If you scoff at using the treadmill, please suspend this bias immediately and check out why you should consider adding treadmill running workouts to your program if you currently do no treadmill work. This article will also give you some awesome new ideas of super effective treadmill running workouts if you do use the treadmill but do your same painfully boring, 30-minute steady state run each and every week and are looking to supercharge your results and get some variety into your treadmill time.
My favorite (read most hated!) workout here is #6. It is so hard….
For me, I love (ok, hate!) treadmill running workouts and do them all year, not just in the winter because they are time efficient, reproducible and dang hard!
Whilst you should definitely not ONLY run on the treadmill, a lot of Olympic runners do a ton of weekly mileage on the treadmill.(You can scroll down to the end to get straight into the workouts if you already know why treadmill running workouts are a winner!)
Here are the pros and cons of treadmill running workouts:
Pros:
1) It allows you to work on your running technique. The treadmill is amazing to teach you pacing, stride length. You can focus on technique(body lean, landing on your mid-foot, high knee lift) without worrying about stopping for traffic, tripping over gutters or uneven ground. There are incredible tools coming out all the time to teach you about your running and your gait.
2) It is great for video feedback. If you want to be a great runner, you NEED to improve technique. The quickest way to do this is to get someone to video you. You can watch back in slow motion- hopefully with a coach/trainer and easily identify the key factors to focus on and practice. This is gold! It is important to know if you are improving and what areas you still need to work on. Most runners have no idea that there pelvis may be rotating unless they see it in slow motion under the guidance of a coach – or get video feedback.
3) Create killer hill programs. If you live somewhere flat, the treadmill allows you to get some amazing hill work in. This is a golden way to become a stronger runner.
4) Perform brutal speed workouts. Set the treadmill up at a pace you can barely keep up with then stay there. You can create incredible speed work program that pushes you way beyond what you think you are capable of. It is harder to slow down on the treadmill- just focus on staying there as long as possible. Even if it is just shorts bursts of 20-30 seconds at super high speed, you are training both your neural system and muscles to fire super quick.
5) Teach your body consistent pace. You cannot slow down on the treadmill without adjusting the speed bar. If you set your speed for 20 minutes at 7 minute miles, you will generally finish it even when it gets hard. Outside it is easier to slow up a bit and ease off. If you are practising mastering your cadence, the treadmill will help you improve it.
6) Removes excuses Treadmill running workouts remove excuses people find not to go running like it’s “too dark”, “too wet”, “too cold”, “too hot” and “too dangerous”.
7) Great for busy runners with kids. If you are a busy working parent, it can be tough to get home from work then rush straight out again to the gym or go running outside. Assuming you are lucky enough to have a treadmill in the house, you can set up running next to your kids watching TV or doing their home work and chat away about the day (if you are doing an aerobic zone run).
8) Get specific results. Used correctly you design the purpose of the workout and get more specific results than useless outdoor junk miles.
9) Less injury. The surface is more cushioned for regular workouts than pounding the concrete. If you do a lot of mileage it is useful to take a break from the pavements. If you suffer knee pain or ITB syndrome, the treadmill is a convenient place to work on your gait without getting stuck away from home unable to jog back.
10) Can be relaxing. ( sometimes!) Set the pace and then tune out to watch TV or listen to your favorite podcast. (Though I do not recommend this all the time. With tough treadmill running workouts, you need to concentrate to keep up, to focus on your mantras, to focus on your run technique-but yes- occasionally, yes you may tune out :)) Read What I Think About When I Run
11) Prevent injury or worse. When it is dark, you risk stepping in a pothole or stumbling over uneven ground and falling over or spraining an ankle. It is not worth 6-8 weeks off. Safety is paramount. If you are a woman running alone, it may not be wise to run in darkness alone.
Cons
1) Not the same use of leg muscles. Yes this is true. Your muscle activation is different when you propel yourself compared to the treadmill propelling you and just keeping up. This is why it is very important to run outside regularly as well. Using an incline of 1% on the treadmill has been shown to simulate outside conditions as close as possible.
2) Need to experience all weather conditions True: get outside regularly! If you have never trained when it is too hot, too cold, too wet or too windy, you will struggle if the conditions are like this on race day. Make sure you do embrace the elements from time to time. It is good for your soul and good for your mental toughness. Also aim to simulate race conditions if possible. If you know you have a super hot race coming up, maybe you want to run in a tracksuit on the treadmill so your body gets used to running in the heat.
Ok convinced?
Let’s check out some of the best treadmill running workouts out there. I have shared with you tried and tested workouts that are used by top coaches, top runners and top triathletes to get superb results.
Do not re-invent the wheel. Do what is already working. Remember also to consistently add some core work pre or post your run to stay strong and prevent injury.
If you are not getting consistently faster and better but you have not changed your program in a while, it may be useful to pick one or two of these and try it consistently for 8 weeks. Change your program, change your results.
By the way, when picking a new workout to do, it is a good idea to pick the one you most dread- NOT the one that you know you can already do as it is most like your current program :)
TREADMILL RUNNING WORKOUTS 1
Dennis Barker, coach of Team USA Minnesota gives his athletes “The Long Run” from time to time. (Do not start on this one!) This is a marathon-simulation run lasting 20 to 30 minutes longer than finishing time goal.
Warm up: 15 minutes easy
Main set: 3 hours or more at steady state. It can be slower than marathon pace, but you should be on the treadmill for 20 to 30 minutes longer than you would be out there in the marathon.
Every 15 minutes take a drink just like you would in the marathon. Pace does not vary.
Cool down 10 minutes easy
TREADMILL RUNNING WORKOUTS 2
Ironman world champion Mirinda Carfrae’s has a few treadmill running workouts. Her favorite is this one:
Warm up 10 minutes easy
Main set: 10 x 3 minutes at best effort ( ie hard!)
Take 3 minutes recovery in between each one.
Cool down: 10 minutes easy
TREADMILL RUNNING WORKOUTS 3
Eric Bean, professional triathlete and coach of the Fast Forward Triathlon Pro Development Team gives his athletes this killer treadmill running workout:
Warm up: 20 minutes moving from easy to moderate, moderate to fast by the end of the 20 minutes
Main set: 30 seconds fast up hill at 5%, 6%, 7% gradient.
Take 2.30 minutes rest in between
Then 30 seconds fast up hill at 6%, 7%, 8% gradient.
Take 2.30 minutes rest in between
Then 30 seconds fast up hill at 7%, 8%, 9% gradient.
Take 2.30 minutes rest in between
Pace should be hard, but not enough so you cannot complete it.
Cool down: 10 minutes easy
TREADMILL RUNNING WORKOUTS 4
Kara Goucher, 2008 Olympian at 5,000m and 10,000m likes the tempo run
Warm up: 20 minutes moving from easy to moderate.
Main set: 6-mile tempo run starting at threshold pace and finishing close to 10K pace
Cool down 10 minutes easy
TREADMILL RUNNING WORKOUTS 5
Marius Bakken, Norwegian record-holder in the 3,000m and 5,000m and running coach gives his athletes 30 minutes to 2 hours of varying pace with quick recoveries. He loves this workout as it combines all the energy systems in one treadmill-specific session. He believes the gain come from recovering no slower than his marathon pace(MP) plus 10 seconds per mile (MP + :10). This workout also teaches pace control.
Warm up: 10 mins easy
Main set: 3 minutes at 25K pace; 2 minutes at MP + :10;
1 minute at 10K pace; 2 minutes at MP + :10;
2 minutes at marathon pace; 2 minutes at 25K pace;
2 minutes at 15K pace; 2 minutes at MP + :10;
1 minute at 4-mile pace; and so on.
A 5K runner might do this session for 30 minutes, a marathoner for upwards of 2 hours.
Keep weaving up and down in speed.
Cool down 10 mins easy
TREADMILL RUNNING WORKOUTS 6
Pete Pfitzinger, two-time Olympic marathoner, chief executive of the New Zealand Academy of Sport finds one of the best treadmill running workouts is 60 minutes or longer at a 4-to 8-percent grade. Simple to understand; hard to do!
If you live somewhere flat, the treadmill can be the best place to simulate hill training.
This is an essential workout if your upcoming race will be hilly.
But also it is a brutal workout that will get you fitness gains very quickly.
Might sound easy- but try it… killer!
Warm up: 15 minutes easy
Main set: Set incline between 4-8% depending on fitness and experience. Long steady climb for the next 60 minutes.
Start conservative if you have not done this before- Do not allow your form to break down. Try to not to move the incline up and down during this set.
Cool down: 10 minutes easy
An awesome treadmill running workout. Kenyan Moses Tanui included a 22K constant climb during his training for his two Boston Marathon wins. By swapping some speed for incline, you increase the number and type of muscle fibers recruited and, therefore, improve more over the same effort on the flat.
My client did this workout weekly for his training for Marathon Des Sables and came in the top 5 for his age group (18 months prior he could not run 5km without stopping!)
TREADMILL RUNNING WORKOUTS 7
Mike Ricci, head coach, University of Colorado at Boulder Triathlon Team likes this one
Warm-up: Ten minutes easy.
Main set: 4×20 seconds at 5K pace, 20 seconds rest between each one.
12×1 minute, alternating at a 4 percent grade, a 4.5 percent grade and a 5 percent grade.
Effort level at 4% should be moderate, the effort at 4.5% should be hard and the effort at 5% should be extremely difficult. Aim to increase the pace each time.
Take one minute of rest in between each interval.
Cool down: 10 minutes easy.
TREADMILL RUNNING WORKOUTS 8
Magdalena Lewy Boulet, 2008 Olympic marathoner, 2011 Falmouth Road Race champion
Magdalena’s personal best for 5,000m is 15:14. That’s fast! She substituted hill work on the treadmill for speed work on the track. The end result: a spot on the U.S. Olympic team in Beijing. Since that time Magdalena has become a full-blooded convert of treadmill running workouts. “It’s a huge factor in terms of recovery and injury prevention,” she says.
Warm-up: Ten minutes easy.
Main set: 20 x 30 seconds hard climbing (with 30-second stationary rest) at the maximal gradient equivalent to mile race pace.
Cool down: 10 minutes easy.
The hills may be steep, but the pace is forgiving on the body. Your lungs get an amazing workout without the leg soreness that may results from the track.
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So let me know if you love/hate the treadmill.
It is an extremely efficient and effective way to improve your running. Pick one or two of these treadmill running workouts that best replicate what your weaknesses are and do it once or twice a week to see rapid gains in form. Regular, tough treadmill running workouts also teach you insane mental toughness if you stay with the workout until the end no matter how hard it gets!
Happy (and effective) Running
Charlotte
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