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A walking treadmill workout is an easy way to start a new fitness routine or add variety to an existing one. One of the most popular routines is the 12-3-30 treadmill workout, which went viral in 2020 and has continued to be a fan favorite ever since.
The workout is simple: Set the treadmill incline to 12 degrees (or less – choose a level of difficulty that suits your fitness level) and walk at 3 miles per hour for 30 minutes.
This routine doesn’t require much time, but if you do it consistently it will improve your stamina and help you lose weight. One of the reasons this routine is so popular is that you can get these results without having to run at all.
Walking is low impact, Less likely to get injured It’s more effective than running and has many important benefits, including lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, boosting your metabolism, improving your mental health by reducing anxiety and depression, and lowering the risk of some cancers.
The 12-3-30 trend was created by health and beauty influencer Lauren Giraldo. YouTube in 2019 and again TikTok in 2020She says the workouts helped her lose 30 pounds and keep it off.
“I used to dread going to the gym. I had no motivation to do it, but now I just do this one thing and feel good about myself,” she said in a TikTok. “I’m looking forward to it. It’s just my time.”
Giraldo’s focus on self-care and achievable fitness goals has resonated with a wide range of readers: Her first post has received more than 2.8 million likes.
The influencer, who is not a fitness expert, chose the numbers 12, 3, and 30 because the highest incline the treadmill at her gym had was 12, she didn’t like running, she felt that 3 miles per hour was a good brisk walking pace, and her grandmother always advised her to exercise at least 30 minutes every day.
Obviously, the incline and intensity of the workouts are personal to her, so people should consider their own fitness level and goals when trying it and adjust as necessary.
Something as simple as walking for 30 minutes is a reasonable, achievable goal for most people, says Vijay A. Daryanani, M.D., a certified personal trainer and physical therapist at Spaulding Outpatient Center, a hospital affiliated with Harvard Medical School.
“I think a speed of 3 miles per hour is good for most people, but the incline is the key factor,” Daryanani told TODAY.com.
He recommends paying close attention to your posture when walking on an incline.
“When training someone, I adjust the incline safely and with guidance to help them maintain posture, balance and stride length. Inclining a treadmill is similar to walking up a hill and puts different stresses on the musculoskeletal system,” he says.
If you’re ready to try the 12-3-30 workout for yourself, here’s what you need to know about walking for injury prevention and weight loss.
What is the “12-3-30” Workout?
Giraldo’s training is done through three settings on the treadmill.
- Tilt: 12
- speed: 3 miles per hour
- time: half an hour
According to Giraldo’s TikTok video, she does the workout about five times a week, and it’s helped her lose 30 pounds. “I definitely saw physical changes, but the biggest change was mental,” she says. “I felt proud that I was able to get on the treadmill every day and have 30 minutes of ‘me time.’ I feel a sense of accomplishment every time I do it.”
For Giraldo, it served another important purpose: getting used to stepping into a gym. “Thanks to 12-3-30, the gym isn’t such a scary place anymore. I now feel more confident in the gym and even incorporate weight training and other exercises into my training,” she says.
The benefits of the 12-3-30 workout
As TODAY.com previously reported, walking has numerous health benefits, including improving cardiovascular health and blood pressure, controlling blood sugar and reducing the risk of diabetes, boosting metabolism, helping with weight loss and maintenance, and improving aerobic capacity.
of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services It’s recommended that you do 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week, and doing a 12-3-30 workout five times a week would put you at the low end of that range.
Walking is also a low-impact alternative to running that’s good for people with joint problems. But adding an incline to your walking routine can make it more intense and challenging. It can also help tone your lower body. “Walking at an incline engages your leg muscles more than walking on flat ground,” TODAY Fitness contributor Stephanie Mansour previously wrote for TODAY.com. “This gives your glutes, hamstrings and quads a more intense workout, and it also gets your heart rate up.”
Is the “12-3-30” workout safe?
At first, Girardot couldn’t last the full 30 minutes. “I had to really push myself to get to 30 minutes. I couldn’t keep it up without getting out of breath, so I started taking breaks after 10 or 15 minutes,” she says.
Although 12-3-30 is a relatively simple treadmill workout, it’s not something you should jump into suddenly, Dr. Dennis Cardone, an osteopathic sports medicine specialist and director of primary care sports medicine at NYU Langone Health, tells TODAY.com.
“If you’re someone who’s working hard at this and you’re in your 20s and you’re young and healthy and you’re struggling, you know it’s a pretty tough workout,” Cardone says, “but you’re working too fast and you should have recovery days.”
That doesn’t mean there aren’t benefits to adding an incline to your workout: “It adds extra stress to your workout, in the sense that you’re getting more exercise in less time; your muscles are working harder,” Cardone says.
But when it comes to adding a big incline to your training, the risks may outweigh the benefits, he adds.
“The problem is that people don’t think of walking as a stressor. They think, ‘No big deal using incline, I’m just walking,’ but it is actually a huge stressor. The lower back, hamstrings, Achilles, knees, plantar fascia… these are the areas where we see significant injuries related to the incline of the treadmill,” he says. “As a general observation, any time you start or change your training or add something like an incline, you have to follow the rule of going slowly, otherwise you are definitely at significant risk of overuse injury.”
Can the “12-3-30” workout help you lose weight?
Giraldo says the 12-3-30 training helped him lose 30 pounds and keep it off for years.
To maintain your weight, it’s best to lose weight slowly and steadily, about 1 to 2 pounds per week. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention“Generally, to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week, you need to burn 500 to 1,000 more calories than you take in each day through a low-calorie diet and regular exercise.” Mayo Clinic I will explain.
For a 150-pound person, 30 minutes of walking will burn about 125 calories, and an incline will burn even more, so when combined with some healthy dietary changes, the 12-3-30 workout has the potential to burn the calories needed for steady, gradual weight loss.
Want to give it a try? Follow these guidelines for a safe and effective workout:
“(Girardo) did a good job, but most players don’t get there because they end up with overuse injuries that take them out of the game. It’s a great goal, but it’s not realistic for most people,” Cardone said. “If you only do one activity, you don’t have to criticize this activity, but if you do any activity every day, you’re just more likely to get injured.”
So instead of upping the incline too quickly, here’s how you can try Girard’s workout safely.
- Don’t be fooled by the treadmill. “People assume that treadmills are safe because they’re not outdoors and the ground is soft and easy, but they’re not that different from walking up a hill. Being on a treadmill is no different from walking on the road,” Cardone warns. “When you think about walking up a mountain for 30 minutes, that’s pretty hard. People are a little overconfident about treadmills.”
- Adjust the numbers to fit your current situation. “Don’t increase the incline too quickly; you may not want to start with 30 minutes. Three miles per hour is reasonable, but slow down the duration of your workout and gradually increase the incline,” suggests Cardone. “Start flat on the treadmill, doing 0-3-30. Once you feel comfortable, start increasing the incline, but don’t go to 12 right away. Over a three-week period, start increasing the incline slowly, around 10-20 percent per week.”
- If you’re new to fitness, start on a flat surface. “When you start a training program outdoors, walking, jogging, interval training, etc., don’t look for hills,” Cardone says. “Start by enduring flat surfaces. Once you’ve mastered that, if you want to add hills to your training, that’s fine, but don’t look for hills at the beginning of your program.”
- Gradually increase the incline: “Increase the incline slowly, starting at the lowest setting and, like any other workout, gradually increasing as you increase distance and intensity,” Cardone says. “This workout starts at a 12-degree incline, so I recommend increasing it by four degrees at a time, gradually working your way up to 12 degrees over a three-week period.”
- Don’t do it every day. “The general rule with any routine is that you need to have recovery days or at least alternate with other activities to avoid overuse injuries,” Cardone says. “I wouldn’t recommend doing some activity most days of the week, but don’t do the same activity. On your recovery days, do some alternative activity, whether that’s an elliptical trainer, a bike, a pool, whatever you have available.”
- Complements muscle strengthening and stretching. According to Cardone, walking with a hunched back while walking uphill puts strain on the hips, Achilles tendons, calf muscles, plantar fascia and hamstrings. “These are persistent problems, and no one wants these injuries. Once they occur, they’re difficult to treat,” he says. To reduce the risk of injury while walking or running, he recommends stretching these areas specifically, as well as core strengthening exercises.
- Consider something that will have less impact. If you’re just getting started on your fitness journey, Cardone recommends starting with low-impact exercises. “Exercises like biking, elliptical trainers, swimming and cross-training are even safer. They’re great ways to kick-start your exercise routine and build up your cardiovascular endurance. Because they’re not high-impact, they’re less stressful on your joints and muscle tendons,” Cardone says. “So you could work out on the treadmill two or three days a week and do other exercises the other days, and that will keep you out of trouble.”
How many times a week should I do the 12-3-30 workout?
Even if you follow these guidelines, your training should still be alternated with other low-impact activities, at most every other day.
To get the results you want from any exercise program, whether that’s weight loss, toning, or overall health, Cardone says the key is finding a program you can stick to. That means the fitness routine you choose not only needs to be safe so you don’t have to stop due to injury, but “it also needs to be something you enjoy. Doing only one activity will leave you exhausted, not just physically, but mentally as well,” she says.
