How To Beat Boredom on the Treadmill

Boost your running motivation when running inside

Run with a friend.

If you and a friend belong to the same gym, get her to run on the treadmill next to you. You can motivate each other and provide distraction to make your workout time go by faster. And one great thing about treadmill running with friends is that you don't have to be the same pace, so you can run with friends who you wouldn't normally run with outside.

Try an interval workout.

Rather than running at a constant pace, mix up your run with hard and easy segments. It can be as simple as: A five-minute warm-up followed by three sets of four-minute intervals (two minutes of hard running and two minutes of easy running), followed by a five-minute cool-down.

More: Treadmill Interval Workout

Mix it up with strength-training exercises.

After a 5-minute warm-up, run at a comfortable pace for five minutes, then step off the treadmill and do two minutes of strength-training exercises, such as crunches, push-ups, side-crunches, lunges and dips. Try doing four sets of running/strength-training.

Zone out.

Unlike running outside, treadmill running doesn't require that you pay close attention to your surroundings and watch out for cars, cyclists, dogs, and other hazards. You don't even have to think about your route. So running on a treadmill gives you a chance to lose yourself in the rhythm of your breathing feet or your pounding feet. Try blocking out everything around you and enter a peaceful, relaxing state.

Do a pyramid workout.

The time flies by during this treadmill workout because you're paying so much attention to your interval times. After a 5-minute warm-up, run hard (5K pace) for one minute, recover one minute; run hard two minutes, recover two minutes; run hard three minutes, recover two minutes; run hard four minutes, recover two minutes; run hard five minutes, recover two minutes. Then work your way back down the "pyramid" and run hard four minutes, recover two minutes; run hard three minutes, recover two minutes; run hard two minutes, recover two minutes; run hard one minute, recover one minute. End the workout with a 5-minute cooldown.

More: Pyramid Speed Workout

Listen to music.

Although using headphones while running outside is not safe, listening to music on the treadmill can be a great way to combat boredom and run longer. Choose motivating songs and create a playlist for your workout -– it will help prevent you from continually checking the clock to see how much more you have to go.

Alternate with another cardio machine.

Try breaking up your run by alternating with the bike or elliptical trainer. If you want to do a 40-minute cardio workout, run on the treadmill for 10 minutes and then jump on another machine for 10 minutes, and keep alternating until you've reached your total goal time. If you run on a treadmill at home and that's your only cardio machine, try running up and down the stairs for five minutes, in between running segments.