9 HIIT Treadmill Workouts That Can Make Your Cardio Fun
We get it: Treadmills don’t always make for the most riveting workout. But adding some HIIT treadmill workouts to your routine can help liven things up—plus bring some serious performance benefits to your running game.
With many gyms still closed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, hopping on a treadmill at your regular studio or gym is probably not an option right now. But if you invested in a treadmill as part of building an at-home workout space, chances are pretty high you want to put it to use. After all, at-home treadmills can be pricey, so you definitely want to make use of your purchase. (Plus, as the temperatures remain low, logging miles indoors sounds extra appealing.)
Running on a treadmill is convenient—and doing so in your own home is the safer option than risking the crowds at a commercial facility—but it can be monotonous, especially if you just hop on with the mindset of getting through a certain number of miles. One way to keep things interesting is to vary the intensity of your workout, like by adding high-intensity interval training (HIIT) to the mix. With HIIT treadmill workouts, you’ll be focusing alternating short bursts of intense, all-out work (either with speed, incline, or a combo of both) with less intense recovery.
HIIT is extremely beneficial for building endurance and saving time, Hannah Eden, a CrossFit and IKFF-certified trainer for iFit, tells SELF. “The short bursts of high intensity work will help increase the volume of oxygen your body is able to consume during intense exercise, allowing you to work for longer periods of time with a higher heart rate,” Eden says. “The lower intensity work will build your baseline, a relatively easy pace that you can build upon. The combination of high and low intensity work will improve your endurance, strength, and have you running faster for longer with more ease.”
But even a HIIT treadmill workout can get boring if you keep turning to the same one. That’s why we gathered a variety of trainer-recommended treadmill workouts to help maximize your time on the ’mill. Keep in mind that the speeds and inclines are given as a point of reference, so feel free to modify based on your fitness level or where you are at in your running journey. Feel free to experiment with them to make sure you can handle the settings you choose.
1. The Get-Focused Workout
When many people hop on a treadmill, they may not be lasered in on the task at hand: Too often, their mind is elsewhere, Andia Winslow, a certified personal trainer and founder of the Fit Cycle, tells SELF. This routine will keep your mind focused as your body continually adapts to the changing inclines and speed. Put your phone down for this one—you’ll definitely need to keep your mind on task here.
How to do it:
- 5-minute walking warm-up between 2.5 and 3.5 mph
- 1-minute strider: Not a jog, not a sprint, but somewhere in between (4 to 7 mph with elongated strides)
- 3-minute walk (3.0 to 3.5 mph) at 5% incline
- 1-minute strider (4.0 to 7 mph) at 5% incline
- 3-minute walk (3.0 to 3.5 mph) at 8% incline
- 1-minute strider (4.0 to 7 mph) at 8% incline
- 5-minute cooldown (3.0 to 3.5 mph) at 1% incline
2. The Lateral Walk Workout
Yes, you can get a great treadmill workout without breaking into a run. This walking-only routine targets your glutes, gets your heart rate up, and improves balance, says Katina Brock, C.P.T. "Don't let the lower speeds fool you," she says. "The amount of effort this produces will surprise you. While walking sideways, or laterally, use a light touch on the rails for stability, but do not support with your arms. Keep your feet pointed to the side of the treadmill, not forward. You can shuffle your feet together and apart or, at slower speeds, cross one foot behind or in front of the other. You’ll definitely keep the speed low for your lateral work.
How to do it:
- 5-minute warm-up: Gradually increase speed from 2.4 mph to 3.5 mph
- 2-minute lateral walk at 2.2 mph (1 minute facing right, 1 minute facing left)
- 2-minute lateral walk at 2.4 mph (1 minute right, 1 minute left)
- 1-minute forward walk at 4.5 mph
- 1-minute forward walk at 3.5 mph
- 2-minute lateral walk at 2.6 mph (1 minute right, 1 minute left)
- 2-minute lateral walk at 2.8 mph (1 minute right, 1 minute left)
- 1-minute forward walk at 4.2 mph
- 1-minute forward walk at 3.5 mph
- 2-minute lateral walk at 2 mph and 5% incline (1 minute right, 1 minute left)
- 5-minute cooldown: Gradually decrease speed from to 3.0 to 1.8 mph
3. A Done-in-30 Workout
With this 30-minute workout, you’ll work on holding your effort consistent at certain percentages of your max heart rate, says Eden. This is easy to determine if you’re using a fitness tracker—it will usually give you your max heart rate—but if you don’t have a tracker, you can gauge it off your ratings of perceived effort or exertion, she says. (For instance, if you’re working at 80% of your max, it’ll be “not quite everything you’ve got, where you’ll be holding back a bit,” Eden says. Working at 40%, on the other hand, should be relatively easy for you.) This makes each level relative to each individual.
“This is a great HIIT workout to reap the maximum benefits in a short amount of time, and is ideal for anyone from beginner to advanced,” Eden says of the workout she created, which originally appeared on iFit’s Fast and Fit HIIT series. “The intense work is only for a short amount of time, which gives a beginner the opportunity to push themselves outside of their comfort zone and quickly return to a comfortable pace.”
How to do it:
- 5-minute warm-up: Dynamic drills like high knees, hip openers, and butt kicks, followed by easy jogging
- 30-second run at 80% effort
- 30-second walk at 20% effort
- Repeat 10 times total
- 2-minute jog at a conversational pace (40%-50% effort) to recover
- Repeat the 30-seconds run/30-seconds walk block 10 more times
- 3-minute cooldown: Walk for 3 minutes
4. The Never-a-Flat-Moment Workout
Using an incline can help you get the benefit of HIIT without the need for speed, says Brock. You won’t be sprinting here, but the incline will make you really work hard.
How to do it:
- 3-minute warm-up: 1 minute at 3.0 mph, 2 minutes at 3.5 mph
- 2 minutes at 3.5 mph and 7% incline
- 2 minutes at 4.0 mph and 4% incline
- 2 minutes at 2.8 mph and 10% incline
- 2 minutes at 3.2 mph and 6% incline
- 2 minutes at 3 mph and 8% incline
- 1 minute at 3 mph and 3% incline
- 7 minutes running intervals at 5% incline: 1 minute at 6.5 mph, 1 minute at 3.5 mph, 2 minutes at 6 mph, 2 minutes at 4 mph, 1 minute at 3.2 mph
- 11 minutes endurance intervals at 3.2 mph: 3 minutes at 15% incline, 1 minute at 1%, 3 minutes at 10%, 1 minute at 2%, 3 minutes at 12%
- 3-minute cooldown: 2 minutes at 2.8 mph at 3% incline, 1 minute at 2 mph at 1% incline
5. The Hill Ladder Workout
This progressive hill treadmill workout, created by Jason Loebig, a Nike Running coach, Barry's Bootcamp instructor, and cofounder of Live Better Co., features hard efforts at varying inclines to increase your strength during short conditioning sets, making it both effective and efficient.
“Any runner looking to build leg strength, improve their leg drive, foot speed, running posture, and conditioning will benefit from this workout,” Loebig tells SELF. “This treadmill set can be made harder or easier by adjusting pace, making it a great strength-builder for any runner.”
The focus of this workout should be on posture, leg drive, and building progressive speed, Loebig says. As you move through the 10-round workout, your "sprint" speed should either maintain or increase as you go through the workout, which means you should be conservative about how you start if unsure of your current pacing and speed potential. All sprints should be done at incline, and all walking recoveries should be on flat ground. Then, 10 seconds before the next sprint is about to start, readjust the incline and get ready to let it rip.
How to do it:
- 30 seconds to 1 minute of each warm-up drill: light jog, high knee hugs, high knees, quad pulls, butt kicks, and A-skips
- 30-second sprint at specified incline (round 1 at 2%, round 2 at 3%, round 3 at 6%, round 4 at 8%, round 5 at 6%, round 6 at 4%, round 7 at 2%, round 8 at 4%, round 9 at 6%, round 10 at 8%)
- 90-second walking recovery (no incline)
- Complete 10 rounds total
- 30 seconds to 1 minute each of cooldown: light jog, figure-4 stretch, standing forward-fold stretch, and calf stretch
6. The Speed Endurance Workout
In this heart rate–based speed endurance workout by Garrett Shinoskie, C.S.C.S., you’ll be alternating between one minute of hard work and a one to two minutes of easy recovery.
How to do it:
- 5- to 10-minute warm-up: Walk or jog at a comfortable pace
- 1-minute run: Find a challenging pace where your heart rate should reach 80% to 85% of your max
- 1- to 2-minute recovery: Slow to a moderate walk or jog until your heart rate falls into recovery (usually between 120 to 130 beats per minute)
- Alternate run and recovery intervals for 20 to 30 minutes
- 5-minute cooldown: Walk or jog at a comfortable gait, gradually slowing pace
7. The Sprint Workout
Max yourself out during these short sprint intervals, then catch your breath and recover during the longer rest periods. This type of routine boosts your anaerobic power and capacity, and breaks up the monotony of your typical treadmill workout, says Shinoskie.
How to do it:
- 5- to 10-minute warm-up: Walk or jog at a comfortable pace
- 15-second sprint: Sprint at an all-out speed for you—your heart rate should reach 85% to 90% of your max (you shouldn’t be able to maintain your pace for much longer than this).
- 1- to 2-minute recovery: Slow to a moderate walk or jog until your heart rate falls into recovery (usually between 120 to 130 beats per minute)
- Alternate run and recovery intervals for 20 to 30 minutes
- 5-minute cooldown: Walk or jog at a comfortable gait, gradually slowing pace
8. The On-and-Off-the-Treadmill Workout
Mix up your regular treadmill workout by incorporating a few full-body strength moves (off the treadmill, of course) in between running sets. Hopping on and off the treadmill will keep your heart rate up during the strength moves, giving you cardiovascular benefits, says Shinoskie, plus it puts muscles like your arms and core front and center.
How to do it:
- 5- to 10-minute warm-up: Walk or jog at a comfortable space
- 60 seconds running at fast speed for you
- 30 seconds kettlebell swings
- 30 seconds push-ups
- 60 seconds plank
- 60 seconds running at easy speed for you
- Repeat four to six more times
- 5-minute cooldown: Walk or jog at a comfortable, gradually slowing pace
9. The 16-Minute Burnout
This treadmill session, created by NASM-certified trainer Nate Feliciano, owner and head of training at Studio 16 in New York City, will also challenge more muscles than just your legs.
“This workout is beneficial because not only will you be increasing your heart rate, but you will also be working your core and upper body,” Feliciano tells SELF. “This can be used as a finisher for a workout or as your actual workout.”
For this one, you’ll be doing a couple moves with the treadmill—the sled push and the plank walk—so it can be helpful to familiarize yourself with what they entail: For the sled push, some treadmills have a sled setting, with handles below the console, allowing you to grip in front of you rather than to your sides. Turn off the treadmill, place your hands on the handles, and drive your legs back as if you were running. You’ll feel the friction from the belt adding resistance to the movement. (You should only do this if your treadmill has a secure place for you to grip.)
For the plank walk, set the treadmill to 1–2 mph, then walk behind the treadmill and get into a plank position with your hands on the treadmill's base, on either side of the belt. Once your body is in the plank position, place your hands on the treadmill's belt and start to "walk" your hands forward.
How to do it:
- 1-minute slow walk
- 1-minute sprint (Don't push yourself to your max right out of the gate, Feliciano says. On the first round, start off slower so that you can get a feel for the treadmill.)
- 1-minute sled push on treadmill
- 1-minute plank walks
- Repeat four times total
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