Should You Try the 12-3-30 Treadmill Workout to Boost Your Fitness?
Key takeaways:
To do the 12-3-30 treadmill workout, set the treadmill incline to 12% and walk at 3 miles per hour for 30 minutes.
Fitness influencer Lauren Giraldo created the workout to lose weight, but trainers say it offers greater benefits for endurance and strength.
To get started, you can walk slower or at a lower incline and work your way up to the 12-3-30 combination.
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Treadmills have been a part of gym and workout culture for more than a century. The first treadmill patents emerged in the early 1900s. Today, the equipment is often regarded as so dull that it's been called the “dreadmill.”
One fitness influencer decided to spice things up with her 12-3-30 treadmill workout, which has become a social media favorite. Fans say it beats boredom and boosts motivation and results. Here, expert trainers weigh in on the exercise method, including potential benefits and drawbacks.
What is the 12-3-30 treadmill workout?
The name of the 12-3-30 treadmill workout will help you remember the basics. Here’s how to do it:
Set your treadmill to an incline of 12%
Bring the speed to 3 miles an hour
Walk for 30 minutes
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Social media influencer Lauren Giraldo created the 12-3-30 workout and posted a video about it on YouTube in 2019. Giraldo claims that the technique –– which she shared again on TikTok in November 2020 –– helped her lose 30 lbs without changing her diet.
Since then, the 12-3-30 method has gotten plenty of social media traction. Giraldo’s video has nearly 3 million likes. But if you’re thinking of trying the 12-3-30 workout, your focus shouldn’t be on weight loss, said Cat Kom, CPT, trainer and founder of Studio SWEAT onDemand. Instead, she said, the workout provides a new and refreshing way to structure treadmill sessions.
“I’ve been doing this on days when I don’t have other workouts planned, and it’s a nice add-on to my routine,” Kom said.
What are the benefits of the 12-3-30 treadmill workout?
You might try the 12-3-30 method to beat treadmill boredom and boost workout motivation. Increased motivation is great for anyone committed to a regular fitness routine. But you may notice health benefits along the way as well. This is largely due to the increased resistance of the incline, Kom said. Here’s what the research says.
Increases cardiovascular endurance
There are no studies that focus specifically on the 12-3-30 treadmill workout. But there’s plenty of research on the benefits of walking. It’s one of many aerobic activities that can increase your cardiovascular endurance and overall fitness.
With the 12-3-30 treadmill workout, you’re walking on an incline. The added resistance makes the workout more intense than a regular stroll on a flat surface. This increased exercise intensity makes your heart and lungs work harder. So you can get a heart-healthy workout that may help you build endurance over time.
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Strengthens lower-body muscles
Walking on an incline also challenges your muscles to work harder. According to a small study, it may engage lower-body muscles more than walking on a flat surface. Researchers found that walking uphill increases the amount of work done by the glutes, quads, and hip, knee, and ankle extensors. It also activates the hamstrings and increases the workload on the calf muscles.
Burns calories
The 12-3-30 treadmill workout can help you burn more calories than you would walking on a flat surface. One study found that treadmill walking at incline level 5 increased calorie burn by 52%. And walking at incline level 10 upped the calorie burn by 113%. But your energy expenditure also depends on other factors, such as age, weight, and fitness level.
May support weight loss
The trouble with Giraldo’s claim about the 12-3-30 method and weight loss is that she doesn't provide a timeframe for how long it took her to lose that 30 lbs, Kom said. Giraldo also doesn’t provide any information about nutrition, sleep habits, and other factors that can affect healthy weight loss.
Regardless, Kom suggests that focusing on body composition and overall health is usually better than thinking about the number on the scale. Burning calories supports weight loss. But the real game changer that comes with walking on an incline is the strength you build because of the added resistance, Kom said. That means you can gain muscle mass and lose body fat, which tends to be a better goal than weight loss alone.
What are the risks of the 12-3-30 treadmill workout?
The 12-3-30 treadmill workout may be an accessible option for people who can't do high-impact exercises like running. But it’s easy to underestimate the difficulty of the workout, according to Danny King, CPT, a master trainer at Life Time, a chain of health clubs in the U.S. and Canada.
The biggest risk is overdoing it. “For some people, 12-3-30 is a good recommendation, but for others it’s way too intense,” King said. “Starting with that much incline if you aren’t ready for it could put a ton of stress on the calves and low back.” This could lead to injury or overtraining. So talk with a healthcare professional before trying the workout if you have health concerns that may affect your fitness plan.
Burnout is also a risk. This workout requires high energy expenditure. So it can be easy to overdo it in your first few sessions and feel exhausted afterward. This could cause a sharp drop in motivation.
How do you get started with the 12-3-30 treadmill workout?
Like any workout, the key is to start slowly and progress gradually, Kom said. If treadmill workouts aren’t part of your current routine, it’s a good idea to play around with the variables before jumping into 12-3-30. For example, start at a slower speed, lower incline, or shorter duration — or all three.
Kom notes that the incline is often the element that requires the most gradual progression. Increasing it by one or two levels each week can help you advance quickly, she said. Another variable is frequency. Kom suggests starting out by doing the 12-3-30 method –– or some variation of it –– once or twice per week, but not on consecutive days. From there, you can work up to 4 or 5 times weekly.
Here are some more tips that can help:
Always do a warm-up before you exercise and a cooldown after.
Use the safety strap of the treadmill.
Pay attention to how you feel during the workout; you should feel challenged but not overwhelmed.
Stay hydrated.
Add other aerobic and strength-training workouts to your weekly routine.
Make time for recovery and rest days.
Try intervals. For example, you might do the 12-3-30 method for 10 minutes, recover by walking at a lower incline and slower speed for 5 minutes, and repeat those intervals 2-3 times.
Another pro tip: Add variety to your cardio workouts. King suggests getting 90 to 120 minutes weekly of cardiovascular exercise. That might mean doing two treadmill workouts and then switching to a different option for the third workout of the week. This can help prevent overtraining, he said.
When you've been doing the 12-3-30 workout for at least a couple of months, you can make changes to make it more challenging, Kom said. You might hold weights or add more arm movements to increase upper-body strength, for instance.
“I’ve also been changing my stance to make it more challenging,” she added. “For example, I’ll walk normally for a minute, then with my feet on a tightrope for a minute, then a wider walk for a minute. Not only does that make the workout go by incredibly fast, but it challenges different muscles, like the glutes and outer hips.”
Frequently asked questions
If you don’t have a treadmill, you can use other fitness equipment to do workouts that are similar to the 12-3-30 method. For example, if you have a stationary bike, you can set the resistance to a challenging level that you can maintain for 30 minutes at a moderate pace.
You can also take your workout outdoors. Look for a walking, hiking, or cycling route with a gradual incline.
Beginners can modify the incline, pace, or duration of the 12-3-30 workout to suit their fitness level. If you change the incline, try starting with 3% and increasing it by 1-2 levels every week or so as you become fitter. Use 12-3-30 as your goal, but work up to it slowly.
You can do the 12-3-30 workout or a modified version regularly. But you shouldn’t do it every day. A balanced weekly fitness routine –– with different cardio workouts, strength-training sessions, and rest days –– can help you avoid injuries and overtraining. Variety can also help you challenge your muscles in new ways, which may prevent a workout plateau and boredom.
Even if you enjoy doing the 12-3-30 method several times a week, try cross-training with different workouts to switch things up.
The bottom line
Because it involves brisk walking and a form of resistance training, the 12-3-30 treadmill workout can be beneficial for improving endurance and lower-body strength. When starting the routine, be sure to take it slow and progress gradually to reduce risk of overtraining or injury.
Talk to a healthcare professional if you have any conditions or injuries that may affect your exercise routine.
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References
Bavdek, R., et al. (2018). Peroneal muscle activity during different types of walking. Journal of Foot and Ankle Research.
Franz, J. R., et al. (2013). The effects of grade and speed on leg muscle activation during walking. Gait & Posture.
Giraldo, L. (2019). My treadmill routine + meal examples [video]. YouTube.
Laurengiraldo. (2020). Game changer honestly [video]. TikTok.
Murtagh, E. M., et al. (2015). The effect of walking on risk factors for cardiovascular disease: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised control trials. Preventive Medicine.
Peters, D. (2018). Treadmills were meant to be atonement machines. JSTOR Daily.
Slider, A., et al. (2015). Predicting the metabolic cost of incline walking from muscle activity and walking mechanics. Journal of Biomechanics.
