exercise review: treadmill mountain hike

duration: 40 minutes
calories burned: 275
level: intermediate

so recently i've been looking for a structured, interval-training type of activity to do. katie from sister skinny recommended the fit sugar: treadmill mountain hike which includes:



00:00-05:00 Warm-Up Speed 2.0, Incline 0.5%
05:00-07:00 Speed 3.0-3.5, Incline 2%
07:00-09:00 Speed 3.0-3.5, Incline 4%
09:00-11:00 Speed 3.0-3.5, Incline 6%
11:00-13:00 Speed 3.0-3.5, Incline 8%
13:00-15:00 Speed 3.0-3.5, Incline 10%
15:00-17:00 Speed 3.0-3.5, Incline 12%
17:00-19:00 Speed 3.0-3.5, Incline 14%
19:00-20:00 Speed 3.5-4.0, Incline 15%
20:00-22:00 Speed 3.0-3.5, Incline 14%
22:00-24:00 Speed 3.0-3.5, Incline 12%
24:00-26:00 Speed 3.0-3.5, Incline 10%
26:00-28:00 Speed 3.0-3.5, Incline 8%
28:00-30:00 Speed 3.0-3.5, Incline 6%
30:00-32:00 Speed 3.0-3.5, Incline 4%
32:00-34:00 Speed 3.0-3.5, Incline 2%
34:00-40:00 Cool-Down Speed 2.0, Incline 0.5%

i tried it out and it was tough! my calves were BURNING! i did 3.5 speed for the first half of the routine. then i bumped it down to 3.0 after the 15% incline kicked my butt. i also modified the warm-up/cool down. instead of going 2.0, i went 3.0-3.4. going 2.0 felt too slow. like ricky bobby says, "i wanna go fast!"

in the middle of the workout you have to go 3.5-4.0 on the 15% incline so i was basically doing a slow jog uphill, it was tough. i was panting, my friends. sweat dripping. i would definitely recommend it, i was sweating hard! i'm definitely a fan of treadmill hiking, except the 15% incline was a little insane. back in skinny jeans created a more beginner version of the hike so give that a try too if you want! but i definitely sweat more during my "hike" than i sweat from my 30 minute treadmill jogs. i guess i'm not pushing myself hard enough.

tommorow i'm going to look for another interval workout routine, perhaps it will incorporate running/walking, i like those. but definitely give this one a try if you want to climb an imaginary mountain!! :) thanks katie! if you have any links, send them my way!!

i want to try to do more exercise reviews in addition to product reviews! what a great excuse to get moving!