Why Isn"t My Home Treadmill Helping Me Lose Fat?

Lots of people try treadmills at a gym when they travel or go on holiday and fall in love with them. Not realizing that the treadmills are ultra-expensive professional ones, some people are highly dissatisfied when they buy a treadmill for their home from an online store and it doesn't live up to their expectations. If you regularly run on your treadmill and aren't losing body fat, let's look at some of the reasons why.

When Are You Working Out?

If you are serious about losing body fat, research shows that you should exercise first thing in the morning. When you wake up, you haven't eaten for hours so you blood-sugar levels are very low. By exercising first thing, your body will have to use stored fat as a source of fuel to power itself through the workout. If you have bought a treadmill for your home, you are on the right lines because most people don't have time in the morning before going to work to hit the gym. If you aren't losing body fat then changing the time you workout should be the first thing you try. Just 30 minutes in the morning is as effective for fat burning as an hour later on in the day after you've eaten.

How Are You Working Out?

If you are regularly running on your home treadmill - congratulations! Many people 'hope' that they'll use their treadmill but then quickly get bored and stop. Many treadmills wind up unused gathering dust or worse, sold for a fraction of their retail price second-hand. If you are one of those people who regularly run but never seem to trim down, it could be the way you are working out. Slow and steady may win the race, but it's not the best way to burn fat. Try high-intensity interval training or HIIT for short. Jog at a slow pace for 5-10 minutes to warm up, then crank your treadmill to its highest speed (and steepest incline if available) and sprint for a minute. Repeat this pattern three more times and you've got a potent 20-minute fat burning routine.

Is Your Treadmill Letting You Down?

Most consumer-grade treadmills simply aren't up to the task of letting you burn serious body fat. Some people want treadmills but don't have the space so they buy collapsible ones that fold and store under beds or in closets. While it's possible to buy quite good foldable treadmills that have decent motors, they won't have adjustable incline or anywhere near the speeds you need to sprint on. Market-leading treadmills will give you around 6mph which is enough for a light jog. To remedy this, try making your own HIIT routine by skipping instead of sprinting. Skipping is highly anaerobic and the potential is limitless; even if you can skip solidly for 1 minute, expert skippers can double-jump or even triple-jump. Get a decent HIIT routine by skipping for a minute, then jogging on your treadmill for 5.

Further Considerations

Always consult your doctor before starting a new exercise routine. Remember that sprinting and skipping are high-impact exercises, so you should buy a thick foam exercise mat to skip on.