When you think of the treadmill, what comes to mind? Maybe words like boring, or repetitive, or phrases like “oh on, not this again!” Well, be bored no longer! It’s actually quite easy to spice up your time on the treadmill. Doing steady-state cardio on the treadmill can be a bore, but treadmill interval training workouts are a sweaty blast.

For long runs, I take it outside but the treadmill is perfect for intervals, speed work and hills. All you need is some good music and you can have a fantastic workout on the treadmill.

Treadmill Interval Training Workouts to Get Fit and Beat Boredom

Treadmill Interval Training Workouts

Here are 6 treadmill interval training workouts that take between 20-40 minutes to complete. These interval workouts will torch calories, improve your fitness and beat treadmill boredom.

1. 30 Minute Hill Workout

Climbing hills on the treadmill targets different muscles than running on a flat surface (hello, glutes!!) and whether or not your body is accustomed to running hills, it’s a great way to build power, strength and speed. Your heart will be pumping and legs will be screaming but push through this to see the results than come from running hills.

For this workout, pick a speed that you can maintain or decrease only slightly for the higher inclines, 5.5-6.0 mph would be a good place to start.

5 minutes –> 3% incline
5 minutes –> 6% incline
5 minutes –> 4% incline
5 minutes –> 8% incline
5 minutes –> 5% incline
5 minutes –> 10% incline

2. Strength and Cardio Builder

By hopping off the treadmill every 5 minutes, 30 minutes flies by and before you know it you’ve hit both your muscular and cardiovascular systems for a total body workout. I’ve provided 3 different workouts here for you, so choose your poison have fun!

Option #1
Complete 3 Rounds:

5 minute run –> 10 push-ups, 20 sit-ups
5 minute run –> 30 body-weight squats, 40 walking lunges

Option #2
5 minute run –> 20 push-ups
5 minute run –> 20 sit-ups
5 minute run –> 40 body-weight squats
5 minute run –> 40 walking lunges
5 minute run –> 60 second plank
5 minute run –> 30 second side-plank on each side

Option #3
Complete 3 Rounds:
5 minute run –> 10 shoulder press, 20 kettlebell swing
5 minute run –> 10 bent-over dumbell row, 20 kettlebell deadlift

Treadmill Interval Training Workouts to Get Fit and Beat Boredom

3. 20 Minute HIIT Workout

HIIT, or high-intensity interval training is a great option when you’re short on time. The goal is to work close to 100% for the high intensity intervals before taking short rest and repeating, this allows you to get a lot of work done in a short period of time. For HIIT to be effective you really have to work for that 1 minute, so go get it!

Option #1
Complete 4 Rounds:

1 minute sprint
1 minute jog
1 minute sprint
2 minute jog

Option #2
Repeat for 20 minutes:
30 seconds sprint :: 30 seconds rest
(For this workout, I recommend leaving the treadmill running at your sprinting speed and hopping off for the rest periods.)

4. 32 Minute Pyramid Workout

This one is a killer, but flies by like you wouldn’t believe. Because you’re enjoying those rest intervals so much the workout goes by really quickly. However, in that time you’ll be putting in some serious work and you’ll be deserving a pat on the back when you’re done. The recovery intervals are quite long so make sure you really push those working intervals!

1 minute hard –> 1 minute easy
2 minutes hard –> 2 minutes easy
3 minutes hard –> 3 minutes easy
4 minutes hard –> 4 minutes easy
3 minutes hard –> 3 minutes easy
2 minutes hard –> 2 minutes easy
1 minute hard –> 1 minute easy

5. 30 Minute Hill Interval Workout

1 minute might not seem like a long time, but just wait until you’re running on a 15% incline – it will feel like forever! Try to keep running throughout this workout, even if you have to slow down for the 10-15% intervals, push yourself and finish strong.

Complete 5 Rounds:
1 minute 0%
1 minute 5%
1 minute 0%
1 minute 10%
1 minute 0%
1 minute 15%

Treadmill Interval Training Workouts to Get Fit and Beat Boredom

6. 40 minute Speed Builder Workout

This is tough, but an awesome workout. You’ll be complete 4 10 minute sets, although if you don’t have time for 4 rounds, you can scale it down to 2-3 and still get a good workout. The speed you start at should be comfortable enough that the first 2-3 minutes of each set act as recovery before you start increasing your speed again.

Complete 4 Rounds:
Increase speed by 0.2 mph every minute for 10 minutes (1 minute at 6.0 mph, 1 minute at 6.2 mph, 1 minutes at 6.4 mph, etc.)

I hope that helps you beat cardio boredom so you can have some fun on the treadmill. If that wasn’t enough for you, here are a few more classics you might enjoy.

More Treadmill Interval Workouts

  1. 18 Hills Workout 
  2. 400m + 800m Workout
  3. We Love Hills Workout
  4. 5 Miles and More Workout