Logging Treadmill with Steep Incline

saldridge

I am training for my first 5k but am also exercising to lose weight. Today I would like to give my knees and ankles a little bit of a break and NOT run, so I thought maybe I should just walk, but in order to kick up my workout a notch, I was thinking of adding a good incline. My treadmill goes up to 12, and while I don't want to go out that far, I was thinking 8 or so at 3mph.

I checked the database here but there is no incline, and IMHO, walking at 3mph at 1 or 2 or walking at 3mph at 8 is worlds apart.

Does anyone have an idea how to log this best? Or should I just go with 3mph and forget about it since it most probably is a smallish amount anyway?

slimkitty

Just take a better look and you'll find it. The treadmill walking on an incline is in the database. I use it and it's pretty close to the calories burned I get from my treadmill readout.

KeyMasterOfGozer

I know this doesn't help you very much, but my treadmill has an HRM and inputs for my weight and such and does the calculations for me, so I just take the calories it gives me and put that into a regular Walk exercise along with the time.

saldridge

Hmm, I searched for "incline" and couldn't find it. What is the exact wording?

bparr

I'm with ya. I've not found walking at an incline clearly identified either. Let me know what you find.

KeyMasterOfGozer

Yep, nothing in DB with "Incline", only one thing with "Treadmill", and none of the "Walking" ones do this.

Tree72

There are a couple of entries under walking that are for "uphill". That might get closer to where you need. I use these when I have the treadmill set to a fairly steep incline. Not sure how accurate the calories are though since I just enter whatever the machine says.

KeyMasterOfGozer

This could get complex....

Things you need:
1) Wt - Your Weight in kg (your weight in Pounds divided by 2.2)
2) Spd - Treadmill speed in meters per minute ...
Let's say your speed is in miles per hour... multiple by 1609 and divide that by 60 to get meters per minute
3) Inc - Treadmill Incline

Some Constants we will need:
(Some of the Oxygen consumption numbers can change, but unless you are abnormal, they should be fine.)
1) ROx - Resting Oxygen Consumption - use 3.5 mL/(kg*min)
2) HOx - Horizontal Oxygen Consumption - use 0.1 mL/(kg*min)
3) VOx - Vertical Oxygen Consumption - use 1.8 mL/(kg*min)
4) EpL - Energy Per Liter of Ox Burn - use 5.05 kCal/L

Calculation Steps:
1) HC - Horizontal Component: Spd * HOx
2) VC - Vertical Component : (Inc / 100) * Spd * VOx
3) VO2 - Total Ox Consumpt: ROx + HC + VC
4) BR - Calorie Burn Rate : (VO2/1000) * Wt * EpL

So your Burn Rate shows you how many calories you burn per minute. You just multiple that by the number of minutes, and that is your calorie count.

So, I'll give you an example that is what I do most days:
Weight : 305 lbs = 139 kg
Speed : 2.7 mph = 72.4 m/min
Incline: 7

Calc Steps:
1) Horizontal Consumption : Spd * HOx : 72.4 * 0.1 = 7.24
2) Vertical Consumption : ( Inc / 100) * Spd * VOx : (7/100) * 72.4 * 1.8 = 9.12
3) V02 : ROx + HC + VC : 3.5 + 7.24 + 9.12 = 19.9
4) Cals per minute : (VO2/1000) * Wt * EpL : (19.9/1000) * 139 * 5.05 = 13.9

So My Burn Rate is 13.9 kCal/min. If I go for 45 minutes (the length of an hour long TV program without commercials), I will burn 625 calories or so.

Edit: Sorry, I typoed my Incline numbers. They are fixed now.

slimkitty

Hmm, I searched for "incline" and couldn't find it. What is the exact wording?

Sorry, my bad - there's one entry for walking, 3.5mph uphill. But, if you were walking at 3mph, that won't help you.

cath1024

I do my treadmill every night on incline varying from 3-5 for 35 mins and by my HRM i burn average 410 calories.
It is in the data base under treadmill incline - either that or i somehow made it myself because i have it on my exercises and i can change the time i did and i can change the calories i burned as the calories i burn vary each night

saldridge

I used walking uphill 3.5 even though I just went at 3mph, but I believe that my uphill is probably steeper than a natural hill outside, so I guess it probably evens out.
@KeyMasterOfGozer: Write a plugin and offer it to MFP :-)