Incline treadmill walkers, is this good?

FiiiiFiiiFlowerTot

Hi all gym go-ers

I'm sure like me, you've all seen those few regulars at the gym who are always on the treadmill with an incline so high their heads are touching the ceilings, with their kindles on, and they are holding on to the handles..... Fair enough and all that, I'd love to just do that for an hour like them, but whenever I see this I always wonder, does this work for weight loss? They are holding on so surely the exercise isn't working at its full potential? What's your opinions on this?

singingflutelady

Holding on does mean you burn less than you would I'd you didn't hold on. Weight loss is about calories in calories out so what you eat is more important than exercise so of course you can lose weight doing this if you eat less than you burn.

Personally I wouldn't do this as there are a lot of way more efficient ways to become fitter.

riffraff2112

There is one guy at our gym that does that. I admired his dedication and effort because he is certainly giving it his all. Hadn't given it much thought beyond that though.
Maybe he is training a specific muscle? Holding on certainly reduced the calories burned but I don't think you could continue the exercise for more than a few minutes going as hard as this guy goes!
Not for me, maybe someone here does this and can chime in!

festerw

I'd rather walk at a lower incline and not have to hold on. If you're holding on the machine is providing support for you.

Sued0nim

No

As soon as you hold on you're removing the point of the incline

jemhh

It seems like it would be an awkward position to hold for very long. I walk on an incline while reading my Kindle but I don't go so steep that I have to hang on.

PeachyCarol

You burn less while holding on and because you aren't working as hard. You also aren't challenging the muscles as much.

It's better to go at a speed and incline you can handle without holding on.

ClubSilencio

I would not recommend holding the rails unless you have a medical issue. Your core plays a big part in walking and you negate it when you hold on to rails. Do what you can without holding on the rails and then build up from there. Everyone starts somewhere and with a little persistence you'll be like your gym hero in no time.

LKArgh

Needing to hold on means you are not ready for this incline/speed combination. IMHO it is just something people do to lie to themselves and think they are more fit than they really are.

fiddletime

My husband reads the kindle and walks on an incline but he isn't holding on. It's all the exercise he ever does and I'm glad he does something. It's better than nothing.

braves3134

Pretty much what everyone else is saying, I used to hold the rails or top of the treadmill because it helped the stiffness in my lower back, but after reading a few articles with info like what everyone here is saying, I started trying to go longer and longer with out holding on and have noticed a huge difference over the last 2-3 weeks in how I feel when walking, the stiffness in my back is almost non-existent anymore, my heart rate has improved when walking on lower settings of speed and incline and I have to go on a higher incline now (started at 0, now up to 4 by the end of my session). Like Some other people here have said, start with what's comfortable and slowly work ur way up speed and incline without holding and you will see a big difference

Josh_lol

Holding on to the treadmill kinda defeats the objective of walking with an incline. I normally just walk on an incline as a warm up. The ones at my gym go up to 15% which is like 13.5 degrees. I would recommend setting the treadmill to a high incline and slowly upping the speed every 1-2 mins until you feel like you're a little short of breath but you can still have a conversation with someone.

amusedmonkey

Incline walking burns unbelievable amounts of calories for what it is (walking). Holding onto rails does make the exercise less effective and extremely error prone calorie-wise, as it removes some of the weight load which is essential to calculate calories burned. I never held onto the rails because when I first learned to use the treadmill that's how I walked, and it stuck. If you wish to try incline walking experiment with both speed and incline. Sometimes lowering the speed and increasing the incline gives you enough of a challenge without sacrificing stability. Even a slow stroll on the highest incline can burn interesting amounts of calories.

For perspective: Walking a 15 grade incline at 1 mph, burns almost the same amount of calories as brisk-walking 3.5 mph without incline, and I'm pretty sure almost everyone can handle to walk faster than 1 mph.

ydyms

Yes. I don't run too often but I do often walk at 15% incline, 3 mph. No holding on of course. I'm dripping sweat when done!
Walk slower if needed but DONT hold one.

ryry_

jemhh wrote: »

It seems like it would be an awkward position to hold for very long. I walk on an incline while reading my Kindle but I don't go so steep that I have to hang on.

@jemhh did you have trouble adjusting to the bouncing at all or no?

ETA: I mean in the sense of focusing your eyes on the words as you moved.

distinctlybeautiful

I always wonder about the people who hold on and sort of lean back. If you're leaning
back far enough, it seems you're effectively just walking without the incline anyway.

jemhh

ryry62685 wrote: »

jemhh wrote: »

It seems like it would be an awkward position to hold for very long. I walk on an incline while reading my Kindle but I don't go so steep that I have to hang on.

@jemhh did you have trouble adjusting to the bouncing at all or no?

ETA: I mean in the sense of focusing your eyes on the words as you moved.

Not really. I make the font really big, which makes it easier. I walk somewhere in the 3.3-3.7 mph range depending on the day and incline (slower with bigger inclines obviously )