Intensify your treadmill workout with hill interval training

Many may think of a treadmill as a boring alternative to other exercise options. However, home treadmills have proven to be a great way to shed pounds, improve endurance and even enhance your overall fitness. The only way treadmill workouts are boring is if you make them that way. There are plenty of ways to incorporate interesting workouts on your treadmill without becoming disinterested. One of the best ways to do this is with hill workouts.

TRUE’s fitness treadmills offer users preset programs that make working out simple. The varied intervals and speeds ensure that exercise remains both interesting and effective. The PS800 Treadmill comes with eight preset workouts to try out every time you want to go for a walk or run. This piece of fitness equipment can also ensure that you’re working out at a safe level by monitoring your heart rate with cruise control. Once your target heart rate is entered, the speed and incline will adjust automatically to maintain that heart rate.

Advantages of a hill workout on a treadmill
Although you could go outdoors for hill intervals, training inside on a treadmill offers you a safer and more controlled environment in which to do so. You can easily decide how steep you want the incline and for how long you run at that level. Active.com explained that instead of running outdoors and getting overwhelmed by large or long hills, treadmills offer the chance to tackle certain grades or slopes when you are ready and feel you have progressed enough.

Running hills means that the incline of the treadmill is being raised up and down. By utilizing this incline option, users are actually using more muscle in their calves, quads and glutes than they would be on flat surfaces. According to Melissa Cox, RRCA-certified running coach, running uphill improves aerobic capacity, which allows for enhanced oxygen intake and improved running.

Maintain proper form
During these hill intervals, it’s crucial to keep proper form in order to get the most effective workout possible and to prevent injury. Runner’s World suggested maintaining the correct form by looking ahead rather than looking down. This will help align your back and neck. It’s also important to keep your shoulders low and loose. When you’re intensely exercising, it can be easy to tighten and raise up your shoulders, which can cause tension. As far as your arms go, they should be swinging forward and back, rather than across your body, to help you drive forward. If they’re going across your chest, this may slow you down.