STEP SCIENCE –
August 13, 2025 – The viral 12-3-30 workout trend on TikTok has the promise of an easier way to burn fat—in this case, by walking on a treadmill for 30 minutes at three miles per hour and a 12 percent incline. Naturally, the workout also came with an entirely anecdotal success story, which helped it gain popularity. Influencer Lauren Giraldo claimed to have lost 30 pounds by doing the incline walking routine five times per week.
However, with the publishing of a recent University of Nevada study, the 12-3-30 workout now also has something else going for it: peer-reviewed research. It’s the reason why you might have seen this trend bubbling back up into your feed.
In addition to validating the fat-burning effects of the 12-3-30 workout, the study also pits it against running, and even determines that walking at an incline can burn fat at a higher rate than a self-paced run. But what does that mean for you, and is the study as straightforward as it seems? We talked to the experts to find out.
