The treadmill is one of the most important cardio exercise equipment that even home gyms have it. It allows one to do a cardio workout even when the weather is unfavorable. While a treadmill exercise is easy to do, it can get pretty boring after a while. After all, you really don't have to do anything except run or walk on it. Moreover, a steady walking or running pace on the treadmill does not bring the heart rate up nor does it have any substantial effect on burning away excess body fats. However, a HIIT treadmill routine can spice things up and make your treadmill workout a fat-busting one.

If you haven't heard of HIIT before, it's about time you should. HIIT or High Intensity Interval Training is a specially designed workout that features intensive spurts of activity alternated with short rest periods. While HIIT routines are more popularly done with sprints, these can also be designed for other activities like the treadmill. A HIIT treadmill routine can burn calories and zap away fat in far less time than a regular treadmill routine alone. This is because HIIT treadmill routines increase the metabolic rate of the body even up to a day after the exercise. Thus, even if you're not on the treadmill anymore, your body continues to burn calories like crazy, making you lose fat even when you're talking or lazing around.

Like any workout, treadmill exercises done with high intensity interval training begins with a warm up phase and ends with cool down exercises. To do these types of treadmill routines, fast runs and slower jogs (or brisk walks and regular walks) occur 30 seconds each in a span of 4 minutes. If you're new to this routine, you can shorten the time to 2 minutes and gradually work up to the full time period. If you are a regular runner or are already far advanced in your fitness level, you can go as fast as 10 mph during each interval. For novices, 3-5 mph is a good place to start. No matter your fitness level, you can always adjust the speed with which you want to go on your treadmill.

During periods of high-intensity, your heart rate should be 85% of the maximum while in the recovery phase, you should strive to bring your heart rate up to 50% of its maximum rate. One advantage of exercises on this medium is that the treadmill already has a heart rate calculator. This prevents error and provides valuable insight on the body's heart rate, a very important tool in determining if you are doing the routine correctly.

Incorporating a high intensity interval training routine into your regular treadmill walks or runs makes for a very interesting workout. It reduces plateaus normally experienced by exercisers who are already following the same routine for a significant amount of time. More importantly, a HIIT treadmill workout burns calories and zaps away fat in far less time, giving the body a more toned look. Aside from this, HIIT treadmill routines also increase endurance, enhancing performance in whatever sport, be it aerobic or anaerobic in nature.