Incline vs. Flat

slcostel
slcostel Posts: 116 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've been hitting the treadmill lately (ugh) and have been challenging myself on it by running at a consistent incline.

Does running a given distance at an incline burn more calories than running that same distance at 0%?

Replies

  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Yes
  • carolemack
    carolemack Posts: 1,276 Member
    Yes...besides which, you shouldn't even walk on a treadmill at a 0 incline...it should be at least .5 - 1.0 otherwise you run the risk of shin pain. A flat incline is just not natural.
  • lmlmrn
    lmlmrn Posts: 788 Member
    I just started using the treadmill so I am not running on it yet (and may never-got this balance thing going) but today to challenge myself I kept it between 14.5-15 incline (the highest it would go) and walked at a brisk pace (avg 3.5) for 60 min. Is this burning close the same amt of calories as if I were going a bit faster but a lower incline?
  • taziarj
    taziarj Posts: 243 Member
    I read an article (either through a link on here or somewhere else) about a study that concluded that walking at a 3% incline on a treadmill is the equivalent to walking outdoors.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    I just started using the treadmill so I am not running on it yet (and may never-got this balance thing going) but today to challenge myself I kept it between 14.5-15 incline (the highest it would go) and walked at a brisk pace (avg 3.5) for 60 min. Is this burning close the same amt of calories as if I were going a bit faster but a lower incline?

    If you hold on to the handrails during incline treadmill walking, you are burning up to 67% FEWER calories than what is shown on the display.

    However, if you walk at an incline WITHOUT holding on, you can get a good workout and calorie burn without running.
  • rapat
    rapat Posts: 108 Member
    15 incline at 3.5mph for 60 minutes without handrails is tough. If you did that, congrats. Even with handrails its still difficult.
  • lmlmrn
    lmlmrn Posts: 788 Member
    I just started using the treadmill so I am not running on it yet (and may never-got this balance thing going) but today to challenge myself I kept it between 14.5-15 incline (the highest it would go) and walked at a brisk pace (avg 3.5) for 60 min. Is this burning close the same amt of calories as if I were going a bit faster but a lower incline?

    If you hold on to the handrails during incline treadmill walking, you are burning up to 67% FEWER calories than what is shown on the display.

    However, if you walk at an incline WITHOUT holding on, you can get a good workout and calorie burn without running.

    Yikes then I think today I will lower the incline and try not to hold on...would lightly touching the treadmill for balance burn the same calories and no holding
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    I just started using the treadmill so I am not running on it yet (and may never-got this balance thing going) but today to challenge myself I kept it between 14.5-15 incline (the highest it would go) and walked at a brisk pace (avg 3.5) for 60 min. Is this burning close the same amt of calories as if I were going a bit faster but a lower incline?

    If you hold on to the handrails during incline treadmill walking, you are burning up to 67% FEWER calories than what is shown on the display.

    However, if you walk at an incline WITHOUT holding on, you can get a good workout and calorie burn without running.

    Yikes then I think today I will lower the incline and try not to hold on...would lightly touching the treadmill for balance burn the same calories and no holding

    It will take off a little but you have to balance comfort and safety, so it may be an acceptable trade off. My recommendation would be that you decrease the incline a little (14% is tough to sustain at first), but decrease the speed even more--to a speed that you feel more comfortable and secure. The incline is really the part that kicks up the intensity and calorie burn, so you are better off, for example, decreasing the incline to say 11% but the speed to 2.8 or even less, rather than keeping the speed at 3.4 and decreasing the incline to 6%.

    It takes some getting used to, but you can adapt to the stride. It's even better if you have a random hill program on the treadmill. That way you get a lot of variety and some little breaks while you build up your endurance.
  • lmlmrn
    lmlmrn Posts: 788 Member
    thanks for the help and sorting this out for me. I have pretty good endurance as I have been using an elliptical for a year now and wanted to mix it up. So today I will try 14% at a speed of 3.0 or 3.2. Yesterday when I did the more hill climb it had the incline way up but kept upping my speed which I could not do.
  • lmlmrn
    lmlmrn Posts: 788 Member
    So tonight I avg 2.6 mph over 60 min and it took me 15 min to work up to 14.5 incline. I was proud of my self for only touching the bar for 15 or less a few times and used the hrm to check in about ever 10 or 15 min...it was rough but I can see some goal setting in my future
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
    Yes...besides which, you shouldn't even walk on a treadmill at a 0 incline...it should be at least .5 - 1.0 otherwise you run the risk of shin pain. A flat incline is just not natural.

    When you say shin pain do you mean shin splints? Just wondering because I have shin pain from walking on a flat path but thought it was shin splints? Anyone know anything about this?
  • Blondie_05
    Blondie_05 Posts: 48
    Great advice! :)
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    Yes...besides which, you shouldn't even walk on a treadmill at a 0 incline...it should be at least .5 - 1.0 otherwise you run the risk of shin pain. A flat incline is just not natural.

    When you say shin pain do you mean shin splints? Just wondering because I have shin pain from walking on a flat path but thought it was shin splints? Anyone know anything about this?

    Shin splints are pain in your shin from weak muscles there. It's usually from pounding your heels into the ground. You can lessen that by landing midfoot if you're running or take shorter strides. The best prevention is strengthening that muscle. One way is just raising your toes up and down keeping your heels on the floor (great thing to do if you sit at a desk) or stand with just your toes on the edge of a step and raise yourself up and down.

    Walking on a flat surface allows for more stretch in that muscle so it can cause pain like any other muscle that isn't used to being worked. Having a bit of incline keeps your toes "up" a bit decreasing that stretch.
  • jkestens63
    jkestens63 Posts: 1,164 Member
    To get used to being hands free, go as slow as you need to until you find your balance. This may take a week or two and then start increasing your speed. The long term benefits of using the treadmill hands free outweigh the short term benefits of going faster but having to hold on.
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
    Yes...besides which, you shouldn't even walk on a treadmill at a 0 incline...it should be at least .5 - 1.0 otherwise you run the risk of shin pain. A flat incline is just not natural.

    When you say shin pain do you mean shin splints? Just wondering because I have shin pain from walking on a flat path but thought it was shin splints? Anyone know anything about this?

    Shin splints are pain in your shin from weak muscles there. It's usually from pounding your heels into the ground. You can lessen that by landing midfoot if you're running or take shorter strides. The best prevention is strengthening that muscle. One way is just raising your toes up and down keeping your heels on the floor (great thing to do if you sit at a desk) or stand with just your toes on the edge of a step and raise yourself up and down.

    Walking on a flat surface allows for more stretch in that muscle so it can cause pain like any other muscle that isn't used to being worked. Having a bit of incline keeps your toes "up" a bit decreasing that stretch.

    Thanks Mokey41 :)

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