Best Way to Add Hills On Treadmill?

MysticRealm
MysticRealm Posts: 1,264 Member
edited November 13 in Fitness and Exercise
I've been running since January 31st. I run about 2 times a week (and do a Tough Mudder circuit training thing 3 times a week)

My first run was mostly at a speed of 4.6, 9-13 min intervals, I went 3.7 miles, 1 min sprint at 7.0, and it took 50 mins (with 2 mins walk warm up and 5 min walk cooldown).
Yesterday my run speed was 5.2 with 14-20 min intervals, I went 5 miles, 2 min sprint at 7.2, and it took 60 mins (including 2 min walk warm up and 5 min walk cool down).

I'm fairly happy with my progress considering I do not think of myself as a runner. I don't even really enjoy running at all. The only things I really enjoy about it are running on the treadmill so I can watch Netflix shows (and try to forget I'm running) and making progress by running farther or a little quicker.

Eventually, to make sure I am ready for the Tough Mudder I will need to switch to running outside (which I DREAD! How boring!), but for now (as I build stamina and as we are still in the middle of winter) I would like to add in 'hills' on the treadmill but not sure the best way to go about it.

How much of an incline should I start off at?
Should I just set an incline for the whole time and run slower shorter intervals?
Should I do the incline in intervals (5 mins incline, 5 mins flat or something)? Should I try to run the flat intervals at a more normal speed or just take them a bit easier since the hill is my focus?
Should I do one hill run, one flat run a week or what would be most ideal?
Thank you.

Replies

  • MysticRealm
    MysticRealm Posts: 1,264 Member
    No advice?
  • monikker
    monikker Posts: 322 Member
    Not sure. Try different things and see what you can handle. I'm doing 30 seconds at a 2.5 or 3 incline and 9.0 + speed. It's challenging for me to do more than 4 of those with a minute walking in between. It'd be better to just sprint up a hill as fast I can..it feels like it takes so long to get from walking to sprinting and vice versa. Wish I could pre-set buttons to switch speeds quickly. I'd say as long as you're challenging yourself without risking extreme fatigue then you should be good
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