Burning 300 Calories A Day On Treadmill Has Reshaped My Focus On Strength And Agility
Agility combines speed, balance, strength, and body control in one movement.

Since the COVID-19 lockdown, with no access to a full gym and intensive equipment, I’ve been looking for effective workouts to improve strength and agility at home.
Agility combines speed, balance, strength, and body control in one movement. It is an essential skill built into most types of exercise and training drills.
If you are a home-based professional and also an avid fitness enthusiast, improving your agility should be one of the starting points of your training plan.
When I heard about a “12–3–30” workout in almost every corner of the internet, I was initially confused and then eager to learn more about this viral trend.
The 12–3–30 workout is done entirely on the treadmill and involves setting the machine incline at 12 percent, increasing your speed to three miles per hour, and walking for 30 minutes.
The routine gained popularity in part because Giraldo, the creator of this workout, cited it as one of the driving forces behind his weight loss journey.
Even if you don’t have any limits, a 12–3–30 workout probably shouldn’t be the only exercise you do. Incorporate resistance training, stretching, and cardio into their exercise routine, performing each type of workout about three times a week.
A treadmill workout — or even a running workout on a natural slope, such as the hills near you — can certainly be a part of it, but try to follow this trainer-developed training plan to learn how to better structure each week and reach your goal.
How to safely do a 12–3–30 without putting your health at risk
The 3–12–30 probably worked so well for Giraldo as it’s an aerobic exercise that’s within the ideal energy expenditure for most healthy young adults. Due to its intensity, the workout may not be suitable for the elderly or those who are overweight or have chronic illnesses.
But here’s the sure way to try the 12–3–30 workout without putting your health at risk:
Don’t be fooled by the treadmill.
People think the treadmill is so safe; it’s not on the outside. Besides it’s not that different from going up a hill; you don’t protect yourself much more by being on a treadmill than you do by running on the road.
A 30-minute walk on a mountain is quite difficult when you think about it. People feel a little too confident about the treadmill.
Adjust the numbers to suit your level of experience.
Don’t incline that fast, you don’t even need to start at 30 minutes; 3 mph is reasonable. You may have to slow down the duration of your workout if possible.
Start flat on a treadmill and go 0–3–30 until are comfortable to incline higher. Don’t go straight to 12. Start slowly going up your incline for 3 weeks, maybe 10–20% a week.
If you are a beginner start on a flat surface.
When someone is out and about starting their exercise routine, be it walking, jogging, interval training, don’t go up a hill. First, get comfortable doing flat surfaces and then progress to hills gradually. Don’t advance to hills at the start of a program as this could result in serious injury.
Gradually increase the incline.
Slowly increase your incline, starting at the lowest setting, and it’s a gradual increase, like any other workout, in terms of increasing mileage or intensity.
This workout starts with a 12-degree incline, so I would say you go at 4-degree intervals. So gradually increase it over a period of 3 weeks to reach those 12 degrees.
Don’t do it every day.
Whatever the routine, the general rule is that there should be a day of recovery, or at least alternated with another activity to try to avoid overuse injuries.
I wouldn’t discourage people from doing some activity almost every day of the week, but not the same activity.
Have a recovery day where you do some alternative activity, maybe that could be with Cross trainer, bike or swimming pool, whatever you have.
Mix it up with strength and stretch exercises.
The stooped posture of walking uphill puts pressure on the lower back, Achilles tendon, calf muscles, plantar fascia, and hamstrings.
These are persistent problems and you don’t want those kinds of injuries because once they happen they are difficult to treat.
Experts have advised doing core strengthening exercises and stretching these areas specifically to reduce the risk of injuries while walking or running.
Consider doing low impact workouts.
If you’re just looking to stay in good shape or getting back into a regular cardio routine after a long quarantine time, start with low-impact workouts. Cycling, brisk walking, swimming, cross-training are even safer.
These are great activities for starting an exercise routine and building cardiovascular endurance; you don’t make a lot of impacts, it’s a little more forgiving on the joints and also on the muscle tendons.
So you may be doing the treadmill 2–3 days a week and these other activities on other days; it will keep you out of harm’s way.
Final words
Even if you follow these guidelines, the workout shouldn’t be done every day, and incorporate other low impact exercises.
To get the benefits you’re looking for, be it weight loss, muscle toning, or overall health, it’s important to find a program you can adhere to.
This means it not only has to be safe, so you won’t be sidelined by an injury, but it has to be something you love, and if you only do one activity, you will burn out, not just physically, but mentally.
To reduce your risk of injury during an incline workout on a treadmill, wear proper shoes, drink water, and stretch before and after your workout.
Make sure to stretch the muscles in the legs that are likely to feel the most tension, such as the calves, Achilles tendons, hamstrings, glutes, quads, and hips.
If you’re looking to lose weight or gain muscles without dieting join our 30-Day Weight Loss Challenge.

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