You have set yourself a realistic and achievable goal of burning 500 calories a day to lose weight and burn fat. You decided on a treadmill as your cardio machine and what to know how long will you need to use the treadmill to burn 500 calories even if you run, jog or walk.
To burn 500 calories on a treadmill you would need to run for around 30 minutes or a distance of 3 miles. For treadmill jogging its around 45 minutes to burn 500 calories. For treadmill walking it’s 1 hour 30 minutes.
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How Long On A Treadmill To Burn 500 Calories Running
The average person runs at a treadmill speed of 6mph (10-minute miles) and would need to run for around 30 minutes or a distance of 3 miles to burn 500 calories. Increase your treadmill speed to 8mph and you would need to run for 22 minutes to burn 500 calories.
However, it depends on the person’s intensity level (speed), weight and fitness level. A heavier person will burn more calories than a lighter person at the same speed and intensity. Similarly, a fit person will burn more calories than an unfit person.
The table compares various speeds and times you need to run to achieve burning 500 calories on a treadmill for your exact weight.
| Weight In pounds | Time For Light Intensity (5mph) | Time For Moderate Intensity (6mph) | Time For High Intensity (8mph) |
| 160lbs | 51 minutes | 41 minutes | 30 minute |
| 170lbs | 49 minutes | 39 minutes | 29 minutes |
| 180lbs | 46 minutes | 36 minutes | 27 minutes |
| 190lbs | 43 minutes | 35 minutes | 26 minutes |
| 200lbs | 41 minutes | 33 minutes | 24 minutes |
| 210lbs | 39 minutes | 31 minutes | 23 minutes |
| 220lbs | 37 minutes | 30 minutes | 22 minutes |
| 230lbs | 36 minutes | 28 minutes | 21 minutes |
| 240lbs | 34 minutes | 27 minutes | 20 minutes |
Speed is one factor that determines how fast you can burn 500 calories on a treadmill. But incline is another amazing way to burn 500 calories quicker. If you increase your incline to 3% it can reduce your time on the treadmill by 5 minutes. Here’s the complete guide to using incline when running on a treadmill.
How Long On A Treadmill To Burn 500 Calories Jogging
On average, it takes between 31 and 51 minutes to burn 500 calories from jogging on a treadmill. A person that weighs 180 lbs would need to jog on a treadmill for 46 minutes to burn 500 calories, but an individual that weighs 220 lbs would only need to jog for 39 minutes.
The time it takes to burn 500 calories from jogging depends on a few factors such as weight, intensity, and duration. The heavier you are, the shorter time it will take to burn 500 calories because you have more mass that needs to be moved, so you burn more calories (here’s 7 tips to burn more calories on a treadmill).
Similarly, the higher the intensity of your jog, the less time it will take to burn 500 calories. But the average speed for a jog is around 6-7kph or 3.5-4.5mph. Anything slower would be considered a very fast walk, and anything over 7kph is regarded as a run.
The table below gives you the time you need to jog on a treadmill to burn 500 calories depending on your weight.
| Body Weight | Time to Burn 500 Calories Jogging |
| 160lbs | 51 minutes |
| 170lbs | 48 minutes |
| 180lbs | 46 minutes |
| 190lbs | 43 minutes |
| 200lbs | 42 minutes |
| 210lbs | 40 minutes |
| 220lbs | 39 minutes |
| 230lbs | 37 minutes |
| 240lbs | 35 minutes |
| 250lbs | 31 minutes |
How Long On A Treadmill To Burn 500 Calories Walking
On average it takes between 1 hour 49 minutes and 1 hour 10 minutes to burn 500 calories walking on a treadmill. To achieve this you need to walk on a treadmill at a moderate speed of 3.5mph (5.6kph) on 0% incline. If you increase the speed and incline the time to burn 500 calories will reduce.
The table below gives you an estimate of how long you need to walk on a treadmill for your weight. However, this doesn’t need to be complete in one session. You can break this up into multiple mini workouts throughout the day.
| Body Weight | Time to Burn 500 Calories Walking |
| 160lbs | 1 hour 49 minutes |
| 170lbs | 1 hour 43 minutes |
| 180lbs | 1 hour 37 minutes |
| 190lbs | 1 hour 32 minutes |
| 200lbs | 1 hour 27 minutes |
| 210lbs | 1 hour 23 minutes |
| 220lbs | 1 hour 19 minutes |
| 230lbs | 1 hour 16 minutes |
| 240lbs | 1 hour 13 minutes |
| 250lbs | 1 hour 10 minutes |
Understandable we don’t all have the time to walk on a treadmill for hours so a great hack to reduce the time on the treadmill is to use incline (full article here). Using incline can dramatically decrease your time walking on the treadmill. Furthermore, it helps build better leg strength in the gluteus hamstrings and lower back.
The best thing about walking on a treadmill is the easiness of changing speeds and incline to suit your needs. You can do interval training to increase the number of calories your burn when walking. A simple example is,
- Walk flat for 5 minutes
- Increase the incline to 5% for 5 minutes
- Repeat until you reach 500 calories
Can you Lose weight Burning 500 calories on a Treadmill?
If you use a treadmill every day to burn 500 calories you would burn around 1 pound each week. The reason, it takes approximately 3500 calories to burn 1 pound of body fat. Therefore, you would be burning a pound of body fat per week if your treadmill run, jog or walk every day without changing your diet or eating fewer calories.
If you want to regularly burn 500 calories per day through, it is important that you mix up your routine. This means running, jogging, and walking at different speeds, inclines, and intensities to avoid hitting a plateau. It is also important to focus on proper nutrition and recovery so that you can perform your best and avoid injury.
To increase the number of calories you burn to 1000 calories you need to either double your exercise output on the treadmill or eat 500 fewer calories each day. Losing 2 pounds each week is challenging in the long-term but if you are overweight then it’s a recommendation for 6-8 weeks whilst you get back to regular exercise.
What happens if you only have 30 minutes to workout each day on the treadmill, is it enough?
How to Burn More Calories on a Treadmill
1. Gradually Increase Speed
If you start too fast, you will quickly tire yourself out and won’t be able to sustain the pace. Start at a comfortable walking pace and then gradually work your way up to a faster pace. You don’t need to run at your fastest pace to burn the most amount of calories. Running at a moderate pace that you can maintain day after day is far better than burning out after 2 treadmill workouts.
2. HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training)
Interval training is a great way to burn more calories on the treadmill. HIIT involves alternating between periods of high-intensity and low-intensity exercise. For example, you could sprint for 30 seconds and then walk for 1 minute. Repeat this cycle for 20-30 minutes. The goal with HIIT is to raise your heart rate to its max then lower it back to a steady rate. You then repeat this multiple times.
3. Set a Realistic Weight Loss Goal
If you want to lose weight, you need to be realistic about your expectations. A common mistake people make is setting an unrealistic weight loss goal. They think they can lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks or 30 pounds in a month. This is not only unhealthy but also sets you up for disappointment. A better approach is to focus on losing 1-2 pounds per week. This may not seem like much, but it adds up over time. And, it’s a sustainable weight loss goal that you can actually achieve.
4. Incorporate Inclines
Incorporating inclines into your treadmill workout is a great way to burn more calories. Walking or running on an incline can help to target different muscle groups and also increase the intensity of your workout. Most treadmills have an incline range from 0-20% and if you’re not using them you’re leaving a lot of potential calories on the table.
5. Use a weight vest
Wearing a weight vest while working out on the treadmill can help to increase the number of calories you burn. The extra weight will make your body work harder, resulting in more calories being burned. A weight vest is particularly effective for those that are using a treadmill for walking. Unfortunately, a treadmill calorie counter doesn’t know you’re wearing a weight vest so you might need a fitness watch to calculate calories burned.
6. Try a Treadmill Workout Class
If you’re looking for a challenge, try a treadmill workout class. These classes are designed to help you burn more calories and tone your body. YouTube is a great place to start because it’s completely free (tip buy YouTube premium so the ads don’t disrupt your workout). A great paid version is Peloton, its very motivating and they have hundreds or thousands of workouts for the treadmill. You don’t need a Peloton treadmill to use Peloton workouts.
How Long On A Treadmill To Burn 500 Calories Summary
Hopefully I have given you the answer to how long it takes to burn 500 calories on a treadmill. Its different if you use a treadmill for running, jogging or walking. It takes around 30 minutes when you run on a treadmill. 45 minutes when you jog and over an 1 hour and 45 minutes if you walk. To maximise calories burned for weight loss and fat burning use a combination of all three methods. Add speed and incline to your workouts and mix up your routine to keep your body motivated and guessing.
