****Official Weight Loss and Exercise Thread****

[NewChief]

Originally Posted by Silock

Something that might help acclimate you to the shorter intervals is to work your way up the speed ladder.

Start at 5 mph, then back to 3.5, then up to 5.5, then back to 3.5, and keep increasing it by .5 every time you go back up to a sprint. It'll take a few minutes to get up to the highest setting, but once you do, it'll be super-intense. Might not work for your running style, but I personally find it harder to slack off near the end if I start off at a lower intensity and then move it up.

I did this workout called sprint 8s that was based on this theory. It supposedly increases your body's natural output of HGH. It also helps you shed pounds. I'll include it below, and I'll put my "usual" (I've done both higher and lower settings) treadmill settings and ending time readings for each interval as an example. I modified it a bit for the treadmill and my own uses:

3 minute warmup on treadmill (3:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint session (3:30): 9.5 mph
1.5 minute recovery (5:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint session (5:30): 9.5 mph
1.5 minute recovery (7:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint session (7:30): 9.5 mph
1.5 minute recovery (9:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint buildup (9:30): 10 mph
1.5 minute recovery (11:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint buildup (11:30): 10.5 mph
1.5 minute recovery (13:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint buildup (13:30): 11 mph
1.5 minute recovery (15:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint buildup (15:30): 11.5 mph
1.5 minute recovery (17:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint buildup (17:30): 12 mph
1.5 minute recovery (19:00): 7.5 mph
Cooldown jog of a few minutes: 6.0 mph

Now this workout is actually intended to be done outside where you can fully sprint, and you're supposed to walk back to where you started as your recovery. I have a hard time fully sprinting on a treadmill, and I can't stand walking on a treadmill, so I adjusted it to eliminate the walk. You will be the loud idiot stomping like a maniac on the treadmill with this workout, but it's a kickass 20 minute cardio.