Are you an obese beginner who is using a treadmill for the first time? This blog is full of helpful tips and tricks that will help you get started. I promise you’ll make progress with these treadmill workouts for obese beginners!

Your fitness journey starts now. I have broken down every step for you, so please feel free to ask any questions in the comments below! Get ready to walk or run off those pounds with these easy-to-follow guides.

An effective treadmill workout is an effective way to obtain fat loss and increase your fitness level. You can warm up, get a calorie burn, and cool down all on one piece of equipment and it’s a great place to start your exercise program. The best treadmill workout is one you will do. But the good news is, it will help you reduce body fat, improve mental health, and give you aerobic exercise.

Starting slow is the best way to work up to high-intensity interval training in your workout routine. A treadmill gives you cardiovascular exercise that can get you to your maximum heart rate for fat burning and work your way up to short bursts of higher speeds on flat ground that keeps you safer than walking outside where you could find trip hazards. It’s a great way to get started. 

How do obese people start walking?

Start slowly with a light walk about 1.5-2 miles per hour for 5-10 minutes if you can do that. If not, work up to it and do what you can. Once your muscles are warmed up, slowly increase the speed and incline you’re using to increase your heart rate. Walk this pace for 15 minutes. This is a goal you will work up to. If you can’t do this to start, don’t despair, you’ll get there if you don’t give up.

Your goal is to work up to 30-45 minutes of brisk walking with an incline. The increased elevation makes you work harder without putting more stress on your feet and joints. Increasing your heart rate makes you burn more calories and conditions your heart to be healthier. Here is a great workout schedule to help keep you on track as well.

Remember, before starting ANY kind of exercise, consult with your doctor to make sure they recommend it.

When you first begin walking on your treadmill, hold on to the rails until you get acclimated and balanced. As you increase speed, try not to hold onto the rails. If you need them, use them, but if you don’t, it will increase your workout by 25% to not use them.

If you want more of my weight loss story and how I grew up on little Debbies and soda and learned how to change my health and life through exercise and nutrition, check out this nutrition guide. It has some basic dos and don’ts that my wife and I used for me to lose 100 pounds and be on no medication at age 53. There are also some sample meal plans in there. It was a long process, not a quick fix, but if I can do it, so can you!

Beginner treadmill workouts for weight loss

For weight loss, high-intensity interval treadmill workouts are the way to go. First, warm-up for 5-10 minutes, then increase speed or elevation for 1-5 minutes, then go back to the lowest setting for 1-5 minutes and alternate your elevation and speed back and forth as you go through your workout. This burns more fat than an even speed. Check out these ideas for gym workouts for beginners to lose weight.

Beginner HIIT treadmill workout

Choose an elevation that is going to make you work. Get your muscles warmed up at 1.5-2 mph for 5-10 minutes. Increase the intensity by raising elevation or speed. This will increase your heart rate which helps burn calories and fat.

If jarring hurts, increase elevation for intensity. If jarring doesn’t hurt, increase your speed to 2.5-3 mph or maybe even a 4 if you want to do a 5-minute job. Then slow it down or lower the elevation for 1 minute, and back up for 5. Once you have worked out for 30-45 minutes, slow back down to your beginning settings for a 5-10 minute cool down.

You know how your body feels, so don’t try to push it too hard.

No one knows another person’s goals or how their body feels. What incline levels you work at whether it’s a lower incline or high incline is up to your personal fitness level. So for best results, listen to your body and be your own best friend. A new fitness routine, especially if you go too hard too fast can cause joint pain and injury.

So consult a certified personal trainer if you’re unsure and get a workout plan that works different muscles and starts with a slow walk and works up from the slow speed to your max while still giving you a challenging workout. 

Running for overweight beginners

If you want to run, you’ll have to work up to it, but it’s a great goal to get to. This will definitely help you get your heart in shape and lose weight. Make sure you warm-up for 5-10 minutes. Three mph on the treadmill is a jog, over 4 mph is running.

Increasing the elevation of the deck will relieve some of the stress on your bones and joints of pounding on the treadmill. It also helps you burn more calories and get your heart rate up.

Any time you feel like you’re losing balance or control, hold on to the rails. You can put your feet on the rails outside of the belt if you need to stop. And wear that safety cord so if you fall off, the belt will stop and you won’t get burned by it.

Remember when working up to running to condition yourself before. Don’t just jump into running when you’ve never worked out before. Start with the HIIT workout and as you work up to it, add more running and fewer breaks until you are running the whole time besides warm-up and cool down.

Treadmill speeds for beginners

1.5-2 mph is a comfortable starting pace. Increase the elevation to 1 or 2 to help level out the deck of the treadmill. When it’s at 0, it kind of feels like you’re walking down a hill and may give you shin splints. Also increasing the elevation gives you more bang for your buck by putting more focus on your butt muscles and increasing your heart rate without having to go super fast.

As you get comfortable, adjust the elevation or speed to change things up and keep it challenging.

If you don’t have a treadmill, just walk around your house and then work up to walking around the block outside. Walking does wonders for the body to lower blood pressure, build stamina and self-esteem, fight depression and anxiety. Walking builds stronger bones and helps your joints. It controls blood sugar too.

Walking is free, but it’s priceless to help heal the body. After my hernia surgery, walking helped me recover and create its own pain medication. It wasn’t easy to do, but I feel like it helped my recovery and was so grateful for it. And exercise helps you control your food cravings!

Best treadmill for obese beginners

The best treadmill for obese beginners is the SOLE F80 Treadmill. It has a weight capacity of up to 400 pounds and speeds up to 12 miles per hour. It also gives you 15 levels of incline. It would be great for an overweight person to start with.

If you want to run outside, check out running for obese beginners for a plan to get you going.

I hope you are encouraged to create the best body for your future self by hitting that treadmill and trying these treadmill workouts. I am excited for your future because I know you can do it and I can’t wait to hear all about it.

For more ideas on getting started, check out chair yoga too! This circuit training workout for beginners is a great one too!