Treadmill Tuesday: Avoiding the "Dread" in Dreadmill

How's it going, everyone?  Hope you're having a great Tuesday!  Today's the last day of teaching during summer school before testing tomorrow, so I'm really excited!  While I've enjoyed the classes I've had, I'm kind of ready to get in to the "break" part of "summer break."  Especially with everything I have planned over the next month :)

If you've been reading the blog for a while, you'll know that I've dubbed Tuesday "Treadmill Tuesday" and often do treadmill works on these days.  I actually enjoy doing it, even though I've kind of fallen off of the Treadmill Tuesday wagon since moving out of our apartment complex.  I thought I'd start bringing that tradition back in to my life and, therefore, back on the blog.

Since I enjoy the treadmill and many of you call it the Dreadmill, I thought that today we could talk about ways take the "dread" out of the Dreadmill and actually enjoy (well, not hate) the treadmill!

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Here are some tips for you on making a treadmill workout more enjoyable.  It certainly doesn't take a rocket scientist to come up with these, BUT I have found that they work for me so I thought I'd share them.

Complete a workout rather than just a steady-state run.  
Whenever I run on the treadmill, I usually have a workout I'm going to follow.  Whether it's an HIIT run or speedwork for half marathon training, I rarely ever just run at the same speed for a certain length of time.  The changing of speed every few minutes keeps me engaged in the workout and helps me set milestone goals while running on the treadmill.

 Here are some workouts I've put together before:3-5-7 Workout, Treadmill Speed Pyramid and Steady-Sprint Treadmill Workout.  Some other places I get my treadmill workouts from are PBFingers.com, FitSugar, and TinaReale.com.

Schedule your treadmill workout where you can watch a TV show or movie.
To me, treadmill workouts go by so much faster when I can focus on watching a TV show.  The treadmill in my apartment complex gym was perfect for this, and I would watch the Bachelor/Bachelorette while running on the treadmill.

Other options are using treadmills with TVs attached (many gyms have this) or bringing a device to watch TV shows/movies on Netflix/other website.

Perfect option when the hotel you are staying in has free WiFi!  Watching a movie/TV show really does make the time go by faster AND make the treadmill a lot more enjoyable!


Don't just run on the treadmill.
I've found that doing incline walking workouts helps to mix things up on the treadmill.  Incline walking workouts get your heart rate up and give your legs a little break from running.


Race the person next to you. 

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Seriously.  When I'm running on the treadmill at the gym and there's someone next to me, I look over every now and then to see what speed they're going at.  It's good motivation for me to keep pushing it and/or crank it up a notch.  Keeps things interesting, too!  I wonder if they ever notice...

Don't do long runs on the treadmill unless absolutely necessary.
The longer you run on the treadmill, the more boring and monotonous it becomes.  Unless you absolutely have to use a treadmill for longer runs, try to keep your treadmill workouts to 40 minutes.  Obviously, this is a personal preference, but if you dread the treadmill, keep the workouts shorter.

Make it fun for you!!  
Dubbing Tuesday "Treadmill Tuesday" excites me because it gives an alliterative purpose to Tuesdays, so that was motivating to me.  Other things might make a treadmill workout more fun for you, so come up with something that'll make you look forward to it.  It may just be a silly name, or you might need some sort of reward system to get you on the treadmill.  Do what works for you!

I hope these tips help you enjoy the treadmill a little more!  If you have any suggestions, please share them in the comments!!

Question for you: What do you do to take the "dread" out of "dreadmill"?