Take It Inside: 3 (Not Boring) Treadmill Workouts

By Tina Haupert

It’s that time of year when I take my running workouts inside to the treadmill. Or should I say dreadmill? The treadmill can be a real drag, but I find that using a plan to guide my workout keeps me on track, interested, and motivated, so the time flies by. Here are three of my favorite (read: not boring) treadmill workouts.

Walk-Jog-Sprint
This is one of my go-to workouts when I’m dreading my time on the treadmill. It keeps me guessing for a solid 45 minutes, so it’s over before I know it! And I feel like I’ve really worked hard when I’m done. I’m almost always a sweaty mess at the end!

Walk at 4.0 at 7.5 incline for 4 minutes
Jog at 6.5 at 1.0 incline for 5 minutes
Repeat walk and jog twice
Jog at 6.5 at 2.0 incline for 3 minutes
Run at 7.0 at 1.0 incline for 3 minutes
Sprint at 8.0 at 1.0 incline for 1 minute
Jog at 6.0 at 1.0 incline for 1 minute
Sprint at 8.0 at 1.0 incline for 1 minute
Run at 7.0 at 1.0 incline for 1 minute
Jog at 6.5 at 1.0 incline for 3 minutes
Cool down (walk) for 5 minutes

Total time: 45 minutes

Roll Play
Changing my speed every two minutes keeps my interest and motivation high while running on the treadmill. I covered a little over 5.5 miles in 60 minutes during this workout. There’s a walking interval from minutes 30 to 35, so this workout can easily be shortened to 35 minutes if needed.

Incline: 1.0

Minutes 0 to 5: 4.2 mph
5 to 7: 6.3 mph
7 to 9: 6.5 mph
9 to 11: 6.7 mph
11 to 13: 6.5 mph
13 to 15: 6.3 mph
15 to 20: 4.5 mph
20 to 22: 6.4 mph
22 to 24: 6.6 mph
24 to 26: 6.8 mph
26 to 28: 6.6 mph
28 to 30: 6.4 mph
30 to 35: 4.4 mph
35 to 37: 6.5 mph
37 to 39: 6.7 mph
39 to 41: 6.9 mph
41 to 43: 6.7 mph
43 to 45: 6.5 mph
45 to 50: 4.2 mph
50 to 51: 7.0 mph
51 to 52: 6.9 mph
52 to 53: 6.8 mph
53 to 54: 6.7 mph
54 to 55: 6.6 mph
55 to 60: 4.2 mph

Total time: 60 minutes

Three-Mile Challenge
When I’m short on time, I like to challenge myself to run three miles as fast as I can. I love a challenge, so trying to beat my previous mile gets me excited about my workout. If you’re not into running, a three-mile power-walking challenge also will work!

Warm up for 10 minutes (walk or slow jog)
Run one mile
Recovery: two-minute walk
Run second mile. Try to improve your time from mile the first mile.
Recovery: two-minute walk
Run third mile. Try to improve your time from the previous two miles.
5 minute cool down (walk or slow jog)

Elliptical vs. treadmill

Health Tip: Elliptical vs. treadmill

While many exercisers think of the treadmill as high-impact and the elliptical as low-impact, it’s important to understand that low impact doesn’t mean low intensity. Using the cross-trainer handlebars and increasing the resistance on an elliptical trainer can be equally as intense as a run on the treadmill. You can determine your exact intensity levels by using a heart rate monitor.

— Life Fitness

New Research: Life expectancy gaps

At present, the life expectancy gap between countries is 36 years, and there is ample evidence that in all countries of the world –– whether low-, middle- or high-income –– an individual’s health status is largely determined by his socio-economic position. With the right mix of government policies, and through coordinated action on the local, national and international levels, the existing gaps could be narrowed.

— World Health Organization

Did You Know?

Results from a clinical trial in Africa of a malaria vaccine candidate show it prevented about half of malaria cases, including the most severe, in young children. — CDC

Number to Know

$1.90: The cost of excessive alcohol consumption in the United States in 2006 reached $223.5 billion, or about $1.90 per drink, according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Researchers found the costs largely resulted from losses in workplace productivity (72 percent of the total cost), health care expenses for problems caused by excessive drinking (11 percent), law enforcement and other criminal justice expenses related to excessive alcohol consumption (9 percent) and motor-vehicle crash costs from impaired driving (6 percent).

Children’s Health: TV profanity linked to aggression

Teens exposed to profanity in television and video games are more likely to use profanity themselves, a known risk factor for increased physical and relational aggression, according to a November 2011 Pediatrics study. The results showed a direct link in the viewing of media with high profanity, profanity use and subsequent aggression. According to the study authors, the findings provide continued support for ratings and content warnings surrounding profanity use in the media.

— American Academy of Pediatrics

Boomer Health: Go4Life campaign

Being physically active is vital to maintaining health and independence as we age, and a new federal campaign for people 50 and older will help them to get active and keep going. Introduced by the National Institutes of Health, the Go4Life campaign encourages sedentary older adults to reap health benefits by making physical activity part of their daily lives.

Crazy Full Body Workout on Treadmill

Is Treadmill Better than Outside Running

Treadmills are some of the most widespread aerobic machines known to humans. At gym centers, they are usually displayed in rows, typically facing flat screen televisions, or better yet, carrying their own TV sets. There is a reason for their popularity: it’s because treadmills are in very high demand. It is not uncommon to have to wait for your turn during peak hours.

For the millions of health club members, a treadmill is a cardio workout equipment they simply cannot pass up. But the question is: is the treadmill machine really that effective? How does it compare with running outside?

Is Treadmill better than outside running?

Generally speaking, you can get a comparable aerobic workout on the treadmill as you would through outdoor running, as long as you dispense the same level of effort on the treadmill as you do running outside. Please note that I said effort, rather than speed. If your speed on the treadmill machine is exactly the same as for your outdoor running exercise, then you would be burning less calories running on the treadmill. This is because when you run outside, you are exposed to different environmental factors that are completely non-existent on a treadmill. For example, when you run outside, you are subject to wind resistance, and uneven terrain. When you are on a treadmill machine, the ground is actually being moved underneath you, rather than the opposite. Also, the flat surface of the treadmill never changes. This means you are exerting much less effort on the treadmill than you would if you were running outside.

In order to make up for the lack of wind resistance on the treadmill, you may want to raise the incline to level 1 or level 2. However, making this adjustment does not fix the fact that the treadmill surface remains a flat terrain. But if you are just exercising as part of your daily workout routines (rather than for a competition), a treadmill should be fine as long as you challenge yourself enough by raising the incline level. Feel the change in your heart rate when you make that adjustment. You should experience a noticeable increase in your heart beats.

Treadmill versus outside running: should I Train on a treadmill?

If you are training for a marathon, I would recommend running outdoors, rather than training on a treadmill. You want to train in the race conditions as closely as you possibly can. When you run outdoors, you go uphill, but also downhill. You can‘t run downhill on a treadmill. Also, when you run outdoors, you make turns to the left and to the right, which is impossible on a treadmill. This means you are using less muscle groups when you run on a treadmill than when you run outside.

Beyond the physiological benefits of running outdoors, you also get to enjoy the weather and the beautiful scenery. It keeps you more motivated because you can run side by side with a partner, and you can change routes. I know a lot of people who give up exercising because they claim that they do not have a workout partner. To those people, I say: find a workout buddy with whom you can run outdoors.

If you have no choice but to train on the treadmill, just keep in mind that the calorie counter on the treadmill machine does not display accurate numbers. The ultimate test of your endurance is how much you push yourself.

One exercise I fancy on the treadmill is as follows: I set the incline at level 15 (the maximum incline level), then I alternate between 30 seconds of running at 5 miles per hour, and 30 seconds of walking at 1 mile per hour. I keep alternating between running and walking for a good half hour. I feel the burn after this particular aerobic exercise as it pushes me to my limits. I recommend you try this aerobic and strength training workout some time. If you are a beginner, I suggest you set the treadmill incline level at 6 or 7.

That’s it on the topic of running outside versus on a treadmill. No matter where you do your workout (whether indoors or outdoors), I suggest you always push yourself as much as you can. That’s the only way you can achieve your weight loss goals. Good Luck!

Treadmill desks may help get office workers moving

video link,

http://www.lvrj.com/multimedia/UNLV-research-program-explores-benefits-of-treadmill-desk-132183803.html

Are you sitting down now? At your desk?

Maybe you shouldn’t be.

Sion Lee isn’t.

Lee, a 32-year-old graphic and Web designer in Las Vegas, has replaced his regular desk with a TrekDesk treadmill desk. Instead of sitting, he spends his days walking at about 2 mph, a pace that lets him talk on the phone without breathing hard and use his computer without falling off.

A growing body of research suggests that sitting for long periods, say an eight- or nine-hour workday, can contribute to health problems, even if you hit the gym before or after. For Lee, a treadmill desk is the right balance of work and play.

One observer sees merit in Lee’s motion.

“Sitting is bad for you, no doubt about it,” said Ray Squires, program director for the Mayo Clinic’s cardiovascular health and rehabilitation center in Rochester, Minn. “The longer you are sedentary, the longer you sit, the greater your chances to develop cardiovascular disease, to die from any cause, to develop markers for diabetes.”

DEATH BY SITTING?

Women who sit six hours a day during leisure time have a 40 percent higher rate of dying from all causes than do women who sit fewer than three hours, according to an American Cancer Society study reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology last year. For men in the same scenario, the sitters’ death rate was 20 percent higher.

Another study reported last year in the Australian journal Circulation found that each hour adults spend daily watching television — a famously sedentary pastime — increases their all-causes death risk by 11 percent, cancer death risk by 9 percent and cardiovascular disease-related death risk by 18 percent. The research concluded that besides promoting exercise, future chronic disease prevention strategies could focus on reducing sitting time.

Marc Hamilton of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center told The New York Times earlier this year that sitting people’s calorie-burning drops to about 1 calorie per minute and their bloodstream triglyceride levels plunge, causing a rise in LDL, or bad cholesterol.

Monica Lounsbery, professor and director of the physical activity policy research program in the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ department of kinesiology and nutrition sciences, said sitting has increased markedly in recent decades in four big life phases: work, leisure, transportation and household. In essence, she said, we’ve engineered the activity out of our lives.

Even if people go to the gym and exercise vigorously for an hour three times a week, too much sitting may undo those benefits, she said.

Squires said treadmill deskwork isn’t meant as a substitute for the gym — you still need more intense activity to raise your heart rate and burn fat. But it can improve general fitness and reduce stress. Standing beats sitting, Lounsbery said, and walking is better still.

Carl Foster, director of the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse’s human performance laboratory, said the desks could help users burn perhaps 200 to 300 calories a day.

GROWING TREND

In the United States in 2010, 53.1 million people used treadmills and treadmill sales reached $1.1 billion, Mike May, spokesman of the Silver Spring, Md.-based Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, said.

Steve Bordley, chief executive officer of Phoenix-based TrekDesk, doesn’t sell treadmills — he sells the desks, at about $480 delivered.

He said sales have tripled this year compared with last year. In 2010, he said, sales to Nevadans comprised 4 percent of sales, and this year sales in Nevada are up roughly 2 percent.

Grand Rapids, Mich.-based office furniture giant Steelcase has sold 3,000 of its Walkstation combination desk-treadmills, first introduced in 2007, said Maren Channer, the company’s marketing manager for Healthcare and Fit Work. She said the company is on pace to double last year’s sales of 1,000 machines. However, she said, Walkstations account for less than 1 percent of Steelcase’s overall office furniture sales.

While growing in popularity, treadmill desks are still mainly in home offices. Bordley said about 80 percent of TrekDesks sell to individuals.

Size may be an issue for many companies. A TrekDesk, for example, is 6 feet long and about 3 feet deep — hard to fit into tightly packed cube farm.

COST ONE FACTOR

Cost may be another deterrent. Lee, for example, said his TrekDesk and treadmill cost $1,000. A desk-treadmill combo sold by Fisher, Ind.-based TreadDesk sells for $2,500 to $2,700. Steelcase’s Walkstations sell for about $4,400.

Liability is another barrier.

Lou Landini, president of Las Vegas-based insurer Landini Associates Ltd., said treadmill desks could land a company in the same coverage class as athletic clubs and might send workers’ compensation premiums soaring.

“I’d really worry about the risk of injury,” Landini said. “If you have an office setting, it’s clerical. Usually the biggest thing you have to lift might be a box. You might get a paper cut or carpal tunnel (syndrome).

“If your insurance company found out you’re adding these things, they’d certainly nix it,” he added, “or they’d charge you so much you wouldn’t want to pay.”

The Mayo Clinic’s Squires said businesses may want to balance the benefits of healthier workers against lower health insurance premiums, outweighing other costs.

“Corporations have figured out that improving wellness in general is cost-effective,” Squires said. “It would be a surprise if in a few years we don’t have data show the cost advantages of this.”

Lounsbery and a team of UNLV researchers are planning to do that study, and will look for employers interested in buying equipment, recruiting experimental and control-group participants and paying data collection costs.

Meanwhile, there are users like Lee, who said his TrekDesk has preventive benefits. Lee said a family member developed leg blood clots from Factor V Leiden, an inherited genetic disorder that can cause irregular clotting. He learned he might be susceptible and that the disorder worsens if you sit. So, he set out to find a way to avoid sitting while he operated his humor and art website, notalwaysright.com.

“I remembered hearing about this, so I started Googling around,” he said.

Lee got his TrekDesk in November 2009 and said he uses it at least three hours a day. In the first week he had mild discomfort in his legs, ankles, calves, thighs and buttocks. His body was working out the kinks, he said.

“Initially the challenge was just trying to walk straight; it’s kind of easy to drift to the left or the right,” he said. “But, after a week or so, you get used to it. Now I have no problem. I’m on it, but I don’t even know I’m walking.”

Lee said he spends up to three hours at a time on his treadmill and feels better. He said he recommends the idea to his friends. Lounsbery, too, has an office treadmill desk. She said she uses hers, bought in December, for hours at a time, like Lee. And, like Lee, she reports feeling better.

“I hate sitting,” she said.

Sally Edwards, a triathlete and owner of Sacramento, Calif.-based training and education company Heart Zones USA, liked the idea of the treadmill desk. People are likelier to move more often if they can find engaging ways to move, she said.

But, she added, only people who use the treadmill desks regularly will benefit.

“Fifty percent of garage sales have some kind of exercise equipment in them,” Edwards said. “You go to a few and you’ll see elliptical trainers and ski climbers and stationary bikes. I wonder whether we’ll see these after a while, too.”

Gadget geekdom has usurped the cachet being active once had, Edwards said. And the treadmill desk may be just another gadget.

“I’m not sure if it wouldn’t be better not to just walk away from your desk and go out and get some fresh air and sunlight on your body, or grab a friend so you could engage with someone, and walk around the block and unplug from all the electronics,” she said. “We’re so plugged in now, when are we ever free? This treadmill desk may be another way to not be free; you’d be tethered to the treadmill at your desk.

But, she said, “If people do it, it’s better than nothing.”

All fitness levels find common bond on treadmill

You can learn a lot about health and fitness just by walking on a treadmill in a gym.

Yes, I know there are many other places to learn about ways to improve your health. I’m just saying a treadmill in a gym is one of them.

When I’m working out alongside others in a gym, I only feel comfortable chatting with people who are using stationary bikes or who are walking — not running — on treadmills. I figure if you’re running, you’re probably pretty serious about your workout and you probably don’t want to carry on a conversation with someone.

Since I seldom ride bikes, I mostly talk to people on treadmills. I like hearing about my comrades’ success stories — how exercise makes them feel better and has helped them lose weight.

A woman recently told me she had lost five pounds in just a couple of weeks. She lost weight, partly I assume, because of her workouts but also because she had cut down on sodas — she said she was down to one a week — and potatoes. She also had switched to whole-wheat tortillas.

She said she didn’t like “diet food,” but it sounded as though she had found ways to tweak her diet so she was losing weight and eating better.

Good for her.

Talking to people on treadmills at gyms is a fun way to exchange information about health and fitness. I had never heard of whole-wheat tortillas until my fellow gym member enlightened me.

One man told me about some kind of abdominal “cruncher” device he uses instead of doing crunches or sit-ups. It sounds like something I might be interested in. I just have to remember to look for one when I’m shopping.

The man, who is in his late 60s, likes to keep track of how many calories he burns and how many miles he walks when he exercises. I think the practice often motivates him to try and surpass his previous totals. In other words, it motivates him to do more and improve his fitness level.

Good for him.

Although we fitness enthusiasts aren’t experts, we all have one thing in common: We’re all looking to improve our health, for whatever reason.

Good for us.

 

4 Tips to getting a better treadmill workout

Treadmills can help you reach your fitness and weight loss goals; but are you getting the best workout from this helpful piece of exercise equipment? Many treadmill runners are unaware of the many features different models offer, as well as several speed and interval tricks.
Are you one of the many people who will hop on the treadmill, run at the same speed for 30 minutes, and jump off? Don’t worry, you’re still burning calories, but here are 4 tips to getting a better treadmill workout.

Incline: Believe it or not, running with a 0% grade on the treadmill is the equivalent of running downhill. The reason for this is the treadmill actually does half the run for you. Every time you put a foot down the tread actually extends your leg automatically, the only thing you have to do is flex your hip and put your foot back down. To compensate for this put the treadmill at a 1.5 to 2% grade to match the energy output of running outdoors.

Intervals: Interval training can be done on a treadmill through short high-speed periods, followed by a short rest cycle throughout your workout. This can involve running to walking, running to jogging or even different paces of walking. Try starting with a work/rest ratio of 1 to 2. For example, run hard for a minute and rest for 2. This will make your workout much more efficient.

Speed: Make sure you are challenged. Nothing bothers me more than clients that do not push themselves. If running a 6.5 miles/hour is easy, run faster. If walking at 3mph is easy, walk faster!

Random: I’ve always liked the random workouts on a treadmill. You set the speed where you are comfortable and let the treadmill change the grade randomly. This gets extremely challenging after a few minutes and will count as interval training.

Go get on the treadmill but don’t forget to strength train and stretch, there is more to fitness than cardio!

http://sghomegym.com/collections/treadmills

What are the real differences in running outdoors vs. on a treadmill?

Treadmills can spark contentious debate among runners. Are they a legitimate training tool or a second-rate simulation? If you’re concerned you’re not getting the most from your treadmill workout or are worried about a rough transition from tread to outdoor running, fret not, said Jenny Hadfield, co-author of “Running for Mortals” and columnist for the Runner’s World blog Ask Coach Jenny.

“You can still get a great workout on the treadmill,” she says. “I hate that judgment associated with treadmill running, that it doesn’t offer as good of a workout. It’s still running.”

Not that there aren’t clear differences.

“Depending on the method you choose, some muscles work when others don’t,” A. Lynn Millar said. Millar is professor of physical therapy at Winston-Salem State University with a Ph.D. in exercise physiology and a fellowship at the American College of Sports Medicine. “There are a few muscles working differently when you propel yourself in outdoor running versus the treadmill propelling you. In outdoor or track running, you have to push yourself forward. There isn’t that activity on the treadmill, but there may be other muscles getting work.”

This, Millar explained, is what those in the field deem “specificity of exercise,” when specific muscles are targeted in training. Since you’re working different muscles depending on the type of running, expect to have a transition period when alternating between them.

Some professional running coaches like Janet Hamilton of Atlanta-based Running Strong consider treadmills a semi-simulation of running. “I don’t give it a one-for-one equality. Outside, you have to push your body through air — even if there’s no wind. The faster you go, the harder the resistance. You’re running in place on a treadmill. You’re not really having to push your body over the ground.”

So does that mean you’ll burn more calories one way or the other? Not necessarily, Millar said, noting that “there are minor differences, but they’re not worth quibbling about. You can achieve moderate-to-vigorous intensity whether you’re indoors or outdoors.” According to Millar, oxygen consumption is about the same.

Still, many believe that they need to push themselves harder on a treadmill to compensate for a perceived inequity in the workout.

“I see it all the time: People think they need to abuse themselves by setting their treadmill incline at a constant hill,” Hadfield said, adding that this sense of punishment only hurts your workout.

The incline rule is one she hears people cite all the time. “People want to make treadmill running really hard, so they crank it to something like a 12 percent incline. But you aren’t going to encounter many of those types of hills outdoors.”

She recommends keeping the incline between 2 to 5 percent and alternating it to avoid injury: “Beyond that starts to alter your stride and can really strain your muscles. There’s not a purpose for it unless you’re training for mountain running.”

Hamilton, who also teaches certification courses for the Road Runners Club of America, insists such a constant incline doesn’t accurately reflect the outdoor terrain or the way runners behave outdoors. “You wouldn’t go out your front door and find the steepest hill and say, ‘I’ll go that way.”‘ Instead, she recommends simulating a rolling course — going uphill for a while and then bringing it back down.

Alternating the speed is another alternative, Millar said. “It can also beat the boredom some find with treadmill running.”

And if you’re a beginner, Hadfield recommends not even worrying about the incline. She suggests keeping a zero incline and just “learning to run with good form.” Just like in strength training, good form is essential to exercise efficiently and prevent injury. “Some people push themselves for the cardio performance, but I say to keep your form,” she says. “When you start to lose your form, you start to lose the efficiency of muscle groups and you’re not able to get through the workout as well.”

One sure sign of bad form on the tread: if you find yourself bending forward to keep up with the pace. In this case, Hadfield recommends lowering the speed and focusing on keeping your back straight.

If you’re looking to transition outdoors, make sure to give yourself some time to adjust.

“Know that the pace from your treadmill workout won’t translate,” Hadfield said. “Running outside is not necessarily harder. It’s just different, and your body has to acclimate to that.” Aside from the biomechanical differences of outdoor running, there are environmental factors like weather, wind resistance and uneven ground to consider. Hadfield suggests individuals start by heading outdoors once a week and increasing that time gradually. Within a few weeks, she says, most individuals can successfully transition.

While the battle rages on between the two running methods, one thing is clear: either one will keep you healthy.

“For general health and fitness, it doesn’t matter which one you’re doing — as long as you’re doing something,” Millar said. McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Middle-aged women happier with moderate exercise

By Fran Lowry

NEW YORK | Thu Sep 29, 2011 12:16pm EDT

(Reuters Health) – Middle-aged women encouraged to exercise at moderate intensity were much happier and more likely to continue working out than peers who exercised more intensely, a new study found.

Researchers recruited 255 women between 40 and 60 years old to do either moderate or vigorous exercise, then followed the volunteers to monitor their reactions. Overall, women who did moderate exercise were about twice as likely to feel energized and confident they could do more exercise in the future. More of them also showed decreased feelings of sadness and anxiety than the vigorous-exercise group.

“Exercise makes you feel better but it is going to be more pleasant when performed at moderate intensity as compared to vigorous, especially when you have been previously inactive or may be overweight,” lead author Dr. Steriani Elavsky, of Penn State University in University Park, Pennsylvania, told Reuters Health.

She added that women need to learn ways to monitor their intensity levels while they exercise and do things they enjoy so that they stay active for the long term.

Middle-aged women are among the least active and their level of physical activity declines with age. Understanding whether exercise of different intensities has different effects on mood and whether these predict overall physical activity in midlife women is an important question to address, said Elavsky, who presented her findings at the North American Menopause Society meeting in Washington, D.C.

Elavsky and colleagues at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey, studied 255 women who were not on hormone therapy and who kept a daily diary of activities and feelings for two weeks.

At the beginning of the study, the women completed two bouts of moderate or vigorous exercise. The vigorous workout involved exercising on a treadmill to the point where they could no longer tolerate the intensity, and moderate exercise involved a 30-minute session, also on a treadmill, at a pace the women selected for themselves but that could be considered moderate.

All women also wore an accelerometer, a small device the size of a match box, to track their energy expenditure and their time spent in activities of different intensities.

The study found that moderate intensity exercise caused more women to report later that they were in a better mood and to have greater feelings of energy, psychological wellbeing and “self-efficacy.”

Moderate physical activity was also much better in these terms for obese and out of shape women, Elavsky said.

Vigorous exercisers showed smaller benefits to mood, and those who were overweight or had symptoms of illness reported “significant decreases in calmness” after the exercise bouts.

Examples of moderate intensity exercise include brisk walking, ballroom and line dancing, biking on level ground or with few hills, canoeing, general gardening including raking, trimming shrubs, sports such as baseball, softball, volleyball, tennis (doubles) and water aerobics.

Moderate-intensity exercises are “activities that would allow you to talk in short sentences while you are doing them, but would not allow you to sing,” Elavsky said.

She added that she hopes her study will reaffirm to women that exercise can be a powerful way to enhance their wellbeing, and that they don’t have to go all out with their level of exertion.

“The effects we observed were large and moderate intensity is sufficient, in fact, it is optimal. We also hope that clinicians will realize the importance of considering the proper exercise intensity when making recommendations about exercise. Moderate intensity exercise should be recommended for patients who are not meeting physical activity guidelines, or those who may be deconditioned, overweight or obese,” she said.

Tracks of the treadmill: which music do you work out to?

Gym workouts have got my pulse racing to chart music that I would never normally listen to – even Chris Brown. Do I need a lie down or should I just run with it?

The treadmill display says 7.9km. I will get to 10, I always do, but some days it feels like an impossible feat. Sweat is raining off my arms on to the adjacent machine and I look at the girl who’s power walking next to me, apologetically. I can taste my heart in the back of my throat and my lungs feel like two brussels sprouts. Then some Yazoo-like synths pour from the speakers on the ceiling and a new video plays on the big screen – it’s Example‘s Changed the Way You Kiss Me. The track picks up pace, and when it breaks for the first time, I find I’m not staring at the emergency stop button any more, I’m back in the zone – a new, fiercer zone – running hard and (I wince as I’m writing this) really feeling the music.

After Example comes Lady Gaga‘s Judas, that new Calvin Harris one,David Guetta feat Kelly Rowland’s When Love Takes Over, and a load of other bangers – mostly top 40, some slightly older. I’ve hit 11km without even realising. The music my gym (Fitness 4 Less, in Hackney) plays is like an extra respiratory system for me when I’m running; it keeps me going when my body wants to give up.

Being galvanised by pumping music while exercising isn’t exactly a revelation. What is, though, is that I’ve realised the gym is the only place I hear chart music. I doubt I would have heard that Example song anywhere other than at the gym. It certainly helps that for quite a while now the charts have been dominated by dance music. That big, Ibiza-y David Guetta sound has permeated everything. All the better for the likes of me – a personal trainer in the gym tells me the average maximum heart rate someone in their late 20s should be training at is between 156-160bpm, and that any music over 120bpm is best for working out to. Incidentally, Changed the Way You Kiss Me is 130bpm.

I feel like there are chemical reactions that make me like this music, because I didn’t before I started going to the gym. I don’t really go “clubbing” any more, listen to radio chart shows or keep track of these things online. I just don’t care. But hearing them in the gym makes me care, and makes me aware. It means I can join in music-related conversations with my 21-year-old brother, which feels like a milestone.

When I first started running, my iPod playlists were full of hip-hop and, er, 80s rock such as Toto (Africa remains my ultimate running pick-me-up). I downloaded LCD Soundsystem‘s 45:33 at one point, but just found it irritating – it sounded like those off-putting mechanical wheezing noises a treadmill makes. Now I don’t even take an iPod to the gym. I rely on, and look forward to, the music they play. And when I run outside my iPod is full of the things I’ve heard in the gym and then downloaded at home.

It’s a curious relationship with new music, for the discoveries to happen while in a gym. It’s like going to the gym has opened a whole new (questionable) taste compartment in my brain. Perhaps it’s the endorphin-flooded state my body is in at the time, meaning that when I hear the song again I associate it with feeling good. More often than not, when the big screen showing videos to songs isn’t on to let me know what I’m listening to, I’ll become so pumped and fixated on songs that I go home and search for them with lyrics I have memorised. An example: a few months ago I kept hearing a song about “beautiful people”, its Euro-poppy hook building into this gloriously cheesy, mesmeric banger with a vaguely familiar voice singing about inner beauty and taking “your sexy time”. I like the idea of time being sexy and was – quite privately – obsessed. I typed “beautiful people lyrics” into Google and it turned out it was Beautiful People by Chris Brown, feat Benny Benassi. My heart sank into my trainers. I’m sure this will divide opinion, but I don’t really want to like any of his music. I can’t help it. But I also can’t help loving that song. I downloaded it, and listen to it constantly when I’m running, and that’s that.

A few friends who use gyms have had similar experiences with discovering, and for the most part ending up liking, new music. In spite of their usual musical preferences. Some gyms are better than others, though. A friend who is a member of Fitness First says it has its own version of an MTV-style channel, Fitness First Television, (catchy, that) which he says is “erratic”, with oddly timed “baby-making music” interludes. A friend who uses Virgin Active says it only seems to play artists signed to Virgin, which must be limiting. Another friend, who uses Gymbox, says it has live DJs. Live DJs! In a gym! Like a nightclub with treadmills instead of a dancefloor! I guess it makes sense, as this music seems made – no, scientifically designed – for people dancing in clubs, invariably on drugs, whereas hard exercise can produce its own rushes and emotional highs, albeit healthier ones.

So has the gym helped others discover the joys of chart music? Which tracks get your pulse racing? And is it ever OK to enjoy working out to Chris Brown?

My favorite pick at the moment