When temperatures start skyrocketing above 90, getting in your miles outside can feel pretty (chafing, panting) uncomfortable. But many runners turn to the going-nowhere treadmill with certain dread.
“My whole life is about getting people to stop hating the treadmill and to make friends with it,” says David Siik, a Los Angeles-based Equinox trainer, Ford model, and elite runner. “There’s one magical key to solving that problem: Never get on a treadmill without a plan.”
His plan is centered around a method Siik created called BITE (Balanced Interval Training Experience), which balances speed, incline, duration, and recovery in a way that he says will make you stronger and faster. And it’s being put into action in Equinox’s new group class Precision Running. (It’s part of a greater suite of running-focused classes Equinox just launched, including Run Club, RunCross, and ETC Run).
“A lot of people do HIIT and boot camps, but there hasn’t been a cohesive look into how you apply the world of racing and training to treadmill training,” Siik explains. “I just re-translated it so you burn just as much, but there’s a lot less impact on the body.” Plus, since you’re constantly switching up your pace and incline, boredom is so not gonna happen.
In case you can’t make it to a class soon, we got Siik to share a super effective 30-minute treadmill workout you might encounter in Precision Running. Load it on your iPhone before you hop on, and you’ll be sweating in no time.