Anyone who’s ever trained in a gym will know the drudgery of the treadmill.
The fact that you can watch the news while using them counts for little
and they’re primarily seen as a warm up or cool down tool. Either that
or you pound away on them while going nowhere and try not to reflect on
how apt a metaphor this can be for certain aspects of your life.
It doesn’t have to be this way, says US trainer David Siik, an
advocate of the intense treadmill workout dubbed the “tread and shred”.
Here are his tips on how to make the most of the ’mill.
Work to intervals
Distance runners
swear by a Swedish technique called fartlek (yes, the name does prompt
some sniggering), which involves switching between different paces over
the course of your run. It quickly builds a stamina base and increases cardio capacity.
For beginners, Siik recommends doing a minute of gentle jogging, a
minute at a moderate pace and a minute of working at about 80 per cent
of your capacity. Repeat this sequence between five and 10 times,
eventually building up to a 30-minute running workout.
Once you can knock this one out, Siik suggests upping the ante with a
descending pyramid model. To do this, run fast for 90 seconds then slow
for 60 seconds of recovery. Continue with an 80-second run and
60-second recovery, then a 70-second run and so on.
While the hard running section decreases by 10 seconds each time, the
recovery period thankfully stays at a constant 60 seconds. That’s the
good news. The not-so good news is that once you can go from 90 seconds
to 40 seconds, you repeat the process in reverse, increasing back up to
50, then 60, 70, 80 and 90, so that you eventually both start and finish
your workout at a fast 90-second run.
Advanced runners should follow the pyramid model but throw in an incline to increase their endurance,
Siik says. To do this, add a 5 per cent slope for the 90-second run, a 4
per cent slope for the 80-second run and so on until you’re down to no
incline for the 40-second run. Most treadmills have an incline setting
that can be adjusted on the fly, but if you’re not completely confident
in using it, ask the staff at your gym for a demonstration.
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