Treadmill running workouts can boost students’ confidence and comfort in the world of running. Almost every school fitness center and gym has one or multiple treadmills! However, many students might get on the treadmill at a comfortable pace and run for 20 minutes straight without a plan or idea of what to do. And that can get boring!
The best treadmill workouts motivate and inspire beginners to advanced runners through fun and challenging running workouts. Check out some of the basics of treadmill running workouts for beginners and students below, and explore a full free sample from PLT4M’s library.
Treadmill Running Workouts 101
Tread is a dynamic and fun follow-along workout for all fitness levels. Get ready to run with PLT4M as Marguerite takes students through a 30-minute interval workout on the treadmill.
Each tread workout will allow students to challenge themselves with different endurance, hills, sprints, and more! Students practice form, technique, and strategy throughout workouts to build confidence, comfort, and conditioning when running.
Each tread workout is a full follow-along workout. Students start each workout by getting warmed up on the treadmill. From there, Marguerite introduces and coaches students through new sets and challenges, also working on rest and recovery throughout! At the end of each workout, runners can cool down and stretch.
Setting Your Speed On Treadmill Running Workouts
Treadmill running workouts are interval training sessions that mix endurance, hills, and sprint work. The beauty of these treadmill workouts is that they can be customized to any fitness level. While we encourage and coach different speed and incline levels, runners can find the proper speeds that suit their fitness goals and abilities.
For speed, each individual will want to find the speed that challenges them but that they can complete safely. We will use the following 1-5 scale to help us find our different speeds:
1 – Walk
2 – Jog
3 – Run
4 – Push
5 – Sprint
Take note of what you are setting your treadmill speed (MPH or KPH) at different points of the workout. For example, when it is time for a Level 4 Push, look and see what you have set your treadmill at so you can return or work to improve your MPH in future workouts as you get more comfortable on the treadmill.
Setting Your Incline On Treadmill
For inclines, we will use different percentage inclines to mimic hill workouts and flat roads.
Our flat road is always set to 1 incline (rather than 0 incline). As we hit different parts of our treadmill running workouts, we can go anywhere from 1 incline all the way up to 8 incline.
As we do increase incline, it might be more challenging to keep your same speed. For example, while you might set your “run” or level 3 pace at 6 MPH on a flat road, you may need to bring your “run” pace down to 5 MPH a bit as the incline starts to creep up. And that is okay!
Rather than running on flat road the entire time to maintain speeds, let’s work to stick with the inclines prescribed, changing speed as the way to modify and scale the workout.
Form and Technique For Treadmill Workouts
Whether we are 5 minutes, 10 minutes, or 30 minutes into a workout, we always want to be mindful of our form and technique. As runners start with easy jogs during the warm-up, they should check in with themselves about a few of the following things:
1) Land softly on the balls of your feet! Avoid slamming your heels into the treadmill.
2) Relax your shoulders and hands and swing your arms back and forth, keeping your elbows in and pointing behind you.
3) Breath! With the points above, keep breathing and work so as not to slouch and hunch over as you get tired.
But even as runners’ heart rates rise and workouts get harder, we always want to check back in on form and technique regardless of whether we are at a slow or face pace on the treadmill.
Sample Treadmill Running Workout
Now that we have reviewed speed, incline, form, and technique, let’s get ready to run. Below is a free sample workout from PLT4M’s treadmill running workouts series. In this workout, we start out an easy pace to get warmed up and ready to go. After that, Marguerite coaches students through treadmill training that includes speed training, tempo runs, and hill workouts.
Key Takeaways on Treadmill Workouts
Giving students new avenues for fitness can support physical literacy and lifelong health and wellness. While running on the treadmill is a good start, providing students actual treadmill running workouts can take their exercise routine to the next level!
As students hop onto to the treadmill always:
- Encourage good form and technique
- Ensure safety procedures of treadmills and equipment are followed
- Promote students finding the speed and challenge that suits their fitness levels
What other types of lesson plans and workouts does PLT4M have?
Consider PLT4M your full learning management system for health and physical education.
PLT4M has a full slate of PE lessons for physical education teachers to choose from! From PE games to fitness activities, PLT4M has countless options. Check out some of the most popular below:
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