Is your Treadmill Workout Boring?

Treadmill training comes very close to being the perfect method for indoor exercise. It's convenient, efficient, effective and versatile. It can be adapted to nearly any exercise goal and can meet the needs of almost every athlete.

Despite all those benefits there is one major disadvantage when exercising on the treadmill is boredom. The thought of running or walking on a treadmill brings only the image of monotony and a humdrum workout. In many ways those treadmill haters have a good point. Using a treadmill sometimes provides very little in the way of motivation. Running alone in an empty room or while staring at nothing but a blank wall should probably be considered a form of torture.

To keep your treadmill workouts from getting stale, try some of these tips for beating boredom on the treadmill:

• Run with a friend: If you and a friend belong to the same gym, get him/her to run on the treadmill next to you. You can motivate each other and provide distraction to make your workout time go by faster. And one great thing about treadmill running with friends is that you don't have to be the same pace, so you can run with friends who you wouldn't normally run with outside.

• Try an interval workout: Rather than running at a constant pace, mix up your run with hard and easy segments. It can be as simple as: a five-minute warm-up followed by three sets of four-minute intervals (two minutes of hard running and two minutes of easy running), followed by a five-minute cool-down.

• Try Meditation: Trying meditation techniques while running on the treadmill is something that runners have been using for years to get rid of boredom.

• Pop-in some entertainment: Pop in your favorite DVD, turn on your favorite show or create a play list of your favorite songs to keep your motivation up and add another element of enjoyment. If you are planning on running for forty minutes make sure that your playlist is longer than 40 minutes so your playlist won't run out before you are done. Wanting to hear that next song will provide extra encouragement to keep running.

• Use your treadmill display: Almost all motorized treadmills will display your total calories burned, total miles, current speed and total time. Some will also give you calories per hour, average speed, current pace, average pace and heart rate data. Using the abundance of data that is available can be both entertaining and motivating. You can scan through the data and see your progress in the workout. You could also set goals for average pace, calories burned, distance or time.

• Take a break and change your routine: If you are struggling, take a break from the treadmill, or cut back on walking and add other activities such as strengthening exercises. Add a minute or two of running, or some inclines. Make sure you use your arms while walking and maybe add light weights. Your mind will be distracted by paying attention to your arms and your legs.

• Earn a day off: Daily exercise is something you are going to pursue for the rest of your life. You will come to enjoy your treadmill workouts but aside from getting bored you also must avoid getting burned out. Every few weeks, reward yourself with a day off and go do something different with that hour normally devoted to exercise.

• Alternate with another cardio machine: Try breaking up your run by alternating with the bike or elliptical trainer. If you want to do a 40-minute cardio workout, run on the treadmill for 10 minutes and then jump on another machine for 10 minutes, and keep alternating until you've reached your total goal time.

Another useful job that can be done when you are on the treadmill is to make all your important phone calls for the day. After all, your hands are free and you have set the timer! Give this time to your friends and family and make good use of your exercise hour. This way, you also avoid boredom and guilt!