Bored With the Treadmill? 7 Creative Workouts to Spice Up Your Cardio

Walking, jogging, and running are three of the best ways to build fitness, lose weight, and get healthy. Take your workout outdoors, and these activities are great for your mental and emotional well-being, too.

However, you don’t have to venture outside to walk or run your way to fitness, and many exercisers prefer to do their workouts on treadmills.

Research suggests that running on a treadmill delivers many of the same benefits as exercising outdoors (1). Additionally, indoor workouts mean you won’t have to worry about road traffic hazards and bad weather.

It’s a shame, then, that treadmill walking, jogging, and running are so boring!

As a personal trainer with over 30 years of experience, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard people refer to treadmills as dreadmills because they dislike them so much.

That’s hardly surprising when you consider the origins of the treadmill.

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Believe it or not, treadmills were once used as punishment for criminal behavior (2). Invented in 1818 by British engineer Sir William Cubitt, these early machines could accommodate as many as 40 prisoners who would spend 8 to 16 hours a day walking the road to nowhere (3).

With a history like that, it’s no wonder that some people view treadmills as a form of cruel and unusual punishment! The good news is that treadmill workouts don’t have to be boring. In fact, they can be a lot of fat-burning, fitness-building fun.

In this article, I share my seven favorite workouts that will teach you to love the treadmill again.

Related: Treadmill Calorie Calculator

Treadmill Workout #1 – Broken 5K

5K is a little over three miles and is a classic running event. Running 5K is an excellent workout as it’s long enough to be challenging but not so long that it will take you all day to complete. It’s an accessible distance, and beginner, intermediate, and advanced exercisers can all enjoy the benefits of running 5K.

That said, running 5K on a treadmill is about as far from a fun workout as you can get and is the very definition of plod city.

My broken 5K workout breaks the distance down into shorter sections, which you run at gradually faster speeds. As well as making the distance more manageable, this also teaches you how to run faster, as it involves an element of speed training.

Workout Instructions

Run 2K at a slow to moderate pace (i.e., your usual 5K speed)
Rest 3 minutes
Run 1.5K at a slightly faster pace
Rest 2 minutes
Run 1K at a faster pace
Run ½K/500m as fast as you can

These four distances (2.0, 1.5, 1.0 and 0.5K) add up to 5K but, instead of covering the distance non-stop, it’s broken into shorter intervals, hence the name.

Treadmill Workout #2 – 5 x 1K Intervals

Here’s another 5K treadmill interval workout. However, this time, the distances and speeds remain the same from one interval to the next. Breaking your 5K into individual kilometers allows you to run faster, raising the average speed of your treadmill training session. This workout will lead to improvements in your regular 5K time.

Workout Instructions

Run 1K/1000 meters as fast as possible
Rest for 2-3 minutes or until your heart rate is 100 BPM or below
Run 1K/1000 meters as fast as possible
Rest for 2-3 minutes or until your heart rate is 100 BPM or below
Run 1K/1000 meters as fast as possible
Rest for 2-3 minutes or until your heart rate is 100 BPM or below
Run 1K/1000 meters as fast as possible
Rest for 2-3 minutes or until your heart rate is 100 BPM or below
Run 1K/1000 meters as fast as possible
Rest for 2-3 minutes or until your heart rate is 100 BPM or below

Treadmill Workout #3 – Run and Air Squat Descending Pyramid Workout

This is the workout my clients love to hate. They love how challenging, varied, and effective it is but hate how it makes their legs feel like jelly! Combining treadmill running with air squats will work your legs in a whole new way.

As a former triathlete, this workout reminds me of the transition between cycling and running; your legs feel like they belong to someone else.

Workout Instructions

100 air squats
Run 1K/1000 meters
90 air squats
Run 0.9K/900 meters
80 air squats
Run 0.8K/800 meters
70 air squats
Run 0.7K/700 meters
60 air squats
Run 0.6K/600 meters
50 air squats
Run 0.5K/500 meters
40 air squats
Run 0.4K/400 meters
30 air squats
Run 0.3K/300 meters
20 air squats
Run 0.2K/200 meters
10 air squats
Run 0.1K/100 meters

Not a fan of doing so many air squats? Try alternating lunges or kettlebell swings– both are equally effective.

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Treadmill Workout #4 – Step Interval Workout

Treadmill workout #4 starts easy but gradually winds up for a big finish. As such, it has a built-in warm-up and can be modified for almost any fitness level. The idea is simple: increase your speed every minute for three minutes, reduce the speed for one minute, and then build up again. Continue until you cannot increase the speed further.

Workout Instructions

1^stminute, e.g., 4 mph
2^ndminute, e.g., 5 mph
3^rdminute, e.g., 6 mph
4^thminute, e.g., 5 mph
5^thminute, e.g., 6 mph
6^thminute, e.g., 7 mph
7^thminute, e.g., 6 mph
8^thminute, e.g., 7 mph
9^thminute, e.g., 8 mph
10^thminute, e.g., 7 mph
11^thminute, e.g., 8 mph
12^thminute, e.g., 9 mph
13^thminute, e.g., 8 mph
14^thminute, e.g., 9 mph
15^thminute, e.g., 10 mph
16^thminute, e.g., 9 mph
17^thminute, e.g., 10 mph
18^thminute, e.g., 11 mph
19^thminute, e.g., 10 mph
20^thminute, e.g., 11 mph
21^stminute, e.g., 12 mph, etc.

Beginners can increase the speed in smaller steps, e.g., 0.5 mph, while more experienced runners can use two mph increments.

Treadmill Workout #5 – 4 x 400 Meter HIIT Workout

Not everyone has time for 30 to 40-minute treadmill workouts. Depending on what you are training for, such lengthy sessions may not even be appropriate to your fitness goals. This short but intense HIIT treadmill workout is perfect for time-pressed exercisers and anyone who prefers sprinting over jogging.

Workout Instructions

Do four intervals of 400 meters, starting each one at the top of every third minute. The faster you run, the longer your recovery will be. For example, if you run your first 400 meters in 85 seconds, 95 seconds remain for resting. In contrast, if it takes you two minutes to run 400 meters, you’ll only get one minute to recover.

Run 400 meters as fast as you can
Rest for the remaining time
Run 400 meters as fast as you can
Rest for the remaining time
Run 400 meters as fast as you can
Rest for the remaining time
Run 400 meters as fast as you can
Rest for the remaining time

Treadmill Workout #6 – Incline Intervals

Most treadmill interval workouts involve changing your speed. This one’s different because instead of speeding up and slowing down, you’re going to change the incline to raise or lower the intensity level.

This is an excellent option for anyone who finds fast treadmill running hurts their knees or hips. Overweight and older exercisers often experience hip and knee discomfort when trying to run fast on a treadmill.

Workout Instructions

Over five minutes, progress from a walk to a jog to a comfortable run. Maintain this speed for the rest of the workout.

3 minutes @ 3-4% incline
3 minutes @ 0% incline
2 minutes @ 5-6% incline
2 minutes @ 0% incline
1 minute @ 7-8% incline
1 minute @ 0% incline
Repeat 2-3 times as required

Treadmill Workout #7 – Treadmill Fartlek Workout

Fartlek is Swedish for speed play. Fartlek training is a sort of unstructured interval workout where you raise and lower the speed and/or incline without any real structure or prior design.

In other words, you make it up as you go along!

The freedom to design your workout on the fly can be very liberating, as it allows you to adjust your workout based on how you feel. As a personal trainer, I often use fartlek with my clients to make their treadmill workouts more varied and fun.

Sometimes, I adjust the speed or incline based on their heart rates, but other times, I’ll use time, RPE, or just the verse and chorus of whatever song is playing in the gym.

There are no hard and fast rules on how you should use fartlek, so feel free to experiment and come up with your own ideal treadmill workout.

Workout Instructions

Determine the length of your workout, e.g., 30 minutes.

Start your treadmill and randomly alternate between walking, jogging, running, and sprinting at various inclines. Slow down when you start to feel tired, and speed up when you are recovered. Vary the duration of each interval as well as the speed and incline.

For example:

Time (Minutes)	Activity	Incline (%)
0-2	Brisk walk	1
2-4	Slow jog	1
4-6	Fast run	2
6-8	Brisk walk	3
8-10	Moderate run	1
10-12	Sprint	0
12-14	Slow jog	2
14-16	Brisk walk	4
16-18	Fast run	1
18-20	Moderate run	2
20-22	Brisk walk	1
22-24	Sprint	0
24-26	Slow jog	3
26-28	Fast run	1
28-30	Brisk walk	1

Closing Thoughts

Exercise should not feel like punishment. Unlike those British prisoners of old, your treadmill workouts are not meant to be punitive. Rather, they should be rewarding and fun.

Research tells us that boredom and lack of enjoyment are common barriers to consistent exercise (4). Consequently, if you want to make exercise part of your daily routine, it should be something you look forward to and not dread.

So, another dull treadmill training session? Just say no! Use these tried and tested trainer-approved workouts to get fit, burn fat, and lose weight without the plod.

Do you have a favorite treadmill workout? Share it in the comments section below.

References:

Fitness Volt is committed to providing our readers with science-based information. We use only credible and peer-reviewed sources to support the information we share in our articles.

Singh G, Kushwah G, Singh T, Ramírez-Campillo R, Thapa RK. Effects of six weeks outdoor versus treadmill running on physical fitness and body composition in recreationally active young males: a pilot study. PeerJ. 2022 July 27;10:e13791. doi: 10.7717/peerj.13791. PMID: 35915754; PMCID: PMC9338755.
Shayt, D. H. (1989). Stairway to Redemption: America’s Encounter with the British Prison Treadmill. Technology and Culture, 30(4), 908–938.
Abbott, G. (2010, August 13). treadwheel. Encyclopedia Britannica.
Nikolajsen H, Sandal LF, Juhl CB, Troelsen J, Juul-Kristensen B. Barriers to, and Facilitators of, Exercising in Fitness Centres among Adults with and without Physical Disabilities: A Scoping Review. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jul 9;18(14):7341. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18147341. PMID: 34299792; PMCID: PMC8304633.

If you have any questions or require further clarification on this article, please leave a comment below. Patrick is dedicated to addressing your queries promptly.