3 Self Improvement Lessons from Running on the Treadmill

The treadmill: every gym goer’s worst enemy.

When I hit the gym, I typically spend 20 minutes on the machine:

• 10 minutes at the beginning to get my blood pumping and a sweat going
• 10 minutes at the end to finish strongly and break a full sweat

Throughout both runs, I’ll have my Spotify music bumping in my ears and hip hop or pop music videos playing on the small TV screen in front of me. Each 10 minute session usually goes by pretty quickly as I get into a flow state with my music and surroundings and let my body do its thing.

On a recent weekend, I was forced to change up my running routine after eating a pretty large breakfast right before I got to the gym. If you’ve ever played sports before or made the mistake of eating a lot before working out, you know that it’s not good to run on a full stomach. As a result, I skipped my 10 minutes of running at the beginning and ran for 18 minutes at the end instead.

While doing so, I mimicked how I usually do my first 10 minutes of running, which is at varying MPH speeds every two minutes (5.5, 7.0, 6.0, 7.5, 6.5). However, since I was spending more than 10 minutes on the treadmill to make up for the lost time, I forced myself to up my speeds for the extra 8 minutes (5.5, 7.0, 6.0, 7.5, 6.5, 8.0, 7.0, 8.5, 7.5). Surprisingly, I was able to handle the increase in intensity rather easily and felt even better than I did after my typical runs.

Afterwards, I reflected on why that small adjustment resulted in a more impactful mind and body experience. Here’s what I learned and how you can apply it your life:

1. CHANGE UP YOUR ROUTINE

As much as I love a good ritual or routine, it’s always good to change things up every now and then. Otherwise, you might get very comfortable doing the same thing over and over and not push yourself to grow.

When you make a change, it doesn’t have to be a complete overhaul of the way you have been doing something. Instead, it could be a slight variation to the order in which you do certain things, e.g. skipping a run at the beginning of your workout for a longer one at the end. Or it could be the addition or subtraction of something. For example, you could start to meditate for 10 minutes each morning or reduce your screen time on devices by 30 minutes each day. Regardless of how you choose to alter your routine, hopefully it will help keep you on your toes and open your eyes to how a small change can make a big difference.

2. BUILD UP YOUR STAMINA

The more you do something at a certain level, the better your body and mind can handle it with ease. Since the year started, I’ve been going to the gym rather steadily two times each week. With some minor exceptions, I always run for 20 minutes as I outlined above. For the most part, the speeds I’ve run at have been consistent; only recently did I start to increase my speed levels by .5 MPH for each two minute interval. As a result of my habit, my body has built up a good tolerance, and I’m confident that I can handle my running every time.

My recent treadmill experience served as a good reminder for me that the more you build up a habit, the easier it is to do each time. For those of you who think “I can never do X. It’s too hard.”, you’re wrong. The key is to start small and get your reps in. The more you do so, the more your body and mind will adjust and the more your new habit will become second nature.

3. SEEK INCREMENTAL GAINS

Building up the stamina to do something you want to to do over and over again is great. However, there’s the possibility that you’ve aimed too low in your initial goal of it. While you might be happy with where you’re at, in most cases you should be be striving to continue to get better. That’s you grow and work your way to the next level.

The key here is small gains. In my example above, I ran for 8 minutes more than I typically would for a single treadmill session. During those 8 extra minutes, I spent half the time time running at speeds I was used to (7.0 MPH and 7.5 MPH) and the other half running at slightly higher speeds (8.0 MPH and 8.5 MPH). As you can see, I wasn’t trying to completely outdo myself but rather turn it up a notch or two.

After all was said and done, I noticed something interesting about my performance. In the past, I always felt that I was pushing myself at my high speeds of 7.0 MPH and 7.5 MPH. However, once I forced myself to perform at slightly higher speeds (8.0 MPH and 8.5 MPH), going back down to 7.0 MPH and 7.5 MPH during the same run felt easy in comparison. It was like I was developing a second wind and turning these previously high speeds into more average ones. It just goes to show you the power of small improvements and how your body and mind can reset their baselines once you push them beyond what you thought they were capable of.

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