Everyone’s running short on time these days, but that doesn’t mean you need to cut corners on your health. In fact, carving out time to work out is even more important when you’ve got a busy schedule — just 30 minutes of moderate exercise three days per week can help you:
- Get better sleep
- Manage stress levels
- Feel more energized and focused
- Improve your mood and emotional regulation
That’s why we designed a custom HIIT treadmill workout with a pace that will increase your heart rate and burn calories fast. This routine gives you results quickly, so you don’t have to run for hours on end to enjoy the benefits of regular exercise.
HIIT Treadmill Workout Benefits
In addition to a mental health boost, HIIT treadmill workouts also have some serious physical benefits, including:
- Running can aid in weight loss.
- Running on the treadmill puts less impact on your joints than running on pavement.
- Running helps strengthen lower body muscles.
- Running improves your aerobic stamina.
- HIIT workouts leave a post-workout calorie burn.
- HIIT exercise can increase your VO2 max, improving your overall athletic performance.
- If burning fat is one of your workout goals, HIIT treadmill workouts may help. A 2022 study showed that regular HIIT workouts with changes in incline helped decrease body fat mass percentage.
Varying pace and incline makes HIIT treadmill workouts more effective than just running endlessly on the treadmill — plus, it keeps things interesting, so you won’t get bored in the middle of your workout.
Now, let’s HIIT it.
HIIT Treadmill Workout Warm-Up
A good warm-up is essential to a safe, effective treadmill workout — especially if you’re doing HIIT. Use these exercises to get your body ready to run.
Ankle Circles
How to:
- Stand tall with your arms out to your sides, parallel to the floor.
- Raise one leg slightly off the ground in front of your body.
- Keep your torso still and make circles with your ankle in both directions.
- Do 10 circles in each direction on each side.
Overhead Squats
How to:
- Stand upright with your feet shoulder-width apart and toes pointing straight ahead.
- Hold your arms up straight above your head.
- Lower your body toward the floor, bending at the hips and knees with an upright torso and your heels flat on the floor.
- Push through your feet to return to the start position, keeping your back flat and your arms overhead throughout.
- Do 10–15 reps.
Forward to Reverse Lunge
How to:
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
- Take a step forward, dropping your back knee to the floor and leaning your torso slightly forward with your weight on your front leg.
- Push off your front foot and step backward with the other leg, dropping your knee toward the floor.
- Push off your front foot to return to the start position.
- Complete 10 reps on one side, then 10 reps on the other.
Mountain Climbers
How to:
- Start in a high plank position with your wrists stacked under your shoulders. Keep your body aligned from head to toe.
- Bring one knee in toward the same side elbow, keeping the rest of your body still.
- Straighten your leg and repeat on the other side. Remember to keep your back flat and your hips in line with your shoulders throughout the movement.
- Repeat for 30 seconds.
Once you’re warmed up, you’re ready to hit the ground (er, treadmill) for your workout. This HIIT incline treadmill workout is based on heart rate training, which requires the use of a smartwatch or heart rate monitor such as MyZone. Here’s a basic overview of the five heart rate zones.
Heart Rate Training Basics
As your pace and treadmill incline increase, so will your heart rate. Heart rate training can help you assess how your workout is challenging your cardiovascular system and help you reach your fitness goals more quickly.
24-Minute Treadmill Interval Workout
This HIIT treadmill workout consists of six periods of intense sprints with short recovery periods in between. During each sprint, you’ll increase the speed and incline of the treadmill to pump up your heart rate to Zones 3 and 4, or 70%–89% of your maximum heart rate. During recovery periods, maintain a steady pace, decrease the incline, and let your heart rate return to Zone 2, or 60%–69% of your maximum heart rate.
Here’s the full breakdown of the HIIT workout:
Tip: If running on the treadmill is too intense for you, start with a walk instead — the main goal is to get your heart rate up. You can raise the incline and start running at a faster pace as you get more comfortable with treadmill exercise.
HIIT Treadmill Workout Cooldown
The workout isn’t done yet (don’t worry, the hard work is)! Don’t forget that recovery is an essential part of any training program. After an intense workout like an incline run on the treadmill, lactic acid can build up in your muscles and lead to soreness and aches. Always finish your workout with a cooldown.
Slow down the pace and walk on the treadmill, stretch, or try foam rolling, an optimal post-run recovery choice. In addition to preventing muscle soreness and injury, foam rolling can:
- Improve range of motion in joints
- Ease joint stress from intense training
- Help maintain functional muscular length
- Relieve chronic pain
These drills target the muscles you used during your HIIT treadmill workout.
Glutes
How to:
- Sit upright on the roller with your legs straight out in front. Walk your hands out onto the floor behind your back.
- Roll back and forth over your buttocks from the top of your hamstrings to your lower back.
- Bend and straighten your legs as you roll back and forth.
- Repeat 5–7 times, or longer as needed.
IT Band
How to:
- Lay on your side with the roller under your hip and your leg straight. Place your other foot and your hands on the floor.
- Pull your body toward your hands, rolling down along the side of your thigh.
- Push away, rolling back up the side of your thigh.
- Switch to the other side and repeat.
- Repeat 5–7 times per side or longer as needed.
Hip Fexors
How to:
- Sit upright on the roller, leaning to one side with one leg bent and ankle on your opposite knee.
- Support your bodyweight with one arm straight behind you, hand flat on the floor.
- Push your body away, bending your elbow and rolling over the side of your buttocks.
- Pull back, straightening your arm and rolling back over your buttocks.
- Switch to the other side and repeat.
- Repeat 5–7 times per side or longer as needed.
Thoracic Extension
How to:
- Start with the roller at the base of your shoulder blades with your knees bent.
- Reach your arms over your head, letting your head travel back with you.
- Bring the arms and head back to the start position.
- Adjust as needed between each reach to target different areas.
- Repeat 5–7 times or longer as needed.
That’s it! Check “treadmill workout” off your to-do list.
Up the intensity of your HIIT workout
Next time you hit the gym for cardio day, make the most of your time on the treadmill with a HIIT workout. Our advice: Reuse this workout and up the intensity by running at a faster pace or a higher incline as you build endurance through regular training.
Want more HIIT?
Here are more of our favorite Coach-created HIIT workouts:
Work with a Coach to get more workouts customized to your fitness goals. Schedule a free fitness consultation to get started.
