Treadmill workouts

Dissatisfied already with the results I’ve been getting with the speed set to 6.7, I bumped it up to 6.8 around the 15-mniue mark of today’s workout. This works out to an average of 8:49/km, which is a pretty zippy walking pace. The incline is still set to 5, which translates to a 5% grade (it goes up to 15, which is very steep).

The result was an improved pace of 8:43/km. I should add that I read the following just now when looking up how the incline increments translate (I couldn’t recall if it was a one-to-one on percentage of incline, which it is):

Before you start tinkering with the incline knob or button on your treadmill, it’s important to first ensure your form is on point. A lot of people naturally feel the need to lean back in order to compensate for the increased incline. Still others hold onto the hand rails. Both are big no-nos say pros.

Hanging on to the machine reduces activation of the leg muscles, which essentially defeats the purpose of increasing incline. So, whether you are walking, running, or sprinting, you should never set the incline or speed so high that you can’t move hands-free with proper form.

Source: https://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/a19903862/treadmill-incline/

Well, whoopsy-doodle, I have been holding onto the front-facing handles (that also measure heart rate) all this time because a speed of 6.5 or above is high enough that it’s hard to stay stable on the treadmill without doing so. How much have I been cheating myself out of a good workout? At least a little, it seems. Maybe I should go back to doing runs at a 1% incline. Or just go back outside. Things to ponder.

In the meantime, the stats:

Speed: 6.7-6.8 (last 30 minutes)
Incline: 5

Pace: 8:43/km (8:47/km)
Time: 44:09 (44:14)
Distance: 5.06 km (5.03 km)
Calories burned: 332 (368)
BPM: 121 (126)

It was actually a nice day today, with the sun out and everything. It got to 17C, which is almost (almost!) the normal temperature. But because it was a day of chores and errands, I ended up doing another treadmill workout instead of a run. I only kind of regret it, mostly because the next time I go to do a run it will almost certainly be raining.

And then I was slower again today than the previous workout, despite not feeling tired like I did last time. I also forgot to set the speed to 6.7 and so the first part was 6.5, which may have also had a slight effect.

Still, working out is working out.

Stats:

Speed: 6.7
Incline: 5

Pace: 8:47/km (8:44/km)
Time: 44:14 (43:52)
Distance: 5.03 km (5.02 km)
Calories burned: 368 (345)
BPM: 126 (122)

Today was the first time since I upped the speed that the workout felt like a real workout. Around the 3K mark, I began to feel tired, and my pace started to flag. I picked up toward the end, but as you’ll see my lightning pace of yesterday has been tempered somewhat.

I didn’t have any issues per se, just feeling tired partway through. I can’t say for sure why this happened. Too much exercise? Not enough sleep? Incubating an alien? Who can say?

Stats:

Speed: 6.7
Incline: 5

Pace: 8:44/km (8:40/km)
Time: 43:52 (43:34)
Distance: 5.02 km (5.02 km)
Calories burned: 345 (364)
BPM: 122 (127)

The sun actually came out this afternoon, woo, and I thought about going out for a run! Yay, run!

Instead, I laid on the bed and had a bit of a nap, which is pretty much the opposite of running. Afterward I felt slightly refreshed, but significantly guilty, so I was off to the treadmill for a late afternoon workout.

The results were very similar to yesterday, though my pace was just a tad faster. Everything went fine, so there’s not much else to say.

Stats:

Speed: 6.7
Incline: 5

Pace: 8:40/km (8:41/km)
Time: 43:34 (45:10)
Distance: 5.02 km (5.20 km)
Calories burned: 364 (354)
BPM: 127 (125)

It’s like January out there. Steady rain and only 9C in the middle of the afternoon. Global warming, amirite? (I am right.)

I did another morning workout when I couldn’t pick a task to focus on. A treadmill very much requires focus once you climb on and push the start button.

Today I set the speed to 6.7 from the start, curious to see how much of a difference it would make. Behold: My pace of 8:41/km, which is indeed my best pace yet! I also wore the orthotics in my shoes, and my left foot seems happier as a result. The faster pace led to a not-unexpected increase in BPM but it’s still low, so in all I am happy with the change. I’ll keep this setting for the next handful of workouts, then adjust the speed further (faster) if and when I start to plateau on this setting.

Stats:

Speed: 6.7
Incline: 5

Pace: 8:41/km (8:46/km)
Time: 45:10 (44:04)
Distance: 5.20 km (5.03 km)
Calories burned: 354 (328)
BPM: 125 (119)

An early afternoon workout while the weather continues to flit between sun/cloud/showers and unseasonably cool temperatures. Plus the treadmill is just so darn convenient.

Today’s workout was a wee bit different in that I tweaked the speed slightly around the 3K mark, going from the usual 6.5 to 6.7. The reason for this is I feel I’m hitting about the max I can with the current settings, so the only way to improve is to either increase the incline or the speed. I’ve opted for speed for now, as I have some wiggle room before the tread starts moving fast enough to go from walking to jogging.

As for the workout, it was zippy and some stats that were going high, like BPM, have returned to normal. I am pleased by the results.

Stats (the results):

Speed: 6.5-6.7
Incline: 5

Pace: 8:46/km (8:54/km)
Time: 44:04 (44:53)
Distance: 5.03 km (5.04 km)
Calories burned: 328 (379)
BPM: 119 (124)

I declared yesterday to be a cheat day for food and so was a wee bit surprised when I weighed myself this morning, and I was down a whopping 2.5 pounds. I thought cheaters never win!

This may have contributed to me cheating a bit on food again today. Even though I met my exercise goal and exceeded it by walking to and fro, I still felt guilty about the extra bit of snacking, especially after the big weight drop, which is just the sort of thing I’m going for. And so around 8:15 p.m. tonight I got on the treadmill and did a good 5K workout. Overall pace was done a smidgen, but still comfortably below 9:00/km and BPM was higher than recent averages, but at 124 was not too far off from the going norm. Overall, then, I am satisfied.

Stats:

First, a funny thing about stats. I had been using a Reusable Block in WordPress for the stats, but hadn’t noticed I was mindlessly overwriting them each time, which means that a whole pile of these treadmill stats have been wiped out and replaced by the stats from my previous workout.

So I won’t do that going forward. Oopsie.

Speed: 6.5
Incline: 5

Pace: 8:54/km (8:51/km)
Time: 44:53 (48:43)
Distance: 5.04 km (5.50 km)
Calories burned: 379 (478)
BPM: 124 (130)

Alas, I set no records today. But I did try the workout with two fans blasting me instead of one, and that worked fairly well.

The two oddities about this workout were the calorie burn was a fair bit higher, and the BPM was also quite a bit higher (though not alarmingly higher) at 130. I have no explanation for this, and it could just be a glitchy reading from the watch. We’ll see if it does something similar the next time. I suspect the higher heart rate may be what caused the higher calorie burn. The reality is that my pace was very close to yesterday’s, so who knows what’s going on. I don’t!

Stats:

Speed: 6.5
Incline: 5

Pace: 8:51/km (8:49/km)
Time: 48:43 (47:05)
Distance: 5.50 km (5.34 km)
Calories burned: 478 (335)
BPM: 130 (120)

I was even faster today, which I find odd, but delightful. I watched some videos again, but in a change of pace, watched a rather long (30+ minute) video from Snazzy Labs doing a battery and screen replacement on an iPhone mini 12. I don’t know if that had any effect on my pace, but wanted to mention it. Also, Quinn Nelson is very polite when on a call to support.

Looking over the splits, I see that my pace was remarkably consistent–there was no mid-point sag, and the slowest and fastest times were only separated by three seconds. We’ll see if I can consistently stay consistent.

Stats:

Speed: 6.5
Incline: 5

Pace: 8:51/km (8:49/km)
Time: 48:43 (47:05)
Distance: 5.50 km (5.34 km)
Calories burned: 478 (335)
BPM: 130 (120)

I made a rhyme!

I stayed on a wee bit longer today in order to finish watching a Let’s Game It Out video. This stuff is important.

Stat-wise, very similar to yesterday’s workout, so I am again pleased with result.

Stats:

Speed: 6.5
Incline: 5

Pace: 8:51/km (8:49/km)
Time: 48:43 (47:05)
Distance: 5.50 km (5.34 km)
Calories burned: 478 (335)
BPM: 130 (120)

For reasons I can’t really explain, I was quite swift today. My first km was 8:42/km, which is kind of zany. And despite being so fast, my BPM barely increased. This is good. I am pleased. I slowed a bit through the second and third km, then picked up again for the fourth and fifth, with an overall pace of 8:54/km.

It’s weird, but I like it. Maybe I’m actually getting in better shape?

Stats:

Speed: 6.5
Incline: 5

Pace: 8:51/km (8:49/km)
Time: 48:43 (47:05)
Distance: 5.50 km (5.34 km)
Calories burned: 478 (335)
BPM: 130 (120)

The last time I went to do a workout on the treadmill, I didn’t. These things happen sometimes. But I noticed a message on the display saying it was time to lubricate the thing.

I checked the manual, which had instructions but no pictures and was kind of vague. I then searched YouTube and found a much clearer video of the process, plus the guy doing it was wearing super-bright orange running shoes.

After a couple of blah days, it was time to start sweatin’ to the videos again, so I queued up my Watch Later list and watched it right now, like the rebel I am.

Overall, I did better than expected, nearly matching my previous pace.

Stats:

Speed: 6.5
Incline: 5

Pace: 8:51/km (8:49/km)
Time: 48:43 (47:05)
Distance: 5.50 km (5.34 km)
Calories burned: 478 (335)
BPM: 130 (120)