Some runners love treadmill training. I was not one of them. I would always much rather be out trail running than indoors bouncing around in front of a screen. But when I was training for a PB a few years ago during a particularly nasty winter, I learned how treadmills can be helpful for more than just helping us avoid inclement weather.
Sheer boredom got me onto Google looking for treadmill workouts to while away the miles on my 10K training plan. I was just hoping to find a way to inject some fun into treadmill runs. Instead I learned how training on a treadmill can help increase speed, improve form and maximise our running time. Now, whether I’m race training or not, a treadmill run is one of my favourite sessions of the week.
Read on for our guide to treadmill training, the benefits it offers and treadmill workouts that you can do at the gym or at home. We also have a treadmill training plans for you to follow, which is perfect for training during the winter months.
The benefits of treadmill training
Helps you run faster
Don’t get me wrong, you can absolutely learn to run faster on your outdoor runs. But I find that treadmill training makes it a lot easier to stick to a faster pace, as your speed is set for you by the belt. All you have to do is try to keep up with it! Interval training workouts are also really easy to do on a treadmill, as you can set an exact speed for each interval. Over time, these will increase your running speed.
Improves pace consistency
When you run on a treadmill, the belt is moving at a constant speed. This helps you to keep running at the same pace, rather than speeding up and slowing down. By practicing this regularly on the treadmill, your brain and body get better at repeating it outside or in a race setting.
Removes external factors
Uneven pavements, dogs, gates, having to wait at traffic lights… All of these can get in the way of your run, especially if you’re in the middle of a tempo run or a training plan session that has certain timings. Treadmill training allows you to concentrate on your run, without anything else getting in the way.
Can help improve your form
As much as we’d love it to, treadmill training won’t magically fix up your form overnight. But it can reveal certain things about how you’re running that might not be so obvious from outdoor running. You might notice that you’re always leaning right over the screen, or you may be able to hear one foot land much harder than the other on the belt. If the treadmill is in front of a mirror or window, you may be able to see some differences between your shoulder movements as you run. All of these could indicate form issues or imbalances that you can then work on with strength training.
Reduces impact
We know now that running is actually good for our joints. That being said, if you’re upping your mileage for a training plan or doing a lot of road running, the impact could cause some discomfort until your body adjusts. Treadmill training offers a softer surface for running that results in less impact from each footstrike. It’s a great way to give your legs a break while they get used to your new levels of training.
Treadmill training advice
Before you hit the gym or open up your at-home treadmill, there are a few things that are important to know.
Wear the emergency stop clip
I know, I know: no one else in the gym does it. Some of us might not even have ever noticed this little clip! It’s usually a red string attached to the treadmill, with a claw clip on the end that you can pop into your waistband. If it gets pulled out, it’ll stop the treadmill immediately, hopefully reducing any injury if you’ve fallen. This is important any time you’re on a treadmill, but especially if you’re prone to tripping (guilty!). It’s also important if you’re doing speed work that involves you stepping on and off the belt from the side rails.
Add an incline
Running on a treadmill doesn’t require as much effort as running outdoors because its surface is flat and it naturally pulls your feet backwards, helping to propel you forwards. You also don’t have any wind resistance or obstacles to encounter. To make it more comparable to training outdoors, change the incline. The ‘0’ setting is actually the same as a gentle decline, so start at at incline of 1 and work your way up from there. You may also need to increase your speed to a faster pace then you would usually go outside.
Remember to warm up
You still need to get your body warm and ready to run before you do treadmill training. Your normal running warm-up should suffice. I also recommend doing a few minutes of fast walking on the treadmill, and then a few minutes of steady pace running before you start sprinting. This will get your brain and body used to running on the belt.
Treadmill workouts to improve your running
Here are some treadmill workouts you can incorporate into your treadmill training sessions to pass the time more quickly and improve on different areas of your running. They don’t include specific speeds or incline levels as they can be adapted to suit any runner. We’ve given timing guidance for interval workouts, but this can again be increased or decreased as needed. They do use some key training plan terms, which you can look up if you need to.
Sprint intervals
This is the bread and butter of treadmill training. As we mentioned, you can programme your speed in, giving you a really specific training session that can easily be adapted to suit your (hopefully increasing!) speed over time.
Your sprint intervals will look like this:
- Run for 2 mins at tempo pace.
- Increase the treadmill speed to your desired sprint pace. It should be a fair bit faster than your race pace, but not totally beyond your limits. Sprint for 60 seconds, or as long as you can if not for the full minute.
- Reduce the incline back to 1-2, and reduce your speed to either a fast walk or easy jog. Recover for 2 mins.
- Repeat as many times as you like! For a 30-minute session, I’d do a warm-up run for 5 minutes, do 4 sprint repeats and then 5 minutes of easy running to cool down.
If you’re finding the sprint run easy, you can either increase the time that you’re running, or run at race pace before your sprint interval.
Hill intervals
Treadmills are actually great for that dreaded hill training. You don’t need to run around searching for the perfect hill for your current ability, as you can adjust your incline so easily on the machine. They also offer much more gentle inclines than some hills in the real world, so you can do more repetitions.
Your hill intervals will look like this:
- Set the incline to normal, 1-2 as recommended above. Run for 2 mins at race pace.
- Increase your incline to your desired hill level, and decrease your speed to tempo pace. Sprint for 60 seconds, or as long as you can if not for the full minute.
- Reduce the incline back to 1-2, and reduce your speed to either a fast walk or easy jog. Recover for 2 mins.
- Repeat as many times as you like! For a 30-minute session, I’d do a warm-up run for 5 minutes, do 4 hill sprint repeats and then 5 minutes of easy running to cool down.
If you’re finding the hill run easy, you can either increase the time that you’re running, or keep your speed at race pace.
Fartlek intervals
This is one of my favourite ways to train on a treadmill, as it’s fun but also teaches you how to push yourself when needed.
Personally, I find it hard to decide how long my Fartlek intervals should be when I’m running. This method uses music to take out any decision-making. All you need to do is run!
Your Fartlek intervals will look like this:
- Prepare your music. If you’re in a gym, there will probably be some loud and repetitive music playing in the background – which is perfect for this! If you’re at home or would like to use your own playlist, you can prepare one in advance. I think you can do it to any kind of music, but it’s worked best for me when I’ve used dance music.
- After you’ve warmed up, wait for the next song to start. Run at a tempo pace during the verses.
- As the song builds to the chorus, or a ‘drop’, increase either your speed, your incline, or both. Run as hard and as fast as you can during this part of the song. How long it lasts will be controlled by the individual song.
- When the chorus or drop is over, return to a tempo pace.
- Repeat through the song, and for as many songs as you like!
Downloadable treadmill training plans
Here are some of our favourite treadmill sessions in handy PDF format, so you can download them and print them off to stick on your fridge. There’s no specific timeframe for these sessions – you can read on to more detailed ones below if you prefer. Just simply select your preferred plan based on your goal and work the sessions into your training plan.
Treadmill training plans for every distance
A treadmill training plan gives you treadmill workouts to follow suited to your goals. It’s great for keeping your training on track during colder months, when the weather might get in your way. It can also be useful for anyone looking to monitor and improve their running performance.
Running coach Laura Fountain has put together treadmill training plans for every distance below. These treadmill workouts are designed for runners who are already running regularly and who want to give their training a boost.
If you don’t currently do any speed sessions or tempo runs, choose just one of these to include each week. If you’re more experienced in doing faster paced training sessions, you can do both an interval session and a tempo run in your week. However, try to space these and allow yourself adequate recovery.
Some of these sessions use training paces. Here’s what the numbers mean:
- 1–3 = very easy, able to hold a conversation – for some runners this will only be achieved while walking.
- 4-6 = moderate, still able to talk but breathing is more laboured.
- 7–9 = hard work, difficult to talk, breathing heavily.
- 10 = max effort, gasping for breath.
Beginner treadmill training plan
This treadmill session is designed for runners who are new to speedwork and tempo runs, but who can already run for 20 minutes or more without stopping. You alternate between intervals and tempo runs each week for six weeks.
Week 1: Intervals
10 min easy
6 x 1 min fast, 1 min walk, 1 min easy
10 min easy
Week 2: Tempo
10 min jog/brisk walk
Increase speed slightly every 1 minute for 5 min
Decrease speed slightly every 1 minute for 5 min
5 min jog/brisk walk
Week 3: Intervals
10 min easy
4 x 2 min @ 7/10 effort
90 sec walk/jog
5 min jog
Week 4: Tempo
5 min brisk walk
5 min 3/10 effort
5 min 5/10 effort
1 min 7/10 effort
3 min 3/10 effort
5 min jog/brisk walk
Week 5: Intervals
10 min easy @ 0 incline
5 x 1 min incline effort
1 min @ 0 incline recovery walk
5 min easy @ 0 incline
Week 6: Tempo
10 min jog
10 min @ 5/10 effort
10 min jog
5K race treadmill training plan
If you’re looking to get a PB on your parkrun or set a new personal speed record, these treadmill workouts will prepare you. Alternate between interval sessions and tempo runs, doing one per week for 6 weeks.
Week 1: Intervals
10 min easy
8 x 1 min fast, 1 min walk/jog
10 min easy
Week 2: Tempo
10 min easy
10 min @ 6/10 effort
10 min easy
Week 3: Intervals
10 min easy @ 0 incline
4 x 2 min incline effort
1 min @ 0 incline recovery jog
10 min easy @ 0 incline
Week 4: Tempo
10 mins easy
2 x 5 min @ 7/10 effort
2 min easy recovery
8 min easy
Week 5: Intervals
10 min easy
6 x 2 min @ 8/10 effort, 90 second jog
4 x 10 sec sprint, 1 min walk
10 min easy
Week 6: Tempo
10 min easy
3 x 1K @ 5K pace
90 sec walk/jog recovery
10 min easy
10K treadmill training plan
If you’re looking to improve up your 10K time, follow these treadmill workouts for six weeks before the race. Alternate between interval sessions and tempo runs, doing one per week for 6 weeks.
Week 1: Intervals
10 min easy @ 0 incline
3 x 4 min incline effort, 3 min @ 0 incline recovery
10 min easy @ 0 incline
Week 2: Tempo
10 min easy
15 min @ 6/10 effort
10 min easy
Week 3: Intervals
10 min easy
5 x 3 min @ 7/10 effort, 90 sec jog
4 x 10 sec sprint, 1 min walk
10 min easy
Week 4: Tempo
10 min easy at 0 incline
Increase the incline slightly every 2 min for 10 min
Decrease the incline slightly every 1 min for 5 min
5 min easy at 0 incline
Week 5: Intervals
10 min easy
8-10 x 1 min 8/10, 1 min easy
10 min easy
Week 6: Tempo
10 min easy
3 x 8 min @ 10K pace
2 min walk/jog recovery
10 min easy
Half marathon & marathon treadmill training plan
This training plan will give you a bit more purpose when covering the miles in preparation for a half or full marathon. Alternate between interval sessions and tempo runs, doing one per week for 6 weeks, then repeat as many times as needed before the big day.
Week 1: Intervals
10 min easy
6-8 x 2 min at 5K easy pace
2 min easy recovery
10 min easy
Week 2: Tempo
10 min easy
2 x 8 min @ 10K pace + 10 sec/mile
3 min easy recovery
10 min easy
Week 3: Intervals
10 min easy
8-10 1 min @ 8/10 effort, 90 sec easy
5 min easy
Week 4: Tempo
10 min 3/10 effort
10 min 5/10 effort
5 min 7/10 effort
5 min 5/10 effort
5 min 3/10 effort
Week 5: Intervals
10 min easy @ 0 incline
3 x 5 min incline effort
3 min @ 0 incline recovery
10 min easy @ 0 incline
Week 6: Tempo
10 min easy
20-30 min at goal race pace
10 min easy
