11 Ways to Beat the Treadmill Blahs
As the weather gets colder, many exercisers retreat inside. But boredom with indoor workouts can sabotage your enthusiasm and leave you lurking in bed or in front of the TV. Here are some tips and tricks to treat yourself to a happier time at the gym or in your home.
1. Talk on the phone. Take as many phone calls as is feasible and practical on your treadmill. Wear a head piece for hands free-safety. These minutes can really add up to some serious trekking!
2. Review your music collection and add some new tunes you can really groove to. Good music can turn your workout in an amazing escape and guilt-free mood enhancer.
3. Download some of those interesting podcasts you never seem to have time to listen to and imagine you’re Socrates in ancient Greece, who liked to walk with his buddies while they talked about weighty matters.
4. Set up a big mirror in front of your treadmill and work on your posture and technique: head tall, chest lifted, tailbone dropped down to tuck the tummy. Land on your heel and roll through your foot. Try to walk so that your head stops bobbing up and down. You’ll get a better workout and you’ll be surprised at how fascinated you can become with your own image in motion!
5. Learn how to interval train. You’ll burn more calories, more fat and get a better cardiovascular tune-up if you follow a pattern of increasing effort and recovery. The basic plan is: warm up for at least 5 minutes, increase your speed to what feels like a moderate effort for a few minutes, increase to a higher level of effort, and then fall back to a recovery pace. (Recovery is where you stop any heart thumping and gasping but keep up a moderate effort—the actual speed all depends on your fitness level.) Repeat this pattern for your workout in whatever interval feels okay for you. For instance, a beginner might do 5 minutes of moderate walking followed by 2 minutes of high intensity walking then 3-4 minutes of recovery. Gradually shorten your moderate walk and lengthen your high intensity walk. If you like and you’re confident in your health and fitness level, let your last interval include an all out push. Always cool down at the end of your workout to avoid skipped heart beats.
6. Create a simple circuit training routine. Alternate 5 minutes of moderate treadmill walking with resistance training exercises like squats, lunges, bicep curls, crunches, etc. Use whatever equipment you have at hand: dumbbells, stretch bands or medicine balls. This is much more entertaining than 30 minutes of flat out walking and you’ll spice up your resistance training too.
7. Workout while you wait. Got a household chore that requires waiting? Like waiting for the laundry to dry, the dinner to bake, the bread to rise, the office to call? Instead of sitting down for a cuppa or a half hour of mindless TV, grab your music and ride your indoor road to stress reduction and better circulation.
8. Learn to meditate while walking. Breathwalk is an active meditation that keeps you alert, focused and able to safely operate your treadmill. Check out Breathwalk: Breathing Your Way to a Revitalized Body, Mind and Spirit to learn more about this technique. Focusing on form is a meditation in itself. But Breathwalk is a way to coordinate specific breathing patterns with your walk and allows you to move from a negative to a positive mood in 20-30 minutes.
9. Dance on your treadmill. If you like a steady 20 minute per mile pace, play a waltz and start counting your steps in a 1-2-3 pattern, rather than a marching 1-2-3-4 pattern. You will never know what I’m talking about unless you try it! Suddenly, you’re dancing on your treadmill!
10. Watch the news. Reduce your stress and get a workout at the same time by watching your evening newscast while walking. It’s something many of do every night, like brushing our teeth. In fact, if it makes sense, you can do that too. News, walk, teeth. You’ll be healthier, better informed, less stressed and have fresher breath all in 30 minutes!
11. Use your treadmill to warm up. Going outside to do something or other when it’s below 30 degrees? Jump on your treadmill first and spend 10-15 minutes warming up. When you go outside, you’ll feel the cold a lot less and reduce the risk of injury because your muscles are warmed up. Winter weather feels a lot less intimidating when your body is a little more prepared to meet the elements.
