8 Ways to Make Treadmill Runs More Fun
I’ve had a love/hate relationship with the treadmill for years now. While I still prefer to run outdoors, my life as mommy won’t allow me to hit the pavement on weekday mornings…unless I want to torture myself and run under the sweltering 8AM heat!
So, lately, I’ve learned to love the treadmill and appreciate the benefits it provides, namely less impact on the knees so there are reduced chances for injury, good training for a consistent cadence, easy to do intervals and/or hill training just by the push of a button, and convenience.
If you currently run on the treadmill or are planning to do so, here are 8 ways to keep your workout enjoyable and fun.
1- Follow a program. Google treadmill workouts and you’ll find a myriad of programs of various levels, from beginner to advanced.
2- Run with a friend. Hop on the treadmill alongside a friend. You can run easy and chat or, if you’re feeling competitive, increase the pace and race against each other.
3- Mix it up. Alternate 10 minutes of intense running with push-ups, squats, or crunches, then hop back on the treadmill. Do this 6 times to complete an hour.
4- Watch TV. Who has the time to watch the boob tube nowadays? If you’re lucky enough to have those high-tech treadmills with a television screen, then use the time to enjoy a show or catch up on current events.
5- Go for speed. Doing speedwork on the treader can give you a fast and fun workout. After a warm up, you can choose to run at tempo pace then increase to 5k race pace. Or, you can run intervals alternating between fast and easy runs.
6- Listen to music. Come prepared with your playlist and enjoy the run while listening to your new set of tunes.
7- Listen to audiobooks. Long easy runs on the treadmill can feel like a month! Try downloading audiobooks on Audible and listen to your favorite book while running. Talk about multi-tasking!
8- Climb hills. Up the incline and go for hill training. Reach a level that is comfortably steep for you and alternate this with running flat.
Jaymie is better known as The Bull Runner in the running community. She is the founder of this award-winning blog, TheBullRunner.com, and the first and only marathon in the world that caters to first-time marathoners, TBR Dream Marathon. Jaymie has run 16 marathons all over the world and finished Ironman 70.3 twice. She dreams of running the world... literally.
