The treadmill is one of the most popular pieces of home exercise equipment as it provides a simple and efficient aerobic workout.
The treadmill is also one of the best ways to burn calories compared to other pieces of home gym equipment like the exercise bike.
The good news is there are a ton of treadmill workouts for runners – from walking to interval training – that can help to improve your strength and endurance as a runner.
In this guide we’ll explore:
- Is treadmill running recommended for runners?
- What are the benefits of running on a treadmill?
- Do professional runners use treadmills?
- 4 of the best treadmill workouts for runners
Ready?
Let’s go!
Is treadmill running recommended for runners?
Yes! Treadmill running and treadmill workouts for runners are recommended for a variety of reasons and in the next section we’ll look at some of the key benefits of running on a treadmill.
Many runners choose to run on a treadmill either as a preference or as a way to return to running following an injury as it reduces the impact forces on the body.
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What are the benefits of running on a treadmill?
Treadmill running is beneficial for a variety of reasons.
Studies have shown that there are different biomechanical forces at play when you run on a treadmill as opposed to running outdoors.
All these factors contribute to good injury prevention strategies, meaning you’ll be able to run stronger for longer.
What’s more, the treadmill is actually a great tool to use for your speed workouts. Speedwork like interval training, Fartlek training and tempo running can all be done on a treadmill if you get creative with your runs.
Even better, if it’s raining outside or the weather is generally quite poor, you can bring your run inside on the treadmill and not miss a training day.
Here are the benefits of running on a treadmill:
- Reduces the impact forces on the body
- Helps to improve your running form
- Helps with weight loss
- Helps to simulate race day courses
- Provides greater control of the workout with speed, incline, energy spend, warm up period and cool down period
- Provides fitness tracking features like step counters and heart rate monitoring
Related: Running on a treadmill: How to run on a treadmill without falling
Do professional runners use treadmills?
Yes! Many professional runners use technology like treadmills as an effective way to recover from an injury or provide active recovery in between workouts.
Treadmill running reduces the weight felt on your legs so it makes it easier to continue with training when recovering from an injury.
Whilst treadmill running isn’t seen as a replacement to outdoors running, it is certainly seen as a way to complement their training.
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4 of the best treadmill workouts for runners
Now you know the importance of treadmill running, here are the best treadmill workouts for runners.
The pyramid workout
This workout combines running and walking and is a form of interval training. It is one of the best treadmill workouts to increase speed and endurance.
The pyramid is one of the best treadmill workouts for runners as it isn’t just about running for 30 minutes straight.
By including a bit of variety in the form of timed intervals of walking and running, you mix things up a bit.
Remember to start with a warm up – either easy jogging or brisk walking on the treadmill – then do the following intervals:
- 30 second sprint / 30 second walk
- 1 minute sprint / 1 minute walk
- 2 minute sprint / 2 minute walk
- 3 minute sprint / 3 minute walk
- 4 minute sprint / 4 minute walk
- 3 minute sprint / 3 minute walk
- 2 minute sprint / 2 minute walk
- 1 minute sprint / 1 minute walk
- 30 second sprint / 30 second walk
Finish off with a 2 minute cool down of easy jogging or brisk walking.
The 3, 2, 1 workout
This workout is great for improving your understanding of pace and it gets you used to running at different paces interchangeably.
In this workout you will be running at a race pace and a recovery pace:
- Your race pace is what you want your pace to be on race day.
- Your recovery pace is 65% to 75% of your maximum heart rate. This is roughly 60 to 90 seconds slower than your race pace.
For example, if you’re training for a 10k and you want to be able to complete it in 45 minutes, your race pace will be roughly 7.15 minutes per mile. Add 60 to 90 seconds per mile to this and this will be your recovery pace.
You can work out your desired race pace by using a running pace calculator.
Remember to start with a warm up (in this case a 5 minute jog) then go straight into the main session as follows:
- 3 min run (race pace)
- 3 min run (recovery pace)
- 2 min run (race pace)
- 2 min run (recovery pace)
- 1 min run (race pace)
- 1 min run (recovery pace)
- 1 min run (race pace)
- 1 min run (recovery pace)
- 2 min run (race pace)
- 2 min run (recovery pace)
- 3 min run (race pace)
- 3 min run (recovery pace)
Finish with a 5 minute recovery jog for your cool down.
You can also opt to repeat each round two or three times if you’re an intermediate or advanced runner.
The hill workout
Hill running has been proven to help you increase endurance and strength as well as improve form and boost your speed and power.
However, if you’re like me and don’t have many hills close by to train on, then the treadmill is a great alternative.
Running hills is like a form of resistance training. The quads, calves, hamstrings and glutes work more when you run on an incline. Therefore hill running workouts help to make you a stronger and faster runner.
For this workout you’ll be using the incline function on the treadmill, and the higher the incline, the harder you’ll work your glutes.
Take caution when increasing the incline though as people tend to hang onto the handrails of the treadmill at higher inclines.
Make sure you’re still using good running posture too. If you can’t keep your balance with your hands free from the handrails, then the machine is set at too high of an incline.
Start with a 5 minute jog for the warm up, then do the following:
- 1 min run (fast pace) at 2% incline
- 1 min run (fast pace) at 4% incline
- 1 min run (fast pace) at 6% incline
- 1 min run (fast pace) at 8% incline
- 1 min run (easy pace) at 1% incline
Repeat for two more rounds then finish with a 5 minute recovery jog.
The 5k workout
This workout is probably one of the most simple treadmill workouts for runners.
This is great for anyone new to running on the treadmill as it doesn’t involve lots of variations in pace or incline
- Start with a 1k run at an easy pace as your warm up.
- Then go straight into a 3k run at your race pace.
- Finish with a 1k run at an easy pace for your cool down.
Additional resources
- Fit Found Me has written a post on the best interval running for beginners on the treadmill.
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