How to Burn 500 Calories on the Treadmill

The 500-Calorie-Burning Treadmill Workout

June 11, 2013

Weight loss on your mind? Kick it up a notch with this hour-long treadmill interval workout that will burn around 500 calories. Complete it five times in a week and you are well on your way to burning an extra 3,500 calories — the magic number to lose one pound in a week. Not too difficult, right? Continue reading to see this 500-calorie-burning interval workout.

Set the treadmill incline to zero, and after warming up, begin the workout. If you find that this workout is too easy or too hard, just adjust the speed to fit your level.

Time	Pace (mph)	Calories Burned*	RPE**
00:00-05:00	5.0	36	1-3
05:00-8:00	6.0	27	4-7
8:00-9:00	7.0	10	8-10
9:00-12:00	6.0	27	4-7
12:00-13:00	7.5	11	8-10
13:00-16:00	6.0	27	4-7
16:00-17:00	7.0	10	8-10
17:00-20:00	6.0	27	4-7
20:00-21:00	7.5	11	8-10
21:00-24:00	6.0	27	4-7
24:00-25:00	7.0	10	8-10
25:00-28:00	6.0	27	4-7
28:00-29:00	7.5	11	8-10
29:00-32:00	6.0	27	4-7
32:00-33:00	7.0	10	8-10
33:00-36:00	6.0	27	4-7
36:00-37:00	7.5	11	8-10
37:00-40:00	6.0	27	4-7
40:00-41:00	7.0	10	8-10
41:00-44:00	6.0	27	4-7
44:00-45:00	7.5	11	8-10
45:00-48:00	6.0	27	4-7
48:00-49:00	7.0	10	8-10
49:00-52:00	6.0	27	4-7
52:00-57:00	5.0	36	1-3

Congratulations — you just burned 511 calories! Don't forget to cool down and stretch afterward. Click here for a photo-free printable version of this workout to take to the gym.

*Calories burned calculations are based on a 130-pound woman
**RPE = rate of perceived exertion

Source: Thinkstock

33 Comments

Susi May 5 days

Mondoma, Check out this elliptical workout: http://www.fitsugar.com/Cardio-Workout-Elliptical-Intervals-6926664

Mondoma 5 days

I have 2 herniated discs and would like to do HIIT on the elliptical instead.

sassysparky 25 weeks

This workout is ridiculous, and suggesting that someone do it five times a week is insane. I'm a runner who logs >20 miles a week and does half marathons routinely, and I would not do this work out more than once a week. Interval training is GREAT for weight loss, but it works your heart as much as any other muscle. One should not do HIIT workouts more than once a week. Furthermore, this would be about what, a 4-5 mile run? If someone hadn't been running regularly and jumped into doing all of this speedwork, they could get something like shin splints, runner's knee, or worse.

noeXcusefitness 1 year

Interval training is the king of exercises for burning fat. If you are a bit shorter on time check this article out for a program that can be completed in 20-30 minutes and will continue to burn calories for up to 48 hours after you have finished, even when you are sleeping http://www.noexcusefitness.com.au/training/afterburn-exercises/

cmhads 1 year

I love this workout and I'll often switch the 6 to 6.5 then 7 to 7.5 for different intervals but this keeps me entertained on the treadmill. I prefer outdoor workouts but this is perfect for winter! Thanks fitsugar!

flikmaster 1 year

I plan on trying this tomorrow, but will probably have to modify the speed. I have a hard time running as slow as 5 and 6 mph.

lorahora 1 year

8mph isn't so impossible, it's only for 60 seconds. If you put your mind past the difficulty, you will be able to do it. And if you feel like it is much too fast, then scale everything back. The reason you burn more calories is due to the intervals. Letting your body have an active recovery for 3 min after sprinting for 1 and then repeating causes it to work harder. I'm using it to help train for a 10k. I actually did the intervals up to 52:00 today and then had a 5 min cooldown after. I burned 671 calories. I weigh 155.

Asche 1 year

8 mph?! That's 12 km/h, which is insanely fast for most people!

msdrafter84 1 year

Treadmill readout indicates that at a 2 incline for 60 minutes burns about 800 calories. That is what I usually do. Pretty boring, so I am going to try this interval workout, but varying this version by integrating incline and dampening the high mph at certain segments.

treebie 1 year

this is ridiculous...about 2% can run that fast for that long. find a reasonable workout and post it.

cheyn1 2 years

This looks amazing. 500 calories or not it looks like it would keep me entertained.

biancalynnaire 2 years

I tried this out about an hour ago and loved it, I do interval workouts quite often but this one is great. Definitely made the treadmill a lot less boring, I even tacked on an extra 20 minutes to the 4.0 mph warm down.

2 years

I tried it this morning and scaled each interval back by 1mph and burned 396 calories. I'm 48 and 150lbs. I then did a set of about 5 weight baring exercies and ended my workout at 600 calorires burned in 65 minutes. It was challenging but the scale back helped me make it through.

2 years

i have tried everything,and nothing that i have tried so far has worked.

2 years

im going to try this... but at a 10% incline or so. i took the facts from another website that says to run at an incline, and combined it with these interval workouts. i will see if it works!

2 years

I can burn 500 calories in 30 mins on the treadmill (well, I'm not saying it's accurate, just that's what the display says). I'm a 118-120lb woman and usually run at 6.3-8.0 (8.0 for 30sec-60sec intrvals) with a min 0.5 incline, but will bump it up to 2.5/3.0 for hill intervals. I hope to try this soon to see what I burn.

adaniels611 3 years

Im going to try it when I get off work today.

3 years

Yeah, this calorie burn seems way too high to me. I weigh 150 and I find it difficult to burn 500 calories in less than an hour.

cfp 3 years

..I just used Fit's Calorie Counter and it says in 3 mins at 6.0 (a 10 minute mile) a 130lb woman burns 30 calories.

cfp 3 years

That's because there is no way that running on 6.0 for only 3 minutes burns 47 calories. I run on the treadmill all the time on anywhere from 6.5-7.0 and barely burn that many calories in a 40 minute run. I think there is something off with this tally. Maybe 37 calories (maybe). So it's more like a 400 calorie workout.

ojodeazul 3 years

I am 123 and did it yesterday with doing the first and last give minutes at 5.0mph and only burned 378...

staceyny35 3 years

I am 145 lbs. I did this workout yesterday and burned 445 caloires. What do I need to increase to make this workout a 500 calorie burning workout? Thanks.

carrothead 3 years

this looks intense! i might try it soon :]

teegaall 3 years

I've tried running at 8 or 9 mph on the treadmill before. I felt great and was keeping up for about 25 seconds then I had to slow down.

vtsang 3 years

I tried, but I can't get higher than 6.5 mph, my right side started hurting too much. But I'll keep trying. But it seems like 8mph really would be really fast.

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33 Comments