Running or walking treadmill workouts can be a great way to burn calories and lose weight.
The best treadmill workouts to lose weight typically involve boosting the intensity of your workout by either increasing the speed, incline or both.
Even if you do not feel like you are fit enough to run on the treadmill, or running bothers your knees or other joints, plenty of low-impact treadmill workouts for weight loss involve simply walking using the incline or working towards walking at a brisk speed.
In this article, we have created a number of effective treadmill workouts for weight loss, some of which are appropriate for beginners and others that can be tackled by more advanced athletes who have built up their cardiovascular endurance.
Ready to take on the challenge of these six awesome treadmill workouts for weight loss?
Let’s dive in!
6 Treadmill Workouts to Lose Weight
#1: 20-Minute Brisk Treadmill Walking Workout for Weight Loss
This one of our beginner walking workouts for weight loss will require you to walk faster and faster as the workout progresses so that it will challenge your physical fitness and determination.
If you are not yet up to the speeds listed below, start at a comfortable low-intensity walking pace and follow the same progressive format based on your current fitness level, adjusting the speeds as necessary.
The entire workout will take 20 minutes, but as you get fitter, you can perform the workout twice through, extend the duration of each interval, or start at a faster walking speed.
Here’s what you will do:
- Minutes 0-3: Walk at 3.5 mph at a 1% grade.
- Minutes 3-6: Walk at 3.6 mph at a 1% grade.
- Minutes 6-9: Walk at 3.7 mph at a 1% grade.
- Minutes 9-12: Walk at 3.8 mph at a 1% grade.
- Minutes 12-15: Walk at 3.9 mph at a 1% grade.
- Minutes 15-18: Walk at 4.0 mph at a 1% grade.
- Minutes 18-20: Cool down by walking at 3.5 mph at a 1% grade incline.
As the workout becomes easier over time, increase the starting speed by at least 0.1 mph until your starting speed is at least 4.0 mph.
#2: 30-Minute Incline Walking Treadmill Workout for Weight Loss
How can I increase the intensity of my treadmill workout without running?
In this one of our beginner-friendly treadmill workouts for weight loss, you will use the incline feature of the treadmill to replicate uphill walking during more intense intervals.
If you cannot yet follow the entire hill workout as written, do as much as you can following the incline intervals and then finish off the workout at a lower incline as necessary.
Here’s what you will do:
- Minutes 0-3: Walk 3.7 mph at 1% grade.
- Minutes 3-5: Walk 3.8 mph at 3% grade.
- Minutes 5-6: Walk 3.7 mph at 1% grade.
- Minutes 6-9: Walk 3.8 mph at 6% grade.
- Minutes 9-10: Walk 3.7. mph at 1% grade.
- Minutes 10-14: Walk 3.8 mph at 8% grade.
- Minutes 14-15: Walk 3.7. mph at 1% grade.
- Minutes 15-20: Walk 3.8 mph at 10% grade.
- Minutes 20-21: Walk 3.5 mph at 1% grade.
- Minutes 21-24: Walk 3.8 mph at 12% grade.
- Minutes 24-25: Walk 3.5 mph at 1% grade.
- Minutes 25-27: Walk 3.8 mph at 15% grade.
- Minutes 27-30: Walk 3.5 mph at 1% grade.
This is a very challenging incline walking treadmill workout for weight loss, so work up to being able to do it or modify it as necessary as you build your fitness.
#3: Beginner Interval Treadmill Workout to Lose Weight
Treadmill weight loss workouts for beginners often involve just walking, but the treadmill can also be a great foray into jogging and running for beginners without feeling self-conscious or overwhelmed by running outdoors.
These workouts can even be done in your home gym if you have a treadmill available.
This is a great beginner HIIT treadmill workout for weight loss that will challenge you to try brief bursts of jogging.
Even if you find that you can barely increase the speed of the treadmill as you transition from the brisk walk intervals to the jogging intervals, try your best to change your gait and jog during the jog portions.
Although it might feel like you might as well be walking because you are jogging so slowly, over time, as your fitness improves, when you return to this workout you will be able to take the jogging intervals at a faster pace, which will be so gratifying.
The entire cardio workout will only take 15 minutes, so it’s a good option when you are short on time and trying to build up your stamina.
- Warm up with a 4 minute walk at a brisk pace, gradually increasing the pace until you’re walking at a comfortably fast pace.
- For the next eight minutes (minutes 4-12), move into an easy jog for 15 seconds and walk for 45 seconds, trying to keep your walking intervals as fast as possible and resisting the urge to hold onto the handrails after the jogging intervals.
- Then, cool down by walking for three minutes (minutes 12-15 at a moderate pace to recover.
#4: Build Your Endurance Treadmill Workout for Weight Loss
The calorie burn during a treadmill workout depends on your weight, the intensity of your workout (speed and incline), and the distance, length, or duration of your treadmill session.
If you’re less keen on pushing your body to the max in terms of speed and intensity and prefer the “long and slow” approach, endurance treadmill workouts can be a great way to lose weight.
Depending on your current fitness level, aim to increase the distance of your longest weekly run by 0.5 miles or 5 minutes per week, keeping your total increase in running mileage at no more than 10% from week to week.
For example, if your current longest treadmill run per week is 4.0 miles, aim for 4.5 miles the next week, and if you run for time and you’re up to 45 minutes, shoot for 50 minutes.
Again, remember to be mindful not to increase the distance and intensity of every workout per week and heed the 10% rule.
#5: 30-Minute HIIT Treadmill Running Workout for Weight Loss
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) has been shown to be a very effective and efficient form of exercise for fat burning and fat loss.
Studies suggest that you can accomplish the same metabolic and fitness improvements in a HIIT workout in 40% less time than in a moderate-intensity steady-state aerobic workout.1Wewege, M., van den Berg, R., Ward, R. E., & Keech, A. (2017). The effects of high-intensity interval training vs. moderate-intensity continuous training on body composition in overweight and obese adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Obesity Reviews, 18(6), 635–646. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12532
Moreover, the high-intensity nature of HIIT increases your excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), or “afterburn,” increasing your metabolic rate for up to 14 hours after your workout is over.2KNAB, A. M., SHANELY, R. A., CORBIN, K. D., JIN, F., SHA, W., & NIEMAN, D. C. (2011). A 45-Minute Vigorous Exercise Bout Increases Metabolic Rate for 14 Hours. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 43(9), 1643–1648. https://doi.org/10.1249/mss.0b013e3182118891
In this weight loss interval workout, you will need to wear a heart rate monitor to make sure you’re working at a high enough intensity.
Rather than prescribing exact running speeds, this intense workout is written in terms of relative percentages of your maximum heart rate, enabling you to continue returning to the workout as your fitness improves and still getting just as much of a challenging workout—you’ll just be able to run faster!
Here’s what you will do:
- 5-minute warm-up, walking, or jogging at 70% of your maximum heart rate.
- 8 x 30 seconds hard (85-90% maximum heart rate), 30 seconds easy.
- 8 x 30 seconds very hard sprint intervals (90% maximum heart rate or more), 30 seconds easy.
- 4-minute cool down by jogging at a comfortable pace.
#6: HIIT Hill Repeats Treadmill Workout for Weight Loss
This running workout is as much of an effective treadmill workout for weight loss as it is to make you a stronger and faster runner. It replicates a hill repeat workout as you will use the treadmill incline feature.
Warm up by running for five minutes at an easy pace.
- 1 x 1 minute at 5k pace at 3.0 incline / 45 seconds recovery jog at 0 incline
- 1 x 1 minute at 5k pace at 4.0 incline / 45 seconds recovery jog at 0 incline
- 1 x 1 minute at 5k pace at 5.0 incline / 45 seconds recovery jog at 0 incline
- 1 x 1 minute at 5k pace at 6.0 incline / 45 seconds recovery jog at 0 incline
- 1 x 1 minute at 5k pace at 7.0 incline / 45 seconds recovery jog at 0 incline
- 1 x 1 minute at 5k pace at 6.0 incline / 45 seconds recovery jog at 0 incline
- 1 x 1 minute at 5k pace at 5.0 incline / 45 seconds recovery jog at 0 incline
- 1 x 1 minute at 5k pace at 4.0 incline / 45 seconds recovery jog at 0 incline
- 1 x 1 minute at 5k pace at 3.0 incline
5-minute cool down jog to recover.
The treadmill can be a fantastic training tool to burn calories and lose weight, but remember–even if you don’t lose a lot of weight, treadmill routines make you healthier and fitter, and that’s a reward in and of itself.
If you are looking for a bit more all-out intensity, and instead of focusing on losing weight, you want to work on getting faster, check out our HIIT treadmill workouts to improve running speed!
In addition to your cardio workouts, add full-body strength training to your fitness routine as a great compliment to build strength.
