If you’re looking to lose weight but only own a treadmill, then don’t worry! These are great pieces of cardio equipment, especially for weight loss!
Both running and walking on the treadmill is a great way to keep in shape, helping you to achieve your fitness goals.
Although, two common questions relate to whether or not you can lose weight on a treadmill and how long this would take. One of the best forms of cardio exercise is running.
Not only is it practical and versatile, but if you push yourself hard enough, it makes for a hardcore workout. Hence, it is an incredibly effective exercise, and the use of a treadmill amplifies this.
Treadmill running also allows you to adjust your workout to suit your exact requirements, this could include providing additional support for your knees, allowing you to complete a full workout while minimizing the risks of further injury.
Therefore, there are a lot of different factors that affect whether or not you can lose weight on a treadmill and how long this would take.
These different factors come together and could potentially play a role in your progress.
With this in mind, this article is going to explore everything you need to know about losing weight on a treadmill.
What Exercise Factors Affect Weight Loss?
Intensity
One of the biggest obstacles when first starting with a treadmill is determining how you’re going to use it.
The level of intensity you undertake has a detrimental effect on your overall results.
There are several different approaches you can take, such as HIIT or LISS; although, both contain their advantages and disadvantages.
If weight loss is your number one goal, then the best approach would be HIIT training approximately four times a week.
This enables you to burn the most calories in a shorter time which is important for weight loss.
Duration
It’s a general rule of thumb that the duration of your workout should correlate with how hard you’re working.
For instance, 30 minutes of walking on an incline per week allow you to approximately reach the calorie burn of undertaking a HIIT workout three times a week.
However, it is important to remember that over-exercising is harmful to the body, too.
This would not only impact your weight loss journey but could potentially leave you with long-term injuries. Therefore, it’s important to listen to your body when it wants to stop.
Frequency
The next pillar to looking at the relationship between weight loss and using a treadmill is the frequency of your use.
While the duration and intensity of your workouts are extremely important for results, the frequency will determine how fast you see these results.
For instance, if you’re performing one power workout a week, then it’s not likely you’re going to see any weight loss results. Likewise, a five-minute sprint twice a day isn’t going to shed many pounds.
Therefore, you need to find the perfect balance that takes into consideration your workout requirements.
So, we have highlighted all the different factors that may affect your weight loss journey using a treadmill.
How long it takes to lose weight is a combination of all the different factors previously mentioned. There’s no right or wrong way to do this.
As long as you are regularly working out with consistent durations, then you should start to notice changes in your body within a few weeks.
However, there are a few factors that affect weight loss outside of exercise. In the next section, we’ll be taking a closer look into this.
Factors That Affect Weight Loss Outside Of Exercise
Calorie Deficit
Unfortunately, weight loss and calorie deficit work hand in hand. To effectively lose weight, you’re going to need to lower the limit of calories you’re eating per day.
Ideally, this should be a combination of eating and exercising. This is where the treadmill is ideal.
If you were to use your treadmill several times a week to create a calorie deficit of approximately 250-500 (in combination with a healthy diet), then you should lose near 2lbs per week.
This is the ideal routine for healthy weight loss and if you keep it up you should lose 1-2 lbs every week.
Starting Weight
The weight you are when you start your weight loss journey can also factor into how much weight you’re able to lose.
Essentially, the more you weigh; the more calories you will end up losing as a result of using more energy to move your weight.
While this gives you a slight boost when starting, it is harder to maintain.
As you lose more weight, you may notice your progress slowing down; however, you shouldn’t get put off when this happens! Just know you’re on the right track.
Metabolism
Your metabolism plays a huge role in your weight loss journey, and it can be affected by many different factors.
These include your height, gender, age, weight, etc. Therefore, this is important to keep in mind when you start losing weight.
The most significant factor is your age as over time you begin to lose muscle mass.
Muscle can burn more calories resting than fat, so every day you burn fewer calories naturally. This makes it easier to put on weight.
Final Thoughts
From taking into account everything we have outlined above, it is clear to say that treadmills aren’t bad for weight loss.
However, it’s important to keep in mind that everybody is different and how you use a treadmill will affect everyone differently. The ultimate goal is to maintain a healthy body.
Therefore, as long as you’re performing the recommended amount of exercise per week and are eating healthily, you should begin to notice results.
Hopefully, this guide has informed you of everything you need to know about losing weight on a treadmill.
