These treadmill sessions will elevate your speed and endurance

For many of us, the treadmill is a backup plan. It’s the place you end up when the weather turns, or the day gets away from you, and running outside just isn’t happening. But sometimes a workout on the belt feels better than you expected—you settle in, the pacing clicks and you step off realizing it actually did something. Here are three workouts that deliver.

The rolling hill session

A treadmill is oddly perfect for hill work, because you can control the grade without hunting for the right incline outside. The shifting incline in this one builds strength without turning the whole run into a grind. Your rhythm changes often enough that it’s never monotonous.

Start with 8–10 minutes easy.

Set the incline to 3% for two minutes, then back to 1% for two minutes.

Next round: 4% up, then 1% down.

Next: 5%, then back to 1%.

Keep the pace steady the whole time. The incline is the work.

Cool down with 5 minutes at 0–1%.

The pace-change builder

Think of this as a steady run that keeps asking you to switch gears. This workout teaches your legs how to rise into a pace and settle back down without falling apart—pretty handy for race days, rolling terrain or simply breaking up a long midweek run.

Warm up for about 10 minutes.

Run 5 minutes at a comfortably strong pace (not hard, not easy).

Drop to an easy pace for 3 minutes.

Repeat this pattern 3–4 times, depending on your energy.

Jog for 5 minutes to finish.

The sneaky fast finish

This one feels gentle until it doesn’t—but in a good way. It reminds your legs how to finish with intent, not with a sprint. The treadmill keeps you honest because once you bump up the speed, you can’t drift off it.

Start with 10–12 minutes at an easy, relaxed pace.

After that, bump the speed up a tiny amount every two minutes. Keep these changes small—just enough that you feel it.

Stay with that pattern for 12–16 minutes. By the last few minutes, you should be running at a comfortably hard clip, but not gasping.

Cool down with 5 minutes of easy jogging or walking.

Speed on the treadmill can sneak up on you, so keep an eye on how your legs feel the next day. Slot an easy run or a light shakeout after any session where you’ve been turning up the dial. It keeps the workout useful, instead of leaving you flat for the rest of the week.