The Benefits of Interval Training on a Running Treadmill

by | May 16, 2022 | Uncategorized

By Leo Hipp, Coach, Team Birkie 

There are many ways for people to engage in cardiovascularly activity, including running, biking, nordic skiing, roller-skiing, etc. Aside from the health and fitness benefits you can gain from these types of endurance activities, one of the other major benefits is the relative longevity of all of these activities. Of these activities, running is the most accessible and affordable. Running truly just requires a pair of running shoes, the want to push yourself, and a good attitude. When the health benefits, longevity, and accessibility of running are considered, it really is one of the best activities someone can engage in. 

Running is often thought of as an outdoor activity, and while it provides for excellent opportunities to explore new areas or become familiar with an area you live in, there is a lot of variation that comes with training outdoors. The variation of outdoor running can be quite amazing, as this can offer someone the exposure to running along ridges in Alaska, hiking up peaks in Utah, disappearing into the woods in the Upper Peninsula, running along the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, or cutting between skyscrapers in major cities like Chicago or New York. While all of this exposure can be quite breathtaking at times, the consistency of quality training can come into question when environmental factors such as precipitation, humidity, air quality, trail conditions are not playing into your favor. An excellent solution to limiting these factors is to utilize a running treadmill in an indoor environment.

There are many ways for people to engage in cardiovascularly activity, including running, biking, nordic skiing, roller-skiing, etc. Aside from the health and fitness benefits you can gain from these types of endurance activities, one of the other major benefits is the relative longevity of all of these activities. Of these activities, running is the most accessible and affordable. Running truly just requires a pair of running shoes, the want to push yourself, and a good attitude. When the health benefits, longevity, and accessibility of running are considered, it really is one of the best activities someone can engage in. 

Running is often thought of as an outdoor activity, and while it provides for excellent opportunities to explore new areas or become familiar with an area you live in, there is a lot of variation that comes with training outdoors. The variation of outdoor running can be quite amazing, as this can offer someone the exposure to running along ridges in Alaska, hiking up peaks in Utah, disappearing into the woods in the Upper Peninsula, running along the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, or cutting between skyscrapers in major cities like Chicago or New York. While all of this exposure can be quite breathtaking at times, the consistency of quality training can come into question when environmental factors such as precipitation, humidity, air quality, trail conditions are not playing into your favor. An excellent solution to limiting these factors is to utilize a running treadmill in an indoor environment.

Running treadmills are an extremely useful training tool for multiple reasons. They can eliminate external environmental factors that can really hinder the reality of hitting the right paces for a workout, keeping your equipment intact, and just staying happy and healthy. A running treadmill is a simple and efficient training tool that eliminates these factors. They offer the ability to run at set speeds and percent grades on a surface similar, but more friendly than pavement. This creates an extremely controlled environment in order to have an effective running workout, whether it’s an easy run or a hard interval set. Oftentimes enduring some tough weather for an easy run does not deduct too much from a training perspective; but when the weather is challenging, especially in the winter months, there is no better place to execute an interval session than on the running treadmill. The ability to hit your goal paces for an interval session without having to battle the wind, snow, rain, heat, or sleet is invaluable for a runner with a big race coming up on their calendar. The best way to crush your tempo session during the hottest parts of the summer or the coldest parts of the winter is on a running treadmill! Here are a few sample workouts that could be done super effectively on the treadmill at any time during the year! 

Tempo workout: 

  1. 20 minute warm-up at an easy pace (5k PR pace + 2-3min per mile)
    1. Incorporate 5x15s accelerations during the last 5 min of warm-up at 5k PR pace + 1 min per mile
  2. 2 to 3 repetitions of 2 miles (0-1% grade) / 2 minute easy jog between reps 
    1. Repetition 1: Estimated Marathon pace 
    2. Repetition 2: Estimated Half-Marathon pace
    3. Repetition 3 (optional): 5-10s per mile faster than estimated Half-Marathon pace
  3. 15 minute cool-down at an easy pace (5k PR pace + 2-3min per mile)
  4. Foam Roll and stretch

Track simulation workout: 

  1. 20 minute warm-up at an easy pace (5k PR pace + 2-3min per mile)
    1. Incorporate 5x15s accelerations during the last 5 min of warm-up at 5k PR pace + 1 min per mile
  2. 6 to 8 repetitions of 3 minutes (0-1% grade) / 3 minute easy walk/jog between reps
    1. Repetition 1-3: Estimated 10k PR pace 
    2. Repetitions 4-6: 5s per mile faster than 10k PR pace
    3. Repetitions 7-8: Estimated 5k pace
  3. 15 minutes cool-down at an easy pace (5k PR pace + 2-3min per mile)
  4. Foam roll and stretch

Uphill Running workout 

*This will be a heart rate based workout as speeds are hard to determine at percent grade*

  1. 20 minute warm-up 
    1. Alternate every 5 minutes between 3% grade and 8% grade, adjust pace to make sure the effort is easy 
  2. 4 repetitions of 8 minutes alternating between 5% and 10% grade / 2 minute of easy running between 
    1. Repetition 1: 5% grade at 82-85% HR max
    2. Repetition 2: 10% grade at 85% HR max
    3. Repetition 3: 5% grade at 85 – 90% HR max
    4. Repetition 4: 10% grade at 90% HR max
  3. 15 minutes cool-down at an easy pace (5k PR pace + 2-3min per mile)
  4. Foam roll and stretch

The workouts above are some sample workouts that allow you to do traditionally outdoor training sessions in a controlled indoor environment. Utilizing an indoor running treadmill eliminates the environmental factors that often make it difficult to get high quality training sessions in, especially in a four-season area such as Minnesota.