A few months ago, my wife told me about a method to burn calories faster at the gym when using the treadmill. I have given it a try and it works. The calories burned on the treadmill, though not 100% accurate, is a good enough indication of the effort you’re putting in.
No, you don’t need to run. Surprised? Well, here’s the tip, the fastest way to burn calories at the gym, is to set the treadmill incline to a maximum 15%, then walking speed at 5.0 (use this as a start and then increase your speed slowly throughout your workout), walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes.
Try comparing it with running on the treadmill for 30 minutes, and you will be surprised of the results as you will burn more calories walking an incline of 15%! I vary my speeds since incline is at maximum. I start with a 5.0 kph, then add 0.1 kph every few minutes (I set the change in my mind) until I’m 6.0 kph.
You will get different results but one thing’s for sure, you’ll burn more fats by doing this. With my new weight of 69 kg (I lost 7 kg in 6 months), and a 15% incline of 5.0 constant speed – I burned 365 calories (including the 5 minute cooldown). When I varied speeds and when up to 6.0, I burned 397 calories – that’s close to 400 calories in 30 minutes walking an incline of 15%!
I highly recommend this. Forget about running, just walk.
Oh, and another important element, try not to hold the hand railings – I haven’t fully mastered this yet because I always want to see my heart-rate. I must learn to let go!