Treadmill Running Workout - Forty Five Minutes of Speed

If you're looking for a challenging, engaging treadmill running workout, we've got a great 45 minute fat blaster for you. It is based on a step ladder approach, where you add speed during select increments of the workout. Let's take a closer look...

This workout is based on speed work. The purpose of speed work is to help your body handle faster paces without deterioration of your running form. Over the 45 minutes, you will gradually build your speed, with a few recovery times built in.

If you're a runner, a good pace to start at is 4 mph. That's a 15 minute mile, so if you want to cover three miles during the workout, don't drop below 4 mph. In addition to speed, you can set a distance goal. If you go through this workout on a weekly basis, try to maintain or add to your distance each time.

Do this workout at a 1% incline to simulate outdoor running conditions.

Minutes 1-5: Warm up at your starting speed.

Minutes 5-12: Seven minutes at a reasonably challenging pace. Remember you'll be adding speed throughout the workout, so don't go too fast at first. A good rule of thumb is to increase your speed 1.0 to 1.5 from your warm up pace.

Minutes 12-14: Take two minutes of active recovery. That means a pace in between your warm up speed and the pace you just did.

Minutes 14-20: Six minutes at a speed. 5 mph higher than your previous speed work.

Minutes 20-22: Active recovery, same as above.

Minutes 22-27: Five minutes, increase speed. 5 mph. Notice how we are running faster, but for one minute less time?

Minutes 27-29: Two minutes active recovery.

Minutes 29-33: Four minutes, increase speed. 5 mph.

Minutes 33-35: Three minutes, increase speed. 5 mph.

Minutes 35-37: Two minutes active recovery.

Minutes 37-39: Two minutes, increase speed. 5 mph.

Minutes 39-41: One minute, go as fast as you can! Cover the maximum amount of distance.

Minutes 41-45: Cool down!

Let's suppose you started your first challenging pace, from minutes 5 to 7, at 5.5 mph. By the end, if you followed the workout, your speed would be 8.5 mph. That's just over a 7 minute mile pace.

The key to this workout is starting at a speed that is challenging but not overwhelming. And that is exactly why this workout can be done over and over. You can experiment with different speeds each time, or try to progressively improve your overall distance.

We use this workout as part of our fitness regimen about every two weeks. Increasing the speed really burns fat, and it is a bit of an endurance test, lasting forty five minutes. Try it and see what you think!