion Conor McGregor is a fan of the treadmill for cardio workouts. In his opinion, this exercise, along with a bicycle and a rowing machine, allows you to develop endurance.

The result of such training speaks for itself: Conor is the most popular and highest paid mixed martial artist. His fees grow with every fight, and only his lazy one does not discuss his every fight with an opponent on the Internet. Conor’s physical data is also phenomenal. He possesses crazy endurance, strength and fighting qualities. While constantly maintaining the level of adipose tissue in the body less than 10%. Although for this he sometimes has to literally “die” on the treadmill.