Saturday, September 20, 2008

Could You Lose Weight Just by Treadmill Walking?

Treadmills are one of the most popular pieces of equipment down at the fitness center and sales of home treadmills have gone through the roof in recent years.

But is this popularity justified and is it really possible to lose weight simply by walking on a treadmill for a few minutes each day?

In a nutshell, yes it is possible. But as always, there's a little more to it than just strolling along for a short while. See, although any amount of movement will help you to burn calories, you only start to see real results when you push yourself into a sweat!

So in order to get maximum results from your exercise routine, there's a few things you need to consider:

Increase Your Work Rate
To see massive benefits in the shortest time, you really need a treadmill fitted with a heart rate sensor. If your machine doesn't have one, it's ok to use a heart rate monitor watch.

If you make your workout too tough you will burn yourself out and put yourself at risk of injury. Do too little and your benefits will drop dramatically. So you need to keep your workout rate within a sweet spot and the best way to do this is to maintain your heart rate within your optimal training zone.

Banish boredom
Boredom is the enemy of your good intentions. More people give up on their fitness goals through boredom than for any other reason. For this reason, many treadmill manufacturers have fitted entertainment systems into the treadmill console where you can plug in a CD player or ipod and exercise along to music or instructions from a personal trainer.

Higher end treadmills have built in video monitors so that you can work out as you watch TV or follow your favorite fitness instructor.

Vary Your Routine
Going hand in hand with the problem of boredom, if you stick to the same routine, over time it will lose its effectiveness. Again, the treadmill manufacturers have tried to combat this by including a whole range of built in workout routines.

Taking this concept a stage further, treadmill manufacturer Proform has developed a system that puts you in competition with a virtual competitor. This is as close as you can get to road running with a friend.

So to answer the question, yes you can lose weight using a treadmill. But like everything else, it takes perseverance, not to mention a little motivation and sprinkling of dedication.

To get the most benefit from each workout session, it pays to follow a few simple treadmill exercise tips

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3 Keys to Treadmill Walking to Lose Weight

Before I get into the three specifics on how to lose weight with treadmill walking, let's take a step back. The science behind weight loss is very simple: you have to burn more calories than you consume. In addition, the more intense your workouts are the more calories you will burn.

With these principles in mind, let's now turn to the three critical things you need to know to reach your weight loss goals by walking on the treadmill. They are...drum roll please...frequency, consistency, and intensity. Let's take a closer look at all three:

Frequency I hate to tell you this, but an occasional walk on the treadmill is going to do very little for you. It takes considerably more effort to lose weight by walking than other treadmill exercises such as jogging or running. The good news about treadmill walking, however, is that it has the least stress on your knees and joints. Unlike jogging and running where off days are important, you can walk everyday if you want. You should aim to walk at least 5 days per week. Anything less and you will find it very difficult to reach your weight loss goals (assuming you aren't doing any other exercises or strength training).

Consistency You need to be consistent when it comes to treadmill walking to lose weight. Taking days off or cutting your exercise sessions short will hurt your weight loss efforts. As I've mentioned, walking is the least intense treadmill exercise. If walking is going to be your primary method to lose weight, your workouts need to be consistent day-to-day.

Intensity If you are obese or just plain out of shape and just beginning an exercise program, then your treadmill walking workouts should not be that intense when starting out. Start your program slowly. Eventually, however, you'll need to increase the intensity of your treadmill walking workouts for maximum weight loss results. This shouldn't be a problem because the more you walk, the more fit you'll become. The more intense your workouts are the more calories you'll burn and the shorter your sessions will have to be.

What is an intense workout? It will vary depending on how fit you are, but generally speaking you should aim to walk on the treadmill for 45 minutes or more during each session. You should also try to keep your heart rate at a minimum of 70% of your maximum heart rate during each session. Again, these guidelines will vary and these are aimed specifically for effective weight loss results. Your sessions can be shorter and your heart rate can be kept in a lower range, but if you do this, it can take longer to reach your goals and you may never reach them if your sessions aren't intense enough.

Treadmill walking to lose weight is definitely possible but it takes frequency, consistency, and intensity. If walking is going to be your primary treadmill exercise for weight loss, keep these three keys in mind. Otherwise, you'll just be wasting your time and effort!

Lose weight with these fun and simple treadmill walking workouts! You'll also find indepth reviews and recomendations of the best treadmills here.