Either exercise or hunting the the most stimulating workouts to increase endorphins (god knows we all need one right now). Since lockdown I have become particularly obsessed with walking —and the transformative effect it can have on how I feel. There is something deeply meditative about unplugging, listening to a podcast, and putting one foot in front of the other.
But if, like me, you don’t always know where to start to get the most out of a treadmill session on your own, a viral tik tok training doing the rounds offers a technique that is refreshingly simple.
What is 12-3-30 treadmill training?
Popularized by influencer Lauren Giraldo (@laurengiraldo), who first shared her treadmill routine in a YouTube video in 2019, has since exploded into tik tokwhere the hashtag #12330training it has now been viewed over 70 million times.
Its beauty lies in its simplicity. The workout involves walking on a treadmill for 30 minutes, at a 12 percent incline, and a speed of three miles per hour (or 3 miles on most British treadmills). In other words, it’s a power walking pace. Inclines often vary from treadmill to treadmill, so if you’re unsure, adjust your incline to something that you find challenging, which will get your heart rate up but you don’t need to run.
Giraldo says that this training formula helped her cure her own “shyness.” She was often overwhelmed by the myriad of machines in the gym. She now does 12-3-20 about five days a week and credits it for maintaining her “hot” look, without dieting or counting calories.
The treadmill is your new best friend
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So who would benefit from this type of training? Walking is the best form of cardio for beginners, says celebrity trainer and online trainer Aimee Victory Long, especially if you are concerned about your joints.
“It’s very low-impact, so the force going through your joints is low, but this form of cardio will probably get your heart rate up high enough to burn enough calories and start improving levels.” fitness,” he says. As your strength and fitness increase, “you can think about moving on to higher-impact forms of exercise, like running and HIIT classes.” However, he adds, someone at their peak in terms of fitness “may have a hard time getting their heart rate up to the desired level to really benefit from this form of training.”
If you love to hit the sidewalks or are partial to a HIIT class, this type of low-impact training could allow you to train more often without compromising your joints. “Just be careful not to get too hung up on cardio,” Long warns. “I would recommend supplementing these sessions with two to three resistance sessions per week to help maintain lean muscle mass.”
There’s no denying the powerful impact a walk in nature can have on your mood, but the pacing element of the treadmill makes this a more efficient workout in many ways, she says.
“Increased speed and incline will result in more calorie burn and more improved cardiovascular fitness, while incline is used to replicate walking uphill, so this will make your legs work harder than just walk on flat ground, and you get a muscle item. tone.”
“The obvious limitation with 12-3-30 is that it’s hard to replicate without a treadmill; yes, you can get out there and walk, but trying to maintain an incline and speed of three is next to impossible,” adds Long.
Other Ways to Get a Low-Impact Cardio Hit
There are many ways to fill your cardio in a low-impact way. “I recommend the elliptical, which tries to simulate running and involves little to no impact on the joints,” says Long. “While you don’t have a tilt option, you can use the level of effort that makes it harder to move the platforms, so you can basically replicate tilt. It’s a bit more complicated to set an exact speed and incline like the treadmill.”
Other popular team-focused cardio workouts include the stairmaster, which mimics the action of climbing stairs and is great for engaging the glutes, and the versaclimber, which mimics the natural motion of climbing and provides a full-body bombardment, neither of which exercise pressure on the joints.
There is also swimming, of course. “Many people don’t see swimming as a great form of cardio, mainly because you can’t feel yourself sweating, but believe me, swimmers are among the fittest humans on the planet! If you really have problems with your lower extremity joints, then swimming is a perfect form of low-impact cardio for you to try.”
Do you want to try something new? Water jogging, or aqua jogging, offers all the benefits of running but with less impact on your body because you’re wearing a flotation belt while jogging in the deep end of the pool; it’s particularly good for anyone recovering from injury but still looking for a full-body workout.
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