Running is one of the most basic forms of cardiovascular exercise. With swimsuit season around the corner, its time to hit the treadmill and get toned all over. Get the basics for running on the treadmill the right way first, then add some fun moves to build up your workout.

Treadmill Exercise

Walking and running on a treadmill can cut down on a lot of the impact and force through your joints that happens when walking or running on pavement and especially cement. Most treadmills offer the option of many settings to regulate and keep track of your time, distance and incline for each workout. Having the treadmill indoors also helps keep up consistency in your workouts, even when the weather fails you and saves you from battling hills, wind resistance and uneven terrain of the outdoors.

The Best Basic Form

• Pump your arms. Try to maintain your arm swing in a forward and back motion to increase your balance and coordination, and to maintain your cadence. This is useful to develop an efficient running form. Pumping your arms drives your legs.
• Keep your head level. Resist looking up to watch TV or at other distractions while running. Tilting your head back can throw your weight balance off and shift you into a more extended posture, making it hard to go forward.
• Land on the middle of your foot, roll off your toes.While you want a good heel strike with walking, when you are running, evidence has shown that landing in the midfoot and rolling through the toes is more efficient and softer on the knees.
• Run in the middle of the tread. Be safe. Position yourself to make sure each step lands in the middle of the tread. This reduces stress on your neck and shoulders from lifting your arms if you are running too close to the edge.
• Tilt forward a little. Keep your momentum moving forward by leaning forward a tad. Start a whole body lean from your ankles and let gravity work for you.
• Find a rhythm.Keeping a steady pace will allow you to work on your breathing and let you go further. To work on increasing your speed, aim to shorten your stride. Count the number of times your foot makes contact with the treadmill: shoot for 46-48 times in 30 seconds.
• Incline yourself! The easiest way to banish calories without noticing is to add a very easy incline to your workout. You will barely notice level 1-2, and this will simulate the challenges of the outdoors.

Elevate Your Indoor Workout

Use the treadmill to act as your moving track. You can start these moves with the treadmill on a stationary setting or very slow setting, and increase speed as your coordination improves.

• Intervals. Trying running at a variety of speeds. Turn up the level of speed for 0.25 mile and work through increases in incline. You can do intervals for distance or time. Change up your workouts in general. One day go for distance and the next go for speed intervals with walking inclines to recover the next.
• Incline Pyramid: Start at an incline level 4 and increase by one level every minute until you get to level 8. Then go back down one level every minute back down to 0 incline. Walk 5 minutes at level 0 to cool down.
• Karaokes/ Grapevines.This one is tricky, but works on many coordination skills and your lateral mobility. Face both directions with a few strides facing forward in between. Do not try this one if you cannot interweave your feet and perform this exercise on solid ground. Watch this video for a short how-to.

• Try Sidestepping. For some strength moves on the treadmill, turn down the speed to a slow walking pace and hold onto the side hand rail and face the side of treadmill (perpendicular to the direction of the tread). Do 10-15 sidesteps to each side with 10-15 strides going forward in between. As you improve, try doing a deeper squat sidestep and upping your speed.
• Lunges. On a stationary treadmill, hold on and do lunges.
• Squats. On a stationary treadmill, hold on and do squats with good form.

Workout Tips to Consider

Have a plan before you walk into the gym, and stick to it.
Set health/ workout goals for yourself, both for the short term and long term.
Read more tips on how to lose weight fast.
Workout when you’re outside of the gym by following the working man’s weight loss tips.