Sometimes, it seems like we spend more days travelling than actually at home. It’s not a bad thing—we’ll take the vacay, thanks!—but jetting off to a new destination every Friday afternoon can really mess with your personal workout schedule.
The problem? When you’re somewhere new, you’re usually short on self-care time. So taking a few hours to find and visit a local fitness studio might not be feasible … which makes the hotel gym your best option. Unfortunately, even the nicest hotels sometimes have sub-par workout equipment, which makes getting in your usual sweat sesh challenging.
Here’s the thing—you can never go wrong with the treadmill. Even if you’re working with an ancient machine from the 1990s, you’ll still be able to give yourself an incredible workout in less than 30 minutes.
Nobody does a treadmill run better than Orangetheory Fitness, so we tapped OTF Los Angeles’ Regional Director of Operations Jonathan Albrecht (he’s a coach with Electric Flight Crew, too!) for a killer treadmill run.
“You can easily adjust this workout for [some]one who might be a novice or intermediate runner or jogger. I’ve also included power walking parameters which should never be confused with being easier!” says Albrecht.
Before you get started, here’s what you’ll need to know:
- Establish three speeds for your workout—Base pace, Push pace, and Max effort.
- Base pace should be a 75% effort, Push pace is a bit more challenging at 85% effort, and max effort is nearly all out at 95% of your effort. An intermediate runner might have a 9.0 kmph Base, 11.0 Push, and a 14.0 Max effort.
- This is an endurance run
- You’ll be pushing hard for most of the workout, but don’t worry—there are some long blocks of active recovery!
- Runners and joggers should be aggressive in their Push intervals, but make sure you always return to Base pace between intervals. According to Albrecht, “The Base pace is the most important pace in an endurance run.”
Alright, ready to get super sweaty? Lace up your sneaks and hit the tread!
30-Minute Endurance Treadmill Run
3 Minute Warm-Up at Base Pace
90 Second Push Pace
1 Minute Base Pace
1 Minute Push Pace
45 Second Base Pace
1 Minute Push Pace
1 Minute Base Pace
90 Second Push Pace
45 Second Max Effort
90 Second Active Recovery*
Repeat Block
For Power Walkers:
Use the same timing parameters but your Base/Push/Max Effort will range from 4.0-6.5/kmph with an incline of 10% or greater
*It is very important you walk down the treadmill. If you must “jump the rails” you are pushing yourself too hard.
