You may have heard that running is the best way to improve your cardiovascular fitness and lose weight in a hurry, but you haven’t seen any results or have stopped seeing progress.
Instead of just pounding away on your treadmill and hoping for eventual results, consider these 7 different reasons why you aren’t seeing the progress you are looking for out of your workouts.
1. Treadmill Workouts Are Too Regular
Many of us fall into workout ruts where we do the exact same thing over and over. If you have been setting your treadmill at the same speed and running for the same duration every time you work out, it’s not surprising that you aren’t seeing results.
Our bodies are great at adapting to the challenges we set for them. So, to keep seeing results, you will need to mix up your treadmill routine. Try some of the workout programs to push yourself more, do basic HIIT, or try some treadmill walking workouts for weight loss.
2. More Difficulty Is Needed
Along with trying new treadmill routines, your body may just need to be pushed harder for you to start seeing results again.
By using a treadmill like the NordicTrack X11i Incline Trainer, you can work out at 40% incline and burn calories 5 times faster than you are able to at 0% incline.
3. Too Many Rest Days Skipped
Your body needs time to recover, and without rest days, it can become injured as each workout creates micro-tears in your muscles. Two rest days a week are ideal, though you can take three without impairing your treadmill training.
With the proper amount of rest, your body will be able to build up the micro-tears, making you stronger and fitter faster.
4. Nutrition Isn’t Balanced With Treadmill Workout
Very few people can exercise enough to outrun their bad decisions made off the treadmill. For example, if a woman who is 30 years old, 5’5” and weighs 130 lbs runs at 5 MPH for 30 minutes, she will only burn 259 calories.
But, if she eats just a McDonald’s Big Mac for lunch, thinking that she burned enough calories, the young woman will have consumed 563 calories and gone way over what she burned.
5. Lean Muscle Is Being Destroyed
If your goal is centered less on weight loss and more on performance, your current treadmill workout may be destroying your lean muscle mass. Those who focus on running alone to see results often find that their lean muscle becomes cannibalized to fuel their runs.
Cross-training with weight lifting or other strength-building activities 1-2 times a week is vital to prevent the loss of your lean muscle mass.
6. More Patience Is Required
Sometimes, we just expect results too quickly. It often can take weeks for runners to see marked improvements. If it has been over a month without improvement, then you should try to address the other potential reasons behind your lack of results. But if it is under a month, just stick to your workouts, and you should see progress with time.
7. Not Sleeping Enough
Along with needing rest days, your body needs a regular sleep schedule with adequate amounts of sleep. Adults should be sleeping between 7-9 hours every night. Without this necessary downtime, you can become too tired and unfocused to safely work out. There is also a strong connection between too little sleep and weight gain, which is likely the opposite of what you want.
If you realize your treadmill is what is holding up your progress, be sure to check out the best treadmills of 2018 so you can find your next treadmill.