The Treadmill Workout That's Going Viral On TikTok

As the COVID-19 pandemic has increasingly made going to the gym a rather risky activity, many have turned to workout videos and online exercise classes in order to stay in shape. One workout in particular that has taken the internet by storm is the 12-3-30 treadmill workout (via Today).

Created by lifestyle influencer Lauren Giraldo, the entire workout is done on the treadmill by setting the incline to 12, turning the speed up to 3 miles per hour, and walking for a total of 30 minutes. While Giraldo first posted her workout video to YouTube in 2019, it didn't go viral until she posted it to TikTok in November 2020. Since then, her workout video has received around 12 million views.

"It was definitely a struggle at the beginning, and it took me a couple of months to really start to enjoy the workout," Giraldo told Today. "I found that just focusing on myself for 30 minutes a day was not only great for my body, but also great for my mentality. Now, it's something I look forward to doing every morning." Giraldo completes her 12-3-30 workout five times a week and has lost 30 pounds since she first started doing it.

While Giraldo has praised the results of her 12-3-30 treadmill workout, fitness experts have questioned whether or not it is safe to do, especially for people who are used to living a more sedentary lifestyle. That's because walking on an incline can put stress on the body, which can often lead to injury.

"Walking on an incline can be very taxing on your body. And doing it on a level-12 incline for 30 minutes straight is a lot," Beau Burgau, a certified strength and conditioning specialist and founder of GRIT Training, told Shape. "You have to make sure that you're building up to such intensity in order to avoid injury and overstraining your joints and muscles."

If you're just starting to incorporate a daily exercise regimen into your life, you should start off by walking on the treadmill without any incline at first. Once you can easily walk on a flat treadmill for 30 minutes, you can begin to gradually adjust the incline. However, there is no need to set the incline all the way up to 12, according to Burgau. You can still lose weight by walking at the same pace at a lower incline.

It's also important to stretch before and after each workout session in order to warm up your body and avoid injury. For the 12-3-30 workout, in particular, it is crucial to stretch your lower body with both dynamic stretching before the workout and static stretching afterward, per Shape.