10 Minute Treadmill Sessions For Burning Fat Fast

If you are looking to burn fat fast, picking a treadmill to use as your mode of exercise is a smart move. Treadmill running is great because it’s a fast, fun and effective way to melt pounds, improve your health, and dramatically increase your cardiovascular conditioning level.

Not a runner? Not to worry! You don’t necessarily have to run in order to burn fat quickly while on a treadmill. In fact, incline walking can be even better than running in some cases. The great thing about incline walking is that you’ll be working against a resistance, thus you not only get good cardiovascular benefits, but you’ll also get strength training benefits as well. This can help you build lean muscle mass tissue, which will then result in a faster metabolic rate permanently. With running, while the calorie burn is great while doing it, generally speaking, you won’t permanently increase your metabolism beyond the slight boost you get after the workout session is over.

When it comes to burning fat most effective, you need to do more than just hop on the treadmill and get started however. You need to really give it your full effort as this is what will best enable you to push your limits – and your calorie burn.

Going hard for 10 minutes is going to be a far better option than going at a moderate pace for 30 or even 45, so you can save time and see better results if you’re smart in how you do it.

To help get you started, let’s take a closer look at some 10 minute treadmill sessions that will help you burn fat in a hurry that you’ll want to incorporate into your routine. The great news is because these take just 10 minutes to perform, you can really do them at any part in your day. If you want to see extra powerful results, consider doing two of these workouts a day. Just be sure to spread them out by at least 6-8 hours, have 2-3 meals in between, and make sure that you are still balancing workout days with rest days. You can’t do these every single day of the week and not expect to get injured. Recovery time is key.

The Short And Sweet Sprint

For those who want to work on their power, this session will be ideal. If you are a true sprinter at heart, this one will be for you. Rather than doing longer sprints, you’re going to go as hard as you can for just 20 seconds. That’s it – but there’s one caveat: you need to be working maximally for that full 20 seconds.

I recommend that you set the treadmill speed to a pace that is the most ideal for you – your top speed (after doing a quick warm-up of course). Now what you are going to do is hop on the treadmill and run as fast as you can for 20 seconds. Really give it your all. Your legs should feel like they have to stop after that 20 seconds is up.

Then hop off the treadmill and now you can either march in place, walk in place, or so some other activity that is low intensity to keep moving for 60 seconds. You just don’t want to stop entirely or you may start to feel light headed and pass out.

Once those 60 seconds are up, get back on the treadmill and go for round 2. Continue doing this until you’ve done 6 rounds of the intervals. Finish with a brief walking cool down on the treadmill and you’re all set.

By keeping the treadmill going fast the entire time, you reduce the time that you spend increasing and decreasing the speed, which can seriously impact the intensity of this workout session.

Here’s how it would look.

2 minute warm-up

20 seconds hard (rate of perceived exertion on a scale from 1-10, 10)

60 seconds active rest (RPE 1)

20 seconds hard (RPE 10)

60 seconds active rest (RPE 1)

20 seconds hard (RPE 10)

60 seconds active rest (RPE 1)

20 seconds hard (RPE 10)

60 seconds active rest (RPE 1)

20 seconds hard (RPE 10)

60 seconds active rest (RPE 1)

20 seconds hard (RPE 10)

60 seconds active rest (RPE 1)

2 minute cool-down

The Longer Sprint

Next we have the longer sprint. If you’re someone who isn’t about maximum speed but rather, you want to build better muscular endurance while still being able to exercise at a higher intensity level, this is the sprint that’s likely for you.

Here, instead of doing intervals of just 20 seconds, you’ll do them for 60 seconds. Then you’ll take 60 seconds for active rest. For this protocol, you likely don’t need to move off the treadmill once the interval is done, just start decreasing it immediately following that 60 seconds and increase it in the 5 seconds leading up to the sprint.

Because you are sprinting for a longer period of time here, you won’t be going quite as fast since you need to sustain the sprint for 60 seconds in duration. This is also a good workout for those who may be worried about injury risk or who are coming off an injury and going at top speeds is not an option.

Here’s how the session would look.

2 minutes warm-up

60 seconds moderately hard (RPE 7)

60 seconds active rest (RPE 3)

60 seconds moderately hard (RPE 7)

60 seconds active rest (RPE 3)

60 seconds moderately hard (RPE 7)

60 seconds active rest (RPE 3)

60 seconds moderately hard (RPE 7)

60 seconds cool down (RPE 1)

The Uphill Walk

Now we come to walking. If you aren’t someone who enjoys running or are injured and can’t run, then uphill walking is a great alternative. Likewise, it’s also better for those who are more concerned with building muscle and strength retention because it has you working against more resistance.

In this scenario, rather than sprinting, you will increase the total incline. Here’s how it works.

2 minute warm-up

1 minute incline 6-7

1 minute incline 1-2

1 minute incline 6-7

1 minute incline 1-2

1 minute incline 6-7

1 minute incline 1-2

1 minute incline 6-7

1 minute incline 1

Keep in mind it will take some time to continuously keep inclining and declining the treadmill, so start the transition slightly before each interval and immediately after it’s done.

The Incline Sprint

Now for the most intense option: the incline sprint. The incline sprint is going to be a combination of both jogging and doing on an incline, so it gives you the best of both worlds. This is not for the beginner trainee though, not that you should have a very high level of base fitness before performing this one.

Because this one is so intense again and it takes time to get the treadmill both up to speed and up an incline, your best bet is to just get the treadmill to where you need it and then hop off it when it’s time to do your active rest phases. Just don’t stop when you are doing your active rest – keep moving as much as you can.

1 minute warm-up

30 seconds incline 4-5, jog (RPE 9)

60 seconds active rest (RPE 2)

30 seconds incline 4-5, jog (RPE 9)

60 seconds active rest (RPE 2)

30 seconds incline 4-5, jog (RPE 9)

60 seconds active rest (RPE 2)

30 seconds incline 4-5, jog (RPE 9)

60 seconds active rest (RPE 2)

30 seconds incline 4-5, jog (RPE 9)

60 seconds active rest (RPE 2)

30 seconds incline 4-5, jog (RPE 9)

60 seconds active rest (RPE 2)

1 minute cool down

The Core Cruncher

Finally, your last 10 minute workout is one that involves both interval training on the treadmill and abdominal exercises to help strengthen your core. If you are looking to accomplish two tasks at once, this is a good option. For the most part, because abdominal exercises are not incredibly taxing, you can do them during your active rest phase. You will need to take the total exertion down on the sprint and not exhaust yourself quite as much, so modifications will need to be made.

Let’s take a look at what you should do.

2 minute warm-up