I really don't think it matters. I would vary the incline to just to work different muscles.

(Don't believe that raising the incline simulates running up hill. Your center of gravity is not moving at all. All you are doing it picking your legs up a little bit higher.)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frame_of_reference

The treadmill manufacturer is full of BS. If set to 0% grade on a level surface, the treadmill bed should also be dead-level. A 2-3% grade may not (or may) seem like much, but it would raise the energy cost of running at a given speed by approximately 8-12%.

I would insist that either they explain how to level the treadmill, or give me my money back.

Recheck the floor, recheck the treadmill, and put it all on your phone in a video. If they do not match, take the POS back and get a new one, or different model. The manufacturer is full of shit, and will probably soon be out of business if this is the product they are selling, so get it back quick!!!

Thank you.


My father gave me the treadmill, since he doesn't use it. So returning it is pretty much out of the question. It's certainly not a "commercial grade" treadmill, either.

I can easily put some blocks under the back legs of the treadmill (the base can easily be lifted to save some space...). But in fact what I want to know is wheter a treadmill normally is perfectly flat or if it's normal that it has some built-in incline...

There's a 1.3 degree slope, takes 1 1/2" under the back legs to make the treadmill level...

So sounds like you are stuck with it. Other than getting a new treadmill, if you want to level it, blocks are probably not safe. If you want to raise the back, get some wide plywood or two. If you stack them, make sure to glue them together so there is no movement. If you get it to a 1% grade, it's acceptable and it may even be good for your running.

Have you by chance opened up the motor case at the front of the treadmill, to see if you can adjust the grade somehow? It is possible that the treadmill is sitting at 1.3 deg even though it thinks it is at 0 deg simply because the motor-driven screw that raises/lowers the front of the 'mill is set in (or has moved to) the wrong place.

I looked for a manual online (as you may have already done), but could not find one.

At the gym yesterday, I was on a treadmill that I don't think I'd ever used before - or at least not in a long time

Even though it said "0.0 Incline" I felt like I was running downhill

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

i've been always told that a 1.0 incline best simulates a road-like environment

In 1996 Edward Jones published a paper that said the only runners who ran faster than a 7:09 pace would need or benefit a 1% Grade. So really the 1% grade to simulate outdoor running is sort of a myth. Hope this helps.





bi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8887211

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Graham Wilson
USAT Level III Elite Coach
http://www.thewilsongroup.biz

That "treadmill at 1% = flat road" is a LIKELY myth, but YMMV

https://www.runnersworld.com/...ine-treadmill-debate

https://www.runnersworld.com/...admill-running-myths

https://www.hillrunner.com/jim2/id110.html

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

the speed is likely not accurate either. just go by HR and RPE and vary the incline.

I didn't read the lay articles to which you linked, but as long as I have been exposed to the field (i.e., about 40 y), it has been standard practice in exercise physiology to use a 1% grade (which increase metabolic cost by about 4%) to compensate for the lack of wind resistance when running indoors.

I read the articles, had seen stuff like this for a very long time. Long story short, if you are running low 7 minute pace they say use the 1%, otherwise slower than than that use 0%. Which of course begs the question, what about 7;30 pace, or 7;01?

Yes you can get the wind resistance metabolic factor kind of neutralized by raising 1%, but what about the extra heat you generate by not having that wind resistance(in effect, cooling)? That has to be a negative at some point, so maybe we should all just put them at .05% and split the difference... (-;

My points were simply that 1) the idea is to try to compensate for wind resistance, and 2) it has been around a long time (decades before the Jones et al paper.

Thanks for all the replies so far

1) Rule #7: For every PT/MD/STer who says there is absolutely one single and perfect way to do anything [and they have the data to support it], there is another PT/MD/STer who will say that way of doing whatever it may be, is completely and absolutely bullshit [and they have the data to support it, as well]

2) It was once "standard practice" "for decades" to dump women accused of witchcraft into a pond ... that didn't always yield verifiable results



3) If the treadmill you're using isn't calibrated properly [and I'm guessing most aren't], 1% or 0% incline doesn't make much difference

Bottom line, to me anyway = do whatever works for you, as there may or may not be any science to support it either way

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Yep, and I believe it. Whenever I do a block of treadmill training, even at 1 or 2%, and then take my running outside...it always feels way harder outside. Maybe it's just me...dunno.

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