How to keep motivated on a treadmill?

[Zoeee88]

For logistical reasons, I have to do my running on a treadmill a couple of days a week, rather than an outside run. But I find it really BORING! I like the activity of running, but how can I make treadmill running less tedious so I stay on it for the whole duration?

Has to be music and other runners on adjacent treadmills, are you in the gym or at home?

At home I sometimes set up the tablet in front of the treadmill, put cycling races on YouTube & pretend I'm cycling behind the racers, even though I'm actually running. Sounds daft, but it keeps me motivated.

If I was in the gym I'd be OK with lots of upbeat music if the treadmill was facing a window. I would hate it if it was facing a wall or a mirror.

Use the treadmill functions to your advantage and switch it up ALL the time - change the speed or the incline every minute or even every 30 seconds. Do tabata - 20 secs as hard as you can then 10 secs rest times 8. It's killer if you put your all into it. I slip a couple of tabatas into longer runs and I'm so glad to have got them over with that there's just relief to get back to steady running rather than boredom.

Create your own music playlist of songs that you love and motivate to keep going. Ideally the playlist should last the length of you run.

I run on treadmills in a gym that overlook a pool and its easier than running on a treadmill that faces a blank wall.

Thanks everyone. It's in a gym. I definitely like the idea of YouTube videos, as I'm competitive so could pretend I was racing!

Id love a treadmill at home. But I go to the gyms and it is soooo booooring. The only channel on us sky news as some fucking womens lib type woman complained that the music channel was "sexual" and the council banned them. Fucking ridiculous. If she didn't like them go fir a fucking walk on your own in a dark place.

Rant over

Interval training. It's much easier on a treadmill than outside in a way as you know exactly how fast you are going etc.

So things like:

• 1 minute really hard, 1 minute recovery, 1 minute really hard, 1 minute recovery etc.
• Building intervals, so start 1km below your 5km race pace….so if your 5km race pace is 12km/hr, do: 1 min at 11 1 min at 12 1 min at 11.1 1 min at 12.1 1 min at 11.2 1 min at 12.2 and so on until you can't bear it any more! Helps for building speed and endurance together.

I second interval training.

I do two minute intervals on a hill program - two minutes at 2% incline at around 7.5mph, then two minutes at 0.5% incline at around 8-8.5 mph.

With a five minute warm up and cool down, I find 45-60 minutes goes by pretty quickly and I feel thoroughly worked out after!

Of course it is made all the more bearable with some good motivational running music on at the same time!

Similar to others, I never do more than one minute of anything. I change either the speed or the incline EVERY 60s.....otherwise I can't stand it!
Oh and music too.

Kittypinot, I can hardly believe you are real. 'Some fucking women's lib type woman'? Another gym user wasn't wild about the diet of wall to wall misoynistic rap played over someone twerking in hot pants and you seem to be suggesting she should go and be raped on a dark street? Get a grip.

Raped! ? Get a grip yourself. I know who this woman is. Does not frequent the gym to run on a treadmill nor do weights or any extreme exercise. But ruining the motivation for hundreds of others just as she doesn't want to see/hear music which isn't to her taste. And now the place is threatened with closure cos of low numbers. No wonder if only thing available on screen is news.

Maybe you could use some of that self-righteous anger to fuel your treadmill time, Kitty. Why else are you suggesting your "women's libber' goes for a walk alone in a dark place?

I would be very surprised if a single complaint about MTV's sexualisation of women led to a blanket ban. Presumably other people agree with her. My local gym when we lived in London had quite a few Orthodox Jewish men and Muslim women who covered attending. It played news channels and sport.

Its you who suggests she went walking in a dark place chick.not me.

And I dont live in London. Crime rate is very low where I live . Don't compare london with the rest of the uk.

Treadmill running can be awfully bland. But I have a good range of music in my Ipod.

I tend not to run for over 1 hour on them. That is more than enough!

I loathe the treadmill too and just do it to keep my cardio going.

For me, time goes quicker when I'm doing intervals and am quite into the hill climb setting at the moment. This definitely helps me pass time better as I have a minute on/off and this changes my focus.

The same goes for speed intervals.

Maybe I should do that. I tend to stick it on 10kph and run on an incline of 2 - 2.5%.

I like to plod...that is where I go wrong as my time isn't getting better!! And I may need more music......any excuse!

It is grim but I get to a point at about 17-20 mins where the endorphins kick in and I feel like I'm flying! I need music, couldn't do it with just the news. Agree that most of the videos are pretty awful but it does get your adrenalin up listening to high beats per minute plus the videos are often shot in tropical locations which I find very motivational and inspiring for some reason.

I never do intervals as terrified I will fall off! OP I do the same as you 10-11kph but I don't even have it on an incline, or I do to begin with and lower it as I go along to make life easier. I can do around 7 miles in an hour but it feels a lot better after I've done it than during.

Can't wait for the weather to improve so that I can run outside a bit more although that has its pro's and con's too.

I plan fantasy revenges on people who have pissed me off. Or sometimes I just listen to my iPod ??