Is the 12-3-30 treadmill trend an effective workout?

Sam Wood offers his verdict, and why he prefers the 6-2-30 version... 

Sam Wood investigates if the viral TikTok 12-3-30 method works, and how you should incorporate it into your daily routine. Image: @samjameswood.

Celebrity trainer Sam Wood explains whether the '12-3-30' treadmill workout trend is worth walking miles for. 

When surfing social media, it is hard to overlook viral trends that promote the ‘quickest way to burn fat faster.’ I am always sceptical about these new fat burning fads and their effectiveness, as there is no magic pill.

So naturally, when I saw the 12–3–30 workout, I thought I'd dive a little deeper into the trendmill to see what it is all about and if it actually works!

What is this 12–3–30 treadmill workout?

As usual, it is pretty straightforward. You must remember these trends come down to clever marketing – the ‘7–minute ab workout’ and the ‘5:2 diet’ are not original concepts.  They are well–named marketing conventions made to gain traction quickly.

The 12–3–30 workout is an incline treadmill walk: twelve degrees on the treadmill incline at three miles per hour, for thirty minutes. You’re essentially walking at a brisk pace, up a steep hill (this is more than half your incline on the treadmill as most treadmills go to up to twenty) for thirty minutes.

While it might be more convenient if you have a treadmill,  walking up any steep hill will give you the same results. However, finding a hill where you can walk 30 minutes up might be a challenge!

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Does the 12-2-30 trend work?

Yes of course it works. As cardio, walking is good for us, but as mentioned, it’s no magic pill.

The upside for walking is that it’s easy to do and relatively low impact. Meaning you can also put your mind to work by watching Netflix, reading, or answering emails. It’s also the kind of exercise you can do on repeat without fear of overtraining.  

The only downside is that you need to walk a fair way to burn a decent number of calories. However, if you face an incline, you will burn double the number of calories then walking on flat ground.  

The reality is if you do this everyday, that’s an extra amount of calories a day (400 calories x seven days = 2800 a week) which equals weight loss. As this type of training neglects strength training and mobility exercise, it will not give you the best results on its own. Therefore you should combine incline walking with resistance and flexibility work.

If you’re starting out as a beginner and eager to hop on this trend, I’d suggest the 6–2–30 framework to build pace up (remember to transfer this to kilometers not miles for those in Australia– so on a number six incline, 5kms for 30 minutes).

It is confirmed that the 12-3-30 method will give you results, if you follow these tips. Image: iStock.

Would you recommend the 12-2-30 workout?

The reality is if any trend is getting your heart rate up and getting you moving every day–it will be a good for you . The only call out with this workout is to remember that it is just a clever label on a basic cardio workout and needs to be complemented with resistance.

Anything that gets you started can only be a good thing.

Originally published as Is the 12-3-30 treadmill trend an effective workout?