Treadmill incline

Alliedee1984

Please help. I’ve been walking on an incline of 12, the highest my treadmill can go up for as long as I can remember. I’ve been injuring myself with neck strain caluses on my hands and arms from the awkward way I’m standing that never goes away because I do it everyday. My treadmill bars do not go up with the treadmill itself so my positioning of my body parts isn’t good. I want to start walking on a lower level. I currently walk 4.5 mph at 12 incline. I am afraid if I change the way I walk after all this time I won’t burn as many calories
And start to gain weight. Does anyone know what I can do? I want to be done with the treadmill around 45 minutes. Tia!

Duck_Puddle

Are you getting callouses on your hands because you’re holding on to the bars?

If so, you’ll burn more calories if you lower the incline/speed to something you can manage with your arms free.

That will probably also help the neck strain.

margbarco

Lower the incline but don’t hold the bar. Swing your arms back and forth normally while set to an incline level which allows you to do this. Also lower your speed a bit so you don’t feel the need to hold on.

garretthamlin4349

i normally do a 3 incline, 3 speed (a moderate walking pace) with no hanging onto the bars.
enough to get my heart rate up to about 145-150 and maintain that pace for 30min to an hour.

Whatever pace you are comfortable with without hanging onto the bars and that can get your heart rate up to a healthy amount is best.

I've lost 60 lbs before with this method plus a moderate diet.

dewd2

Exercise should make you stronger, not hurt you. You're causing yourself so many issues just to burn an extra 3-5 calories per minute. That doesn't sound reasonable to me...

huntersvonnegut

I agree with what everyone has recommended so far. Don’t hold on to the side rails if that’s what you’re doing. You’re burning fewer calories then you think you are (and I wouldn’t rely on the amount the treadmill gives you either). If you need to lower the incline or reduce the speed, maybe consider wearing a weighted vest. Nothing too extreme.

hesn92

I'm assuming holding onto the bars would lower your calorie burn quite a bit... I agree with everyone else. Lower the incline and the speed until you can walk without holding on with your hands. Would you want to get into running? If so you could try short intervals of jogging throughout your workout. That would increase calorie burn.

springlering62

Some of us don’t naturally do well on treadmills. I am so unreasonably afraid of falling off at any speed that I keep a white knuckle death grip on the handles.

That, and treadmills bore me beyond sanity. Sometimes I’ll close my eyes to mitigate the mind numbing boredom and nearly doze off daydreaming, all while holding on for dear life. I figure I’m probably a real spectacle in the gym.

So I feel ya on the gripping, neck tensing thing. I’d a thousand times rather walk outside, even when it’s 23 degrees like it was this morning!

reesegrace1

Since you like to do high incline, have you ever thought of getting one of those Nordicktrack Incline teadmills? They incline steep & are built for steep incline walking.

MikePTY

How many calories are you going to be able to burn if you get injured? That seems like where you are heading if you keep up with this.

It is much better to slow down and lower the Incline to a level you can do safer. As others have mentioned, moving your arms is part of how you burn calories, so going at a reasonable pace is not only safer, but quite possibly a better calorie burn as well (even if the machine doesn't say so. The machine doesn't know you are holding on for dear life at higher speeds).

tulips_and_tea

I agree with @MikePTY. My first thought was you're over-working yourself causing injury and fearing you'll gain weight if you slow down or modify. Those are the key issues to address first. Then modify your workout as the other posters have mentioned.

I too like walking high inclines on the treadmill since I'm not a runner but I do it via intervals and am careful to avoid over-use injuries.

puffbrat

Along with the suggestion of lowering the incline and increasing speed, what about going outside and hiking?

lisaepell

If you're holding the bars, you're not burning the calories. If the incline is too high to walk without holding, then lower the incline to the point where you can walk without holding on, or keep the incline but lower the speed. Also, if you're using the calories burned on the treadmill readout, those are usually higher anyway. A heartrate monitor might help if you are trying to figure out your approximate burn. Play with the speed and incline until you can walk without holding on. Eventually, you'll get used to it and then you can increase the speed and or incline.

CSARdiver

It sounds as if you are working beyond your current capacity and sacrificing form to game the calorie count.

If you use bad form - holding the bars in this case - you are already not burning as many calories as the algorithm reads.

Lower this incline to something you can manage.

adotbaby

My treadmill is set at 4 incline (out of 10). Doing 45-60 mins without holding on gives me a good sweat.