Take your treadmill walking workout up a level with this trainer’s favorite workout method

woman in a bedroom walking on a treadmill with french doors onto a balcony and a chest of drawers behind her

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Exercise doesn’t have to be complicated. Walking up and down a hill will challenge your fitness, and that’s what certified personal trainer Jordan Langhough does when she hops on the treadmill.

She uses the pyramid workout format to mimic climbing a hill, steadily increasing the challenge before easing off.

“I like treadmills for the consistency, safety and controlled environment, especially when the weather is less than ideal,” says Langhough.

That’s not to knock outdoor walks, with all the benefits sunlight, fresh air and time in nature bring.

“The best option is the one that is going to help get you moving and support you in keeping you moving consistently,” she says.

If a treadmill makes walking more accessible, give this pattern a try. The workout takes 34 minutes from warm up to cool down and follows a hill-walking pyramid—you increase to a peak, then decrease back to flat.

While designed for the treadmill, she says this workout can be modified for an exercise bike or elliptical, too, just increase and decrease the resistance instead of the incline.

Use the talk test to ensure your chosen pace is sustainable and to gauge your level of exertion.

Warm-up

Time: 3min Incline: 1%

Walk at an easy pace that allows you to comfortably hold a conversation.

Ascent

Time: 14min Incline: Various

Choose a brisk pace that’s challenging but not difficult to maintain. You want your heart rate and breathing to speed up, but you should still be able to say one or two words between breaths.

Then follow the below. You’ll spend two minutes at a set incline, starting at 3%, then drop the incline by 1% for one minute to recover, then increase the incline by 2% for another two-minute effort, drop it by 1% to recover, and so on.

Time: 2min Incline: 3%
Time: 1min Incline: 2%
Time: 2min Incline: 4%
Time: 1min Incline: 3%
Time: 2min Incline: 5%
Time: 1min Incline: 4%
Time: 2min Incline: 6%
Time: 1min Incline: 5%
Time: 2min Incline: 7%

Peak

Time: 2min Incline: 8-10%

Maintain your pace or speed up to a jog if you want an extra challenge over the peak.

Descent

Time: 12min Incline: Various

Return to the same brisk pace you ascended with. After the initial two-minute effort, drop the incline by 2% for one minute of recovery, then add 1% of incline for the subsequent two-minute effort.

Time: 2min Incline: 7%
Time: 1min Incline: 5%
Time: 2min Incline: 6%
Time: 1min Incline: 4%
Time: 2min Incline: 5%
Time: 1min Incline: 3%
Time: 2min Incline: 4%
Time: 1min Incline: 2%

Cool-down

Time: 3min Incline: 0-1%

Reduce your speed as you bring the treadmill back to 0% incline, allowing your heart rate time to recover.

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Lou Mudge is a Health Writer at Future Plc, working across Fit&Well and Coach. She previously worked for Live Science, and regularly writes for Space.com and Pet's Radar. Based in Bath, UK, she has a passion for food, nutrition and health and is eager to demystify diet culture in order to make health and fitness accessible to everybody.

Multiple diagnoses in her early twenties sparked an interest in the gut-brain axis and the impact that diet and exercise can have on both physical and mental health. She was put on the FODMAP elimination diet during this time and learned to adapt recipes to fit these parameters, while retaining core flavors and textures, and now enjoys cooking for gut health.

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