Is It Possible To Lose Weight Running On The Treadmill?

You may have heard various inspirational stories where people lose 100+ lbs on a treadmill, but those stories never seem to be too clear on how that was accomplished. Well, if you are looking to make the most of your treadmill as a weight loss tool, there are a handful of things you need to do.

Stick To A Running Plan

If you are committed to using your treadmill as part of your weight loss, you need to approach your workouts with a plan.

First, start by committing to a certain amount of workouts a week, as well as set days and times. With more structure, you are more likely to follow through, as it will become an ingrained habit to go workout on those days at your chosen time.

If you have never built a workout plan before, you may want to check out what experts offer. You can find a number of quality plans for free online. Hal Higdon’s training programs are some of my favorites, and I’ve used them to run my half and full marathons. You can pay for his in-depth program, but I’ve found his basic schedule enough for my needs.

For those who are new to fitness or haven’t worked out consistently in years, I would recommend looking at 5K or 10K running plans for your treadmill workouts. If you have a fitness base, the 15K and half marathon may work better for you.

Balance Your Diet And Workouts

The myth that if you sweat hard, you’ll burn up hundreds of calories. However, the reality is that good dietary choices are superior to exercise for weight loss.

To help illustrate this, say you weigh 170 lbs and ran 3 miles in 36 minutes. You will have burned 386 calories, which can sound pretty good. But, if you follow up your workout with some “healthy recovery food” like a chocolate chip Clif bar, you will have eaten back 240 calories, and that’s you being careful with your food.

Many people tend to indulge more when exercising, thinking that the exercise will make up for their indulgence. But really, exercise, even running, is not enough to help you shed the pounds.

Instead, work toward balancing your diet with your workouts. For instance, several successful trail runners follow a plant-based diet, with a strong emphasis on whole foods to round out their high-energy workouts. While you don’t need to alter everything at once, start slowly shifting your diet so you can balance your energy needs better with your food intake.

Mix Up Your Treadmill Exercises

Going at the same steady pace can become stale over time as well as being a less effective way to lose weight on your treadmill. Instead, adjust the incline level on your treadmill to challenge yourself and burn calories faster and mix in some interval or HIIT workouts to kick your metabolism into high gear.

Also, you may find that you want to add more cardio equipment to your home gym to compliment your running, which can also assist you during your cross-training days. By using different types of equipment, you can engage your body in different ways and tone up all over.

As you implement these treadmill running tips into your health and fitness plan, you should be able to crush your weight loss goal.