'I did the 12-3-30 workout everyday for a week, here's everything I learned' (2023)

FAQs

How long does it take to see results with 12-3-30? ›

After 30 days, I noticed a big difference in my body and overall wellness. My legs felt and looked stronger and I shrunk a size in jeans.

Floyd-Jones warns against this and recommends sticking to the 12-3-30 workout two or three days a week max. Intervening days are better spent building up other muscles—like those of your core and back—by doing resistance- and mobility-based training or body-weight exercises at home.

So, depending on your fitness level (and whether this workout is moderate or high intensity for you), doing the 12-3-30 treadmill routine about 3 to 5 times per week meets those benchmarks, Metzl says.

Scientific research from 2020 shows that exercising around 300 minutes a week can lead to weight loss and a reduction in body fat.4 The 12-3-30 workout, unfortunately, doesn't quite meet that standard—even if you do it every day (which the experts don't recommend; more on that in a minute).

The takeaway. The 12-3-30 treadmill workout is an effective way to increase aerobic fitness, burn calories, boost your mood, and improve your heart health while engaging muscles in your lower body. Combined with a healthy diet and calorie deficit, it can also promote healthy weight loss.

Using the incline on the treadmill effectively burns belly fat, even if it's a 30-minute walking workout at a moderate pace.

It helps improve cardiovascular fitness. It burns fat. It strengthens bones. It improves balance.

Incline treadmill walking is a great way to shed body fat when paired with the right weight loss supplement and diet plan. It's an aerobic exercise that will also get your heart rate up and improve blood flow throughout the body.

Weight loss and health benefits

Bassett estimated a person who weighed 150 pounds would burn 283 calories per “12, 3, 30” workout. In comparison, walking at that speed for 30 minutes without the incline would burn 113 calories, he said.

Is walking on an incline better than running for fat loss? ›

However, one general rule of thumb is that walking on an incline is more effective than running at a flat surface when it comes to burning fat. This is because walking on an incline forces your body to work harder, which in turn causes your body to burn more calories.

When it comes to the muscle-strengthening benefits of incline walking vs running, in most cases, as long as the incline is at least moderate, incline walking trumps running. Incline walking is essentially a form of resistance training because walking up an incline requires contending against the force of gravity.

Bottom Line: 12-3-30 Treadmill Workout

Doing the 12-3-30 too often could lead to stress on your lower back and overusing certain muscles. It also could lead to boredom, if you don't like zoning out while you exercise. Like other forms of exercise, you can see similar benefits from the 12-3-30.

If you want to tone your legs and build more strength in the lower body, the 12-3-30 workout can help. “Incline walking is great for your leg muscles, helping to develop muscular endurance and strength, particularly in your glutes, hamstrings and calves,” explains Folusha.

For a well-rounded fitness routine, Robinson recommends pairing the 12-3-30 workout with other exercises, such as strength training, yoga or Pilates. Almost anything is welcome so long as you're mixing it up. “Your body will plateau if you're only doing the same thing for weeks or months at a time,” she says.

The incline also allows you to get an even greater stretch in your legs and increased workload on your calf muscles. From a cardiovascular standpoint, this increase in work means your heart rate will be higher than walking on a level surface alone.

The steep, 12 percent incline forces your body to work harder than walking on a flat surface, which will burn more calories, she says.

Everyone's body is different, so the number of calories you burn during the 12-3-30 workout will vary from my experience. However, when I did the 12-3-30 workout, the treadmill readout said I burned about 195 calories.

How long does it take to see results from working out? ›

Some people will feel stronger in just 2-4 weeks. For others, depending on their muscle fiber makeup, other genetic qualities, and the quality of their workouts, results in strength are generally seen in 8-12 weeks, according to the researchers. Skeletal muscles aren't the only muscles that get stronger with exercise.

Walking is absolutely a great form of exercise, and one that doesn't get a ton of love because it's so chill and easy compared to other forms of exercise, Saltos says. But, rather than building butt muscles, walking can actually make your bum a bit smaller.

For every 1% of uphill grade, a 150-pound person burns about 10 more calories per mile (an increase of about 12%). That means that at a 10% grade, that 150-pound person burns more than twice as many calories per mile as they would walking on flat ground.

If your treadmill incline walking workouts increase your heart rate into the moderate-intensity physical activity zone, doing 30 minutes of incline walking five days per week will help you reach the guidelines for physical activity, whereas you will only need to walk 25 minutes three times per week if you push up into ...

According to Healthline, running burns the most calories. A tried and true exercise that requires little more than your legs and the open road, running burns just over 800 calories for a 155-pound adult per hour.

Increased Calorie Burn When Using a Treadmill with Incline

By walking, jogging, or running uphill, your body is forced to work harder. It requires more energy (calories) to make it up the incline. The greater the incline, the harder it works. 1 The harder it works, the more fat you burn.

In fact, at a pace of 3 mph, with a 5.0 incline, you will burn 64 percent more calories than you would without the incline.

Generally, 4 to 6 mph is the average jogging speed. You can increase the speed or add more minutes to make this workout harder. For an easier version, increase the incline by 0.5 percent each minute. Repeat until you've reached a 4 to 5 percent incline, then work in reverse.

Walking on an incline involves extra resistance than jogging and will engage your glutes, quads, hamstrings, calves and even your core to maintain good posture. The higher the incline, the more of a strength workout it's going to be.

Does walking on incline burn thigh fat? ›

Walking on an incline will help you shed off the extra fat from the hip and thigh area. The higher the incline, the more calories are burnt. Since, fat reduction is based on caloric burning process, walking on a hill or incline will help in slimming the hip and thigh area.

Bhusri suggests walking at 3 mph at an incline between 16 and 18 percent. In general, "the greater the incline and the longer the period of time spent exercising on that incline, the faster you'll see results."

Running at an incline activates the calves, hamstrings and glutes more than running on a “flat road” (0% incline). According to researchers at the University of Georgia, running uphill activates nine percent more muscles each stride compared to running at the same relative intensity on level ground.

If you are wondering which burns more calories, treadmills or walking outside, opt for walking outside. Uneven terrains provide extra resistance, thus making you involve more muscles and burn more calories as a result.

Incline Walking vs. Squats: Which Is Better For Glutes? Squats take the cake (no pun intended) over incline walking for building a bigger butt. Squatting places the glutes through a large stretch under heavy loads, increasing muscular tension.

You can see small results in even two to four weeks, after you begin a leg workout. You will have better stamina, and your legs will look a little more defined. But all in all, depending on your fitness levels, it does take three to four months for any remarkable difference.

Walking is particularly effective for toning your legs and bum, she adds. “The muscles you use when walking include your calf muscles, thighs and buttocks, so these areas will become more toned and shapely.” However, walking may not tone all areas of the body.

For starters, the 12/3/30 method is a total lower-body workout, says Haley Gott, a certified personal trainer. "It's a great way to activate multiple muscle groups in your legs," she adds, including your quads, your hamstrings, your glutes, and your calves.

Who should do the 12-3-30 workout? If you are looking to start exercising, this is a great workout for beginners. You can even start at a lower incline or slower speed. Because walking on an incline builds strength in your glutes and hamstrings, it can serve as a stepping stone for strength training.

You set the incline of the treadmill to 12%, the speed to 3.0 miles per hour, and then walk for 30 minutes. Given the walking speed and duration, the 12/3/30 treadmill workout involves walking 1.5 miles.

How much weight can you lose in a month by doing 12 3 30? ›

Due to her influence, many have started taking her lead and the results were quite surprising. Those who have tried it out claim to have lost around 20 pounds in a month and are now calling it the 12-3-30 lifestyle. So, what is this workout all about and does it really work? What is the 12-3-30 workout?

Weight loss and health benefits

Bassett estimated a person who weighed 150 pounds would burn 283 calories per “12, 3, 30” workout. In comparison, walking at that speed for 30 minutes without the incline would burn 113 calories, he said.

It builds lower body strength. It helps improve cardiovascular fitness. It burns fat. It strengthens bones.

What Experts Think of the '12-3-30' TikTok Treadmill Workout. The viral “12-3-30” workout involves setting a treadmill to 12 percent incline at 3 miles per hour and walking on it for 30 minutes. Experts say that the workout provides good exercise, but it doesn't offer unique benefits versus other cardio routines.

“You will in fact burn more energy during an intense cognitive task than you would vegging out watching Oprah or whatever,” he says. But in the context of the average person's overall energy expenditure, the difference in calorie burn from one mental task to another is a tiny amount, he adds.