What is the 12-3-30 workout and should you do it?

livemint.com:

Plos One, titled A Paradigm Of Uphill Running, studied the biomechanical movement of humans when running uphill. The biggest takeaway was that the heart rate increased by nearly 10% on a 2-7% incline. “A large number of variables have been targeted to try to shed light on the relationships between the mechanical and metabolic during uphill running… It has been confirmed that running at increasing slope elicits greater heart rate, metabolic and mechanical cost," the study stated.

But while running at an incline seems like a daunting prospect, the 12-3-30 sounds doable. But it isn’t a particularly easy thing to do either. Especially when you consider that Giraldo did it five times a week.

Weight loss coach Layna, who goes by FrumpyFit on her social media channels, tried the workout and made some valid observations. “You should probably modify this and just use the same principle of a specific incline on a specific speed for a specific amount of time," Layna says in a YouTube video (see below). She also points out that one must take their height into account to figure this out.

This is because people with longer legs may find the settings too easy and people with shorter legs may find them too tough." For reference, Giraldo is 5’1". For the longest time, I believed that walking as a means to getting fit wasn’t worth the hype. But I have decided to give this one a shot.

Taking a break from the preferred sprint interval training, the settings for me will be 8 on the incline, 4 for speed, and a duration of 10 minutes. The aim is to build to a 12-5-15 rather than a 12-3-30 and take it from there. It’s also more polite to occupy a treadmill for no longer than 20 minutes if you are going to the gym in peak hours.