The Top At-Home Treadmills Plus the Best Treadmill Workouts for Weight Loss

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Using treadmill workouts for weight loss is a smart way to boost your energy expenditure, helping you create a calorie deficit that supports your goal. While weight loss ultimately requires you to eat fewer calories than you burn, plenty of research shows that exercise is a highly effective tool for helping people burn enough calories to support weight loss.

What’s more, the evidence is clear that if you want to keep your weight off for the long term, research shows that including exercise in your strategy gives you the best chance of success.

Before we get into the best treadmill workouts for weight loss, consider where you’ll work out. If you belong to a gym, scroll down or use the jump links above to read more about the workouts. If you’re considering buying a treadmill for home use, check out our editor’s picks to make it easier to pick the perfect one.

If you plan to purchase an at-home treadmill to complete these workouts at your convenience in the comfort of your basement, garage, or bedroom, check out our editor’s picks for the top four at-home treadmills. A former fitness and running editor and writer for Active.com, Running Times, Competitor, and the New York City Marathon, our editor has logged countless road and treadmill miles, and tested every type of running gear.

As a certified personal trainer and certified strength and conditioning specialist, a treadmill is a reliable tool I use to help clients lose weight. I combine treadmill work with resistance training three to five days per week. Over the years, I’ve learned from experience and keeping up to date on the latest science that you don’t need to choose super intense cardio to lose weight.

While high-intensity cardio, such as HIIT and sprinting, is effective, it’s also very taxing on your body and more difficult to recover from. Research suggests that slower, steady-state cardio, including walking, can be as effective as running or high-impact cardio. Walking may be a better choice for some when it comes to improving cardiometabolic health because it’s easier to recover from and can be done more frequently, research says.

For these reasons, you’ll find a mixture of low-, medium-, and high-intensity treadmill workouts for weight loss in the list below. My top pick is a 30-minute treadmill workout that combines bodyweight resistance training movements and walking at a moderate to brisk pace for the best metabolism-boosting benefits.

How I Chose

To choose the best treadmill workouts for weight loss, I focused on workouts that:

• burn calories efficiently
• improve fitness
• are modifiable
• are easy to remember

The following treadmill workouts are ranked in order of effectiveness, with the first being the best all-around for long-term success. You can mix and match, choosing one to stick to for a few days or weeks, or combining a few that you do on different days of the week.

For each workout, you will find modification tips for making it easier or harder.

1. Best Overall: 30-Minute Treadmill Bodyweight Circuit

Combines the metabolism-boosting effect of resistance training with calorie-burning cardio.

Pros:

• Builds strength
• Efficient two-in-one workout

Cons:

• May be challenging to implement at the gym
• Requires starting and stopping the machine

2. Best for Busy People: 4 x 10-Minute Treadmill Workout for Weight Loss

Walking for short stints multiple times per day, especially after meals, regulates blood sugar and helps busy people fit enough movement into their days.

Pros:

• Easy to fit into your day
• Improves digestion and blood sugar

Cons:

• Not convenient for the gym
• May not be enough activity for some people

3. Best for Cardio: 60-Minute Walk-Run Treadmill Workout for Weight Loss

Walk-runs are beginner-friendly and effective for days you want to perform longer, less intense exercise. They also support healthy sleep and stress levels.

Pros:

• Helps reduce stress, balance moods, and improve sleep quality
• Easy to recover from

Cons:

• May be too long for busy people
• May not be motivating for some people

4. Best for Extra Calorie Burning: 45-Minute Weighted Vest Treadmill Workout for Weight Loss

Wearing a weighted vest during a treadmill workout increases the challenge and calorie burn without affecting how you walk or run.

Pros:

• Easily burns more calories without increasing your speed or distance
• Doesn’t change how you run or walk
• Doesn’t increase the risk of a lower-body injury

Cons:

• Requires access to a weighted vest
• May not be comfortable for some people

5. Best for Low-Impact Aerobic Cardio: 30-Minute Incline Walking Workout for Weight Loss

Walking on an incline burns more calories than walking on a flat surface at the same speed.

Pros:

• Burns more calories than flat-plane walking (no running, which is a pro for some)
• Easy on the joints

Cons:

• Not all treadmills have an incline function
• Risk of falling for those with balance issues

6. Best for Building Anaerobic Fitness: 20-Minute High-Intensity Intervals for Weight Loss

High-intensity intervals increase the calorie burn of a workout in a shorter time frame, and improve cardiorespiratory fitness more than medium-intensity only.

Pros:

• Improves cardiorespiratory fitness
• Quick and efficient for burning calories

Cons:

• Can be too challenging for some fitness levels
• Difficult to recover from

7. Best for Quick Calorie Burn: Treadmill Sprint Workout

Sprints are even more time efficient than traditional HIIT. Bonus: They increase muscle mass, making them unique in the cardio world.

Pros:

• Super efficient and effective
• Helps burn fat and increase muscle

Cons:

• Very challenging and taxing on your body
• Should not be performed too often

Combining bodyweight exercises with your cardio treadmill workout will boost your chances of weight loss success in the short and long term. Research shows that resistance training and cardio can reduce body mass index, waist circumference, and body fat percentage better than cardio alone.

How to make it easier: Reduce the walking speed as needed. Try starting with 2 mph and see how you feel. If traditional floor pushups are too challenging, do them against a wall instead. Take breaks when needed when completing the bodyweight exercises.

How to make it harder: Increase the treadmill speed to a jogging or running pace, such as 5 to 7 mph, depending on your abilities. Try to perform the pushups and lunges for the entire time without any breaks.

For the nonwalking or running activities, stop the treadmill and complete the exercises on the floor or on a nearby exercise mat using your bodyweight.

Finding time for a lengthy walk or run on a treadmill can be tricky for many busy people. If you are lucky enough to have access to a treadmill or walking pad throughout the day, research supports that splitting up your workouts into multiple sessions after meals and before bed can have some incredible advantages. Research shows walking after meals smooths out blood sugar spikes after eating, even when the walk only lasts a few minutes.

Other research found that taking three walks per day helps reduce blood sugar over 24 hours, just as well as a single 45-minute walk. Keeping your blood sugar balanced wards off the effects of insulin resistance, which can make losing weight more difficult, research suggests.

How to make it easier: After breakfast, or when convenient, set the treadmill to the desired speed, ideally between 3 and 4 mph, and walk at a brisk pace for 10 minutes. Repeat after lunch and dinner, with an extra session before bed or after an evening snack.

How to make it harder: Warm up for about 5 minutes then complete 4 intervals of 10-minutes of moderate- to comfortably-hard running for a 45-minute workout. Walk for a few minutes to cool down. You can split this up into two workouts (one in the morning, one in the evening) by warming up rather than doing 2 intervals of 10-minute runs.

Walking combined with periods of moderately paced running in the aerobic cardio zone is a great way to build up your aerobic fitness while burning calories for weight loss. Running is a high-impact, high-skill activity that requires an intermediate to advanced fitness level to build endurance to run longer.

Slower cardio improves sleep, moods, and stress levels, which is vital during weight loss, which is already stressful on the mind and body.

Research shows that total calorie burn for a workout session matters more for weight loss than effort. You may burn more calories doing high-intensity interval training in a shorter amount of time, but you can burn the same amount of calories doing a slower-paced workout that lasts longer.

How to make it easier: This workout is simple to adapt by adding more walking intervals or slowing down the pace of your runs as needed.

How to make it harder: Run for longer periods, aiming for 10-minute bursts at a time once you are fully warmed up, or use a higher incline for your runs. Alternatively, shorten your walks to 2 minutes.

Strapping on a weighted vest makes you heavier, which increases the amount of energy you expend to move your body. That means a higher calorie burn without increasing your speed, incline, or time spent working out.

Research shows that wearing a weighted vest increases oxygen uptake, heart rate, carbohydrate oxidation, and energy expenditure without changing the length or frequency of your stride (which reduces the risk of injury). Moreover, wearing a weighted vest during weight loss may help you lose more weight without the common side effect of losing muscle, one study suggests.

Choose a 10- to 20-pound weighted vest for this workout, and remember to cool down afterward.

How to make it easier: Wear a lighter vest until you’re strong and comfortable enough to use a heavier one. Slow down your speed or shorten the workout as necessary.

How to make it harder: Jog or run for longer or at higher speeds, or reduce walking breaks. You can also increase the incline during brisk walks or running intervals.

Walking on an incline burns more calories than walking on a flat surface at the same speed, according to the American College of Sports Medicine’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing. Plus, you’ll work your lower body muscles, including your quadriceps, calves, glutes, hamstrings, ankle, knee, and hip flexors. Incline walking also improves your stability and joint mobility, but if you have balance issues, be cautious with high inclines until you feel steady.

How to make it easier: Reduce the inline, speed, or length of the workout as needed.

How to make it harder: Increase the incline to 12 percent during minutes 5 to 10, lowering it at minutes 20 to 25 to initiate a gradual cool down. Alternatively, increase the speed and try jogging or running throughout.

Research shows that high-intensity interval training is an efficient way to get in a calorie-burning workout in less time. One study on healthy adults with obesity showed that HIIT can improve the cardiorespiratory system better than moderate-intensity training does, which means you can tackle more challenging workouts with less strain as your fitness level increases.

Keep in mind that research shows that this type of exercise is highly taxing on your body and takes longer to recover from, which makes it less ideal for weight loss phases when you don’t have as many nutrients to help you repair or provide you with energy. For this reason, it’s best to keep these workouts to a maximum of two to three per week, with rest days in between.

How to make it easier: Decrease the speed or increase the rest periods as needed. Beginners can try brisk walking and light jogging instead of running.

How to make it harder: This is an advanced workout, but very fit individuals can try increasing the high-intensity interval time.

Research shows that sprinting is a potent fat-blasting activity that builds anaerobic fitness and peak running speed, and takes little time to complete. Research suggests that short sprint intervals are even more time-efficient than HIIT for losing weight — especially belly fat. So, using this treadmill workout to lose weight when you’re really short on time is an excellent choice.

Just keep in mind that you can lose the same amount of weight by doing less intense exercise that takes a little longer. The choice is yours. Remember that while this workout maximizes efficiency, it’s not ideal to exercise this intensely more than one to two times per week.

This workout is similar to one performed in the previously referenced study and involves sprinting for 30 seconds with 4 minutes of rest in between.

How to make it easier: Reduce the speed of the sprints or perform fewer sprints overall.

How to make it harder: This is already a maximal-effort workout. You could rest for 2 minutes instead of 4 between sprints if you’re very fit.

• Including exercise combined with a nutritious diet and the right amount of calories gives you the best chance of weight loss success.
• Exercise helps create a calorie deficit that supports weight loss. A treadmill is a reliable tool that can help you lose weight; combine these cardio workouts with resistance training three to five days per week.
• High-intensity cardio, such as HIIT and sprinting, is effective but can be taxing on your body and more difficult to recover from. Slower, steady-state cardio, including walking, is just as effective and sometimes an even better choice since it’s easier to recover from and can be done more frequently. Using a mixture of low-, medium-, and high-intensity treadmill workouts for weight loss is a smart strategy.

Safety Tips

• Always warm up thoroughly before starting your workout. Walk at a slower pace for a few minutes.
• Wear properly fitting workout clothes and supportive shoes to avoid strain or injuries.
• Stay hydrated throughout your workout by drinking water before, during, and after as your thirst dictates. Ensure you’re well-fueled, if possible, with enough high-fiber carbohydrates, especially if you choose a more intense workout.
• Start with a lower speed and incline, gradually increasing each as you go. Never push past pain, or attempt workouts above your current fitness or energy levels. Take rest days when you need to.
• Use the safety clip or key with the treadmill, and try to avoid doing intense workouts if you’re a beginner and by yourself. Ensure your treadmill is working correctly and is well-serviced.
• Stop the workout immediately if you start to feel dizzy, lightheaded, feel pain, or feel unlike yourself.