Sometimes one treadmill minute can feel like 10, but this 30-60-10 routine will fly by. That's because the sprint intervals are quick but effective. In addition to building speed, running intervals boosts your cardiovascular health, burns lots of calories and improves your overall fitness level.
How does sprinting help you run faster? Along with acclimating your body to running faster speeds, it also engages your fast-twitch muscle fibers. These muscle fibers are directly related to speed and power. They help you run faster and jump higher.
Video of the Day
Video of the Day
Sprinting also helps you burn more calories — not just during your workout but after. That's due to something called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC, aka "the afterburn effect"). Your body has to work harder to replace the oxygen expended during more intense workouts and expends more energy returning your body to a resting state.
But on days when you train speed, you'll also need a slightly longer recovery time than you may be used to. You may have the urge to go hard and jog it out instead of walk for your recovery intervals, but you should resist that urge so you can put forth maximum effort on the sprints. Without adequate rest prior to each round, you can't perform at your highest level.
Try This 30-60-10 Treadmill Workout to Run Faster
For this treadmill workout, you'll be running 30-second sprints with 60 seconds of walking recovery and repeating that cycle 10 times.
But don't completely empty your tank on the first few rounds. Your sprints should start out at about an eight on a scale of one to 10. By the time you reach your last sprint, though, you should be at a 10.
If you still have the energy to jog or run after that final sprint, then you weren't at your maximum potential, and you should see if you can challenge yourself a little more. For example, set a goal to run all of your sprints at the same speed or slightly faster each round. Here's how that might look:
- 60 to 120 seconds walking warm-up at an intensity of 3 or 4
- 30-second sprint at an 8
- 60-second walk at a 3 or 4
- 30-second sprint at an 8
- 60-second walk at a 3 or 4
- 30-second sprint at an 8
- 60-second walk at a 3 or 4
- 30-second sprint at an 9
- 60-second walk at a 3 or 4
- 30-second sprint at an 9
- 60-second walk at a 3 or 4
- 30-second sprint at an 9
- 60-second walk at a 3 or 4
- 30-second sprint at an 9
- 60-second walk at a 3 or 4
- 30-second sprint at a 10
- 60-second walk at a 3 or 4
- 30-second sprint at a 10
- 60-second walk at a 3 or 4
- 30-second sprint at a 10
- 60-second walk at a 3 or 4
- Cool down as needed
The goal is to be completely spent by the end of the workout. The main part of the workout is only 15 minutes, so it's important to put in your best effort. Grab your running shoes, turn up the speed and let's get running!