12-3-30 treadmill workout: Incline walking better than running for fat loss, reveals a study

If your goal is to reduce fat mass, and not fat along with muscle and water, then trying out the 12-3-30 treadmill workout may help. The viral exercise, which involves setting the gym equipment to 12 percent incline and walking at 3 miles per hour for 30 minutes, is good for fat loss. Going by a new study, the incline walking workout that uses the treadmill is even better than running in losing extra body fat. This finding suggests that high-intensity exercises like running may not always be better for burning fat. Read on to know more about the study on incline walking vs running for fat loss.

What does the study on incline walking vs running say?

A comparison between incline walking vs running was done in a new study, published in the International Journal Of Exercise Science. According to the researchers, the study on the viral 12-3-30 treadmill workout, which is about walking on an incline for half an hour, is the first one to “directly compare metabolic responses between 12-3-30 and self-paced running.”

During the incline walking vs running study, 16 participants (7 females and 9 males), walked at a 12 percent incline at 3 miles per hour for 30 minutes. They were not allowed to hold handrails during the treadmill workout. They also engaged in self-paced runs and stopped once their total calorie burn matched that of their incline walking on the treadmill. During the seven-day study, all the participants performed one 12-3-30 workout and one self-paced run.

The incline walking vs running study showed that participants running at their own pace burned 33 percent of the calories from fat. Incline walking, on the other hand, burned 40 percent from fat. So, the body’s fuel preference was fat in incline walking, which means you can lose more fat while walking on an incline than running.

What is the 12-3-30 treadmill workout?

YouTuber Lauren Giraldo was the one who popularised this workout in 2019. The 12-3-30 treadmill workout is basically incline walking using a treadmill, but it has a few rules that revolve around these numbers:

• You need to raise the treadmill’s incline level to 12 percent
• Move at a speed of 3 miles per hour
• Walk at this speed and incline level for 30 minutes.

How to do the 12-3-30 treadmill workout?

Here’s how to try this exercise for fat loss:

• If you are a beginner, start with a low-intensity exercise like walking on a flat surface. Aim for at least 150 minutes of physical activity each week, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• Once you get used to working out on a regular basis, go on a gradual incline like 2 percent instead of aiming for 12 percent to avoid strain and injuries.
• As you gain strength and your body gets used to the resistance, increase the incline level by 1 or 2 percent each week and walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes at 3 miles per hour.

You can do this exercise four or five times in a week, depending on how well your body takes it. If you don’t have a treadmill or don’t like going to the gym, you can still do incline walking. After all, walking an upward slope, be it a natural terrain or on a treadmill, can help burn more calories than flat surface walking, as per a study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. You can look for a hill, stairs at home or office or even a steep driveway to do this exercise without using the gym equipment.

In the incline walking vs running battle for fat loss, the treadmill exercise may be the winner but make sure to consider your health conditions too. If you have joint or muscle strain, or have knee or lower-back issues, consult a doctor before performing this exercise regularly.

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