Treadmill Running

Since the launch of “Beat the Beep Test” I’ve received a few enquiries from people regarding treadmill training programs for the beep test.

Generally I’m not a huge fan of treadmill running because even though it’s running its a bit different to running outdoors however I’ll admit that for some people (such as people who live in extremely cold climates) the treadmill can sometimes be a better option than missing a workout.

From the perspective of beep test training the treadmill has also got one huge plus and that’s the ability to precisely control the incline and speed of the belt.

This allows for workouts that mimic the beep tests steadily increasing difficulty and allows for some good training progressions.

The simplest type of treadmill workout for beep test training would be to set the treadmill to 1% incline (this best mimics the energy demands of running outdoors on the flat) and 8km/hr.  Then each minute on the minute increase the speed by 0.5km/hr

In theory this is exactly the same as the beep test progression, however without the accelerations, decelerations and turns it’s not quite the same.  The training effect is fairly similar though.

Another way to use the treadmill to train effectively is to do a series of 1, 2 or 3 minute intervals of increasing speed or incline interspersed with 1-2 minutes of walking.  These progressively harder intervals provide a great way to improve fitness and progress is easy to monitor as you can simply change the speed each week by starting 0.5km/hr faster.

For details of two complete Treadmill programs for beginner and intermediate levels check out  “Beat the Beep Test” 2nd edition with over 20 pages of new programs and information.

www.beatthebeeptest.com

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