Fitness experts and health professionals from around the world recognize the importance of cardiovascular fitness. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a minimum of 150 minutes a week of heart-pumping cardio -- it doesn't matter if it's running, swimming, biking, dancing or cross-country skiing. Nevertheless, when you want to maximize your workout time for weight loss, try the treadmill.

Calories Burned During Exercise

The American Council on Exercise reports that running burns more calories per minute than any other form of cardiovascular exercise, making the treadmill an effective cardio workout machine for people who don't have a lot of time for fitness. According to NutriStrategy, the average 155-pound adult jogging at a relaxed 5.2 mph pace burns 633 calories in an hour. An average jogger who increases her speed to 6.0 mph can burn 704 calories. Quite simply, the faster you run, the more calories you burn.

Walking Works, Too

Although many people find the idea of running on a treadmill for an hour boring, too difficult or demanding on the joints, treadmills easily accommodate walkers -- an activity that everyone knows how to do. Walking uphill at a 3.5 mph pace burns less calories than running -- 422 calories, according to NutriStrategy -- but it is low-impact and easy. Increasing the incline increases the calorie burn, and it also strengthens the calves, hamstrings and glutes. If you want to vary your workout, you can modify the settings on the treadmill for intensity, which also reduces boredom.

Easy to Use

Adjusting the speed and incline settings on the treadmill is easy, even for beginners or technophobes who don't like the idea of workout out inside. Simply stop motion, increase speed and height by pressing buttons, modifying as necessary. Although increasing speed and incline offers an easy boredom-avoiding adjustment, you also can walk sideways or backward. These motions work different parts of the muscles and help make the treadmill one of the most versatile pieces of cardiovascular equipment in the gym.

Losing Weight by Interval Training

The treadmill makes losing weight faster and easier because it provides simple mechanisms for modifying speed and incline while also combating boredom. That's why interval training -- which ACE reports burns calories and abdominal fat in a short period of time -- is made for the treadmill. Interval training requires blending periods of recovery with periods of intense activity, and the treadmill makes those adjustments easy. Best of all, ACE reports that of all the types of cardiovascular exercise it has tested, interval training burns the most calories post-exercise -- meaning that you get the benefits of running even when your sneakers aren't laced up.

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