How to Make the Most of a Treadmill Workout

• 1). Find out your Maximum Heart Rate before you start your exercise program. You can find this out by doing a treadmill test at a fitness center with a personal trainer or getting it clinically tested by a cardiologist. To get the maximum benefits from your workout, your Maximum Heart Rate should be reached about 70% of the time you are exercising.
  
  
• 2). Stretch properly before starting your treadmill workout. It is also important to warm up at a slower pace on your treadmill for about 10 minutes. Some people like to reverse that order - they warm up for five minutes by walking at a slower pace on the treadmill, and then they stretch their leg muscles before starting the more intense part of their workout. Either way, the warm-up routine should not be skipped, or sore or strained muscles can result.
  
  
• 3). Use interval training when you are doing a treadmill workout. One advantage of a treadmill is that you can put mountain climbing into your workout routine even if you live, say, in the Midwest. You can adjust the incline on a treadmill to simulate walking or running up hills or mountains. With High Intensity Interval Training, you run on a steep incline for a few minutes, and then you lower the incline, slow the treadmill down for a few minutes, and repeat. Many treadmills have interval or hill training programs, or you can manually adjust the equipment yourself.
  
  
• 4). Stretch during your workout about every 10 minutes to keep your muscles working properly. After two sets of High Intensity Interval Training, you can stop and stretch your legs before doing two more sets, and so on.
  
  
• 5). Give yourself a proper cool down when the treadmill workout is over. Just as you warm up at the beginning of your workout, you need to slow down and stretch when you are finished. Making the most of your treadmill workout includes warming up, interval training, stretching, and cooling down.