4 Effective 30-Minute Running Workouts

30-Minute Hill Workout

Running hills is an effective, high-calorie burning workout. Running on the treadmill is a great way to train on hills because you can control the grade and your knees and quads won’t get the stress of the downhills. Get started with this hill workout

Warm-Up

Warm up with 10-minute easy jog or walk. Toward the end of your warm-up, increase your speed for 10 seconds two or three times, so you get your legs used to turning over faster. Break these quick strides up with walking or even standing still.

Main Set

Once you've completed the warm-up, it's time to move on to the main part of your workout. Always remember to follow up with a slower recovery period followed by a cool down.

Work interval: If you're on a treadmill, increase the incline to 3 or 4% and run for 1 minute. If you're running outside, look for a moderate hill that will take about a minute to run up. Run at a hard effort—similar to how you would feel if you were racing a 5K. Your breathing should be a bit labored and your legs should start to feel tired after a couple of repeats.

Recovery interval: Lower incline to 1% and your speed, run for 1 minute at an easy pace. If you're running outside, recover downhill. Go at an easy pace (walk if you have to) to get your breathing back down to normal.

Repeat work and recovery intervals 6 more times for a total of 7 work/rest intervals.

Cool down: After your last recovery interval, finish with another 6 minutes of easy jogging. Don't skip the cool down part of your run—it allows your body to gradually recover and return to your normal heart rate.

30-Minute Ladder Workout

Ladder workouts can be a fun workout because they always seem to fly by. As you're working on one interval, your mind is distracted because you're thinking about the next.

This ladder workout has you running different paces, which also is an excellent boredom buster! If you're not sure what marathon, half-marathon, 10K, or 5K pace feels like, just focus on running each interval faster than the last.

You should feel your heart rate increasing and your breathing should become more labored with each interval. The key is to not start the first interval too fast so that you're able to increase your pace for the remaining four intervals. ​

For your recovery intervals, go at an easy pace. A slow jog is a good pace for recovery, but you can also walk.

30-Minute Run and Strength Combo Workout

If you want to add more strengthening to your training, but always seem to forget to do exercises post-run, this is a good workout for you. You'll combine run intervals with some muscle-strengthening exercises for a total body workout.

30-Minute Sprint Interval Workout

Short bursts of speed help build strength, increase aerobic capacity, and get your legs used to the faster turnover. This is a fun workout to do outside, whether on a track or road, but can also be done on a treadmill.

Set an easy pace for your recovery intervals. This can mean a slow jog but walking is fine if you need a slower pace.