How To Burn Fat with a 30-Minute Treadmill Workout

A workout routine that only takes 30 minutes may seem too good to be true, but you’ll be able to cut down the time and boredom of working out if you’re willing to put in some extra effort. Read on to learn how to burn fat with a 30-minute treadmill workout that will help you see greater results before boredom claims your motivation.

High-Intensity Interval Training

After you complete your warmup, the main event of your routine will be performing high-intensity interval training on your treadmill. This involves a series of exercises with minimal downtime in between each set so that your blood flow remains raised and your body continues to be challenged in different ways before it has a chance to get used to the exercise. The problem with simply jogging for 30 minutes, besides boredom, is that your body adapts to perform the exercise more efficiently—meaning you won’t see as effective results because your body isn’t working as hard.

If you need some direction in a good treadmill routine, a good place to start is jogging for one minute, running for another minute, and then using exercises such as side-shuffles or treadmill pushes. Switch between these every few minutes to keep yourself challenged. Another good starter workout is simply switching between running and pushing every minute.

Incline Pyramids

Interval training is the most important aspect of burning fat with a 30-minute treadmill workout, but at about the 20-minute mark, you should switch to incline pyramids. This is simply raising the incline of your treadmill up and then lowering it back down over a period of about five minutes while you maintain a run—like running up and down a hill. If you need a treadmill with an incline feature, you can easily find one in our home fitness equipment store.

The Cooldown

People often forget about the cooldown period. Especially when you’ve done something as intense as this sort of workout, you’ll want to ease your body back into rest rather than slamming on the brakes. Take the last two to three minutes of your workout to just do some light jogging. As you jog, you’ll work your way down into a walk for the remaining minute or two until you’ve hit the 30-minute mark, and then you can finally get off the treadmill. This cooldown will save you a world of pain in the morning so that you’re ready to tackle the next workout.