Five Ways to Make the Treadmill Less Boring (Plus Five Workouts to Try)

Posted on July 24, 2024 by resourcefulman

I’ve never been a fan of the treadmill, but during a recent vacation, something changed. I wanted to run a few miles every morning, but there wasn’t a good running route. I thought I had found a promising local park, but the reviews on AllTrails didn’t say anything good about it, just complaints about mosquitoes and ticks and a claim that the only parking lot had a toll gate. Moreover, the angle was 90 degrees.

So I went to the hotel gym to see how much of my planned five-mile run I could handle on the treadmill. I turned on a good podcast, discovered to my delight that the treadmill had a built-in fan to cool my face, and found myself saying “sure, I can run another mile” four times in a row. I came back the next day, and the next. I’m as shocked as everyone else when I say this, but I love the treadmill now.

Why you should learn to love running on a treadmill

Now that I’m back from vacation, I’m a new person. Specifically, someone who looks at the weather and says, hmm, that treadmill looks good right now.

On the treadmill, you won’t have to worry about sunscreen, sun shirts , or sunburn. The humidity doesn’t suffocate you and wet bulb temperature doesn’t matter anymore. In the winter, you won’t have to deal with icy sidewalks, snow getting into your shoes, or negative wind chill levels.

You can keep a water bottle handy without worrying about how to carry it . The same goes for everything else you might need: snacks, inhaler, sweat towel. There are also bathrooms nearby if you need them.

Before you fall in love too much, it’s worth remembering that running on a treadmill feels different than running on the road. There are no unexpected climbs, you’ll lose heat adaptation , and your feet will hit the ground at roughly the same angle with every step. Getting outside (and ideally some trails) should still be a healthy part of your running diet. And don’t think your treadmill pace will carry over to the street—most runners find running on a treadmill physically easier, even if it’s mentally tiring.

Now that you’ve thought about the pros and cons, let’s talk about how to do it. What are the factors that turn the “road mill” into something you look forward to?

Get used to the treadmill mindset

The first thing I want to point out is mindset. Any distance that can be run outdoors can be run on a treadmill. And with the tips below, you can do it without losing your mind. So have a little faith, okay? Get on the treadmill, press start, and don’t immediately start wondering when it will end. Tell yourself it’s time to settle in and get comfortable because you’ll be here for a while. You can handle this. I promise.

Provide yourself with earthly comfort

Since a treadmill allows you to have few amenities, be sure to take advantage of this opportunity. Bring a large water bottle, a sweat towel—everything you always want to have on your run but isn’t always easy to take with you. Do you want to feel truly in luxury? Take a mini handheld fan or clip-on fan and point it at your face.

Take a break

Ask dedicated treadmill runners how they do it, and they’ll often say they watch their favorite TV show while running. If you don’t like television, you might enjoy watching your favorite podcast , watching an in-depth review on YouTube , listening to a good audiobook , or listening to some great music .

Students always tell themselves that they will study or read on the treadmill. I’m not sure anyone has ever done this successfully (I’ve never done it), but visual distractions are completely fair game. In the days before smartphones were common, every gym had a rack of magazines that you could look through while you ran. And don’t forget that there are often good people who can watch you, depending on where exactly your treadmill is facing.

You can definitely double down on your distractions. At one commercial gym I frequent, I can do the following at the same time :

Podcast in my headphones
Music playing in the gym
Two or more TV shows are broadcast on screens suspended from the ceiling (without sound, with subtitles)
The interactions of the various gym characters inhabiting the free weights area within my field of vision.

It’s so busy that sometimes when I have a thought (a rare occurrence while running), I need to press the pause button on my headphones and look at an empty space on the wall to give it room to be heard.

Choose a workout that’s compatible with your treadmill

If you’re used to running outdoors, not all of your regular workouts can be transferred to the treadmill. Some tips:

Don’t expect your watch to know how “far” you are running. Select the time or track the distance manually.
If your watch or phone measures your pace, don’t expect it to be accurate. (Funnily enough, I found that I could trick my Garmin into thinking I was running faster by pumping my arms more aggressively.)
Avoid workouts that involve immediate changes in speed or incline. It takes time for these engines to work.
Hop onto the sides of the treadmill when it’s time to finish the interval. The treadmill takes a few seconds to slow down, but you can immediately relax. Go back once your recovery speed is back to yours.

And my number one tip is: break it up.

You can do everything in the list above and still wonder when the run will finally end. (It’s been a minute and a half. Calm down.) What helps me get through a workout—and what has proven important for many runners—is breaking up my runs into smaller chunks. Here are some ways to do this.

Get off the treadmill

If you need to do some exercise but don’t care if it’s running , get off the machine after 10 minutes and choose another one. Jog for 10 minutes, cycle 10 times, use the elliptical machine 10 times, and then return to the treadmill to complete the exercise. It’s an easy 40 minutes and it flies by.

If you’re willing to combine it with non-cardio exercise, consider a structure where you do something else and then get back on the treadmill. The Peloton app includes “workout camps” structured this way, and when I had a subscription to the app, I really enjoyed using them for hotel workouts. You can be on the treadmill for 10 minutes at the beginning and 10 at the end, and do other exercises in between.

Set yourself trivial goals

These numbers on the treadmill are constantly changing (I mean time and distance readings), so play with them. A few examples:

I’m going to increase my speed by 0.1 as I walk the next half mile.
I will drink bottled water exactly every five minutes.
I cover the screen with a towel and don’t intend to check the distance until this song ends.
I’m going to walk for one minute when I’m halfway through the workout.
Every quarter mile I will focus on a different aspect of my running form.
When the last digit of the distance is a nine (for example, 3.29), I’m going to count how many steps it will take before it changes to zero.

These changes make every little segment feel like something you can get through—I can get through the next quarter mile—and then before you know it, you stack a bunch of quarter miles on top of each other and you’re more than halfway done. But if you’re looking for a specific workout, try some of the following.

Workout 1: Easy Jogging

It’s an easy way to break up a light or long run. This was my favorite activity on the hotel treadmill. I didn’t know how I would walk five miles, but I knew I could do one , and I could definitely do less than one at a time. Here’s how to do it:

Run at your normal pace for the first mile.
When the distance counter reaches 1.00, walk one minute.
Run the remaining mile a little faster than your easy pace (say 11:45 instead of 12:00).
Repeat for each mile until you finish. If you missed one of your walk breaks because you were engrossed in music/podcast/show, consider that recovery minute “in your pocket” to be used whenever you feel the need. You could even make it a game to see how many walk breaks you can take without using them.

Workout 2: Quarter Mile Shift.

This is my favorite option when I have an easy run planned but don’t want to set the treadmill at a constant speed and struggle to get through it. My gym’s treadmills display a standard track (quarter mile per cycle), so I use quarter mile for segments. If you want, feel free to create your own version that uses minutes.

First quarter mile: Run at a normal, easy pace.
Second Quarter Mile: Increase your speed by 0.2 mph.
Third Quarter Mile: Increase your speed another 0.2 mph.
Fourth Quarter Mile: Go as fast as you want, within reason.
Repeat every mile.

So if you normally jog at a pace of 12 minutes, your easy pace would be 5.0 mph. Start with 5.0, then increase to 5.2, then 5.4, and then you might even want to reach 6.0 in the last segment.

Sometimes when I get back to the start of the cycle I add a little more: 5.1, 5.3, 5.5, 6.1 for the next mile. Play with it and create your own versions.

Workout 3: Short Sprints

This is one of my favorite options when I want the speed changes to be frequent enough that I don’t have time to get bored. I took this workout from a run led by Nike Run Club, but loved it so much that now I just do it on my own. Create a good playlist for this with savory flavors.

Warm up with a light jog for 10 minutes.
Do 20 (yes, 20!) of the following: – Run fast for 30 seconds. – Walk (or lightly jog) for one minute.
Complete a 10-minute recovery run.

Your running speed should be significantly faster than your normal easy pace, but not so fast that you burn out after the first two intervals. If you know your mile time, this is the ideal pace. If not, be conservative at first and increase the speed in subsequent intervals if it seems too easy.

This (and other fast interval training) works best if you can find a way to quickly switch between speeds. Treadmill controls vary, but sometimes you’ll find a system with a “HIIT” setting that allows you to program your running speed and recovery speed, and then you can switch between them with the press of a button.

Workout 4: Wingate (even shorter sprints)

One of the first true HIIT workouts was the Wingate test. The researchers found that the more people took this test, the better their cardio fitness became. It is based on 30 second sprints with a good long rest in between. Here’s the basic recipe:

Warm up as desired (10 minutes is enough).
Each time the timer reaches a multiple of 5:00: – Run very, very fast for the first 30 seconds. – Walk or jog for the remaining five minutes.
After you’ve done this four to six times, cool down with another 10 minutes of easy jogging.

Workout 5: VO2max Intervals

There are many ways to train VO2max. (And in fact, almost all cardio exercise benefits your VO2max in some way, especially if you track it with a smartwatch or other device rather than with a lab test.) One way to do this is:

Warm up (10 minutes or optional)
Repeat the following three to five times: – Run quickly for four minutes (this should be hard, but not impossible) – Recovery (walk or jog) for two minutes.
Cool (10 minutes or as desired)

Completing a treadmill workout

If you’re at a public gym, you’re often expected to wipe down the equipment when you’re done with it. Spray disinfectant on a paper towel and wipe down the treadmill screen and handles. (If there are beads of sweat on the treadmill, they are almost impossible to wipe off; don’t worry about them. Everyone should wear shoes anyway.)

Sometimes people feel a little weird when they step off the treadmill after a long workout. To prevent this, take a few minutes to slow down. Go to a slow jog, then a brisk walk, then a slow walk. This should help you get used to living on a stable floor.

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