Our club now has Nordic track treadmills that can be set on an incline of 30. It makes slow walking very hard.
Just doing a survey on treadmill use. How much incline (if any) is best for treadmill running. I generally run between 6 and 0. I only use the steeper inclines for walking (usually as a warmup)
the few times i use a treadmill the settings range from 3-6. fluctuate/play with the settings carefully…
Please do yourself a favor and ditch the treadmill. You’ll train all winter long on it and wonder why you did not get any better. The floor moves undernear you on a treadmill, the road does not. Just get some warm clothes, a hat, gloves and go outside. The outside cold air will give your lungs limited oxygen similar to training at altitudes. Plus, you’ll get the cool fresh clean air that you don’t find in the summer. Also, your body will get a better workout because your body is not only running but also trying to keep warm.
When it snows, get some Yaktraks for your shoes. If there is alot of snow, try cross country skiing or snow shoe running - now that’s a workout. Treadmills are for coach potatos.
At one time, I would have disagreed with you, but now, I think I agree. Don’t get me wrong, I still think the treadmill is a good option for some (when you can’t leave the house because of little ones, etc.), but if at all possible, I think it is better to run natural, or outside. I had a thread started yesterday about my Achilles tendonitis that has started me to re-think my workouts. While I was musing about my past injuries, I checked my logs, and guess what? Most of the injury entries started with something like ‘while running on the treadmill…’. I wonder if the treadmill forces us to run slightly different than outside running. I think the answer is yes because I can tell a difference when I change from a period of outside running to treadmill running and visa versa.
For me, I’ll run on the treadmill when the need arises, but the lions share of the running will be outside on my hilly southern Indiana roads.
I agree. It changes your stride.
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Bull pucky. My heart doesn’t know whether I am running outside, inside or in mid-air. The treadmill has excellent beneifts for cold climte folks. I have twisted many an ankle on hard snow and it can be down right dangerous to run at night in the winter where I live. Can you run bare foot outside in the snow? And running precise intervals is also great.
Of course it will never be AS good as running outside but to say you won’t improve is ridiculous. Sorry, just my opinion.
I use the Dreadmill as little as possible & much prefer to run outdoors even if it’s minus 20C. We have a nice treadmill at home & when I do use it, I run at 2 degrees.
…Bull pucky.
What, you mean you can’t set it on 10mph and run effortlessly for 2 hours? Seriously, you just lift up your feet and the BELT MOVES UNDERNEATH YOU!
/sarcasm.
And besides, cool air bothers my asthma. COLD air makes my lungs hurt and causes a nasty cough for the rest of the day, the effects of which are felt the next day.
You give me 10 individuals of simular speed, VO2 max and Lactate Threshold. Put 5 on a treadmill training program for the next marathon for 6 months and 5 training outdoors in very cold weather. I’ll bet anything that the ones who train outdoors will be MUCH faster.
Think about it, THE FLOOR MOVES UNDERNEATH YOU on a treadmill - THE ROAD DOES NOT. So it is safe to say that… you get a better workout outside then on a treadmill.
Do you also do water aerobics to improve your swimming?
Like I said, the road runners will always come out on top. But are you really telling me that if I have to do a workout where I need to hit a certain HR zone, that the treadmill isn’t as beneficial? They each have their benefits and in some cases as I pointed out in my other post, the treadmill will come out on top (running barefoot, running without worrying about turning an ankle). No need to get your panties in a knot or use big capital letters, I can read.
THE FLOOR MOVES UNDERNEATH YOU on a treadmill - THE ROAD DOES NOT
Physics 101:
You have to provide enough forward propulsion to avoid being spit out the back. Now, we can debate the accuracy of the calibration, and indeed you see many people recommend increasing the incline by 1% to truly simulate the road, but it’s pretty much the same workout whether on the road or on the treadmill.
you get a better workout outside then on a treadmill.
Well, better in terms of more fun, yes. But no, same heart rates and same muscles are being used. Again, you must provide forward propulsion. The only difference is that outside, you actually move forward, whereas on the treadmill you merely enable yourself to stay in place.
I’ll bet anything that the ones who train outdoors will be MUCH faster.
Have you ever even ran on a treadmill? Go clock off x:xx minute miles on the track, then do the same on the treadmill with a 1% incline. My guess is your heart rates will be within a few percent of each other.
First a treadmill is effortless then it causes injuries, I guess not stressing your body causes them. If you can find clean roads or routes in the middle of winter good for you, but around here there is way too much ice and snowpack on the roads and sidewalks.
i totally disagree with the thinking that a treadmill cannot inspire improvements. they absolutely do. one winter i trained on one for 4 months straight, and took over 15 minutes off of my marathon time.
there was a short period of transition from treadmill to outside, but it was only a few days.
some people are sensitive to cold–it will make them develop a cough and they’re stuck with it all winter. treadmills are an optimal substitute for that. additionally, in the snow and ice, as one other poster mentioned, the treadmill had huge advantages over running on those surfaces.
the last plug i have for a treadmill is that the surface is softer and can be a nice addition to break up the hard impact of concrete and asphalt.
now i rely on trails for softer surfaces in addition to the treadmill.
but if someone trained most of their season on a treadmill, it’s not going to hurt them.
Anything less than a 90 degree incline is fair game.
Don’t you love how a simple, straight-forward question on Slowtwicth never gets a simple straight-forward answer:)
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Agree almost entirely - the only thing you have outdoors that you don’t have indoors is air resistance which is worth a bit if you’re quick.
I’d love to run outside when it snows but I live in a city so snow is nice for about 20 minutes then it’s treacherous ice and an absolute nightmare
well, i guess i didn’t really answer it myself. lol.
so to answer the question–i run on mine for short quips only. my treadmill is stuck somewhere between 3 and 4% incline. at the healthclub, i incline the treadmill to that to mimick the terrain outside.
hill intervals i’ll pull it up to 15% and nearly suffocate. it’s sick fun and i love it.
I didn’t answer either. Since I use the treadmill primarily for easy runs on icy days, I’m quite fond of the .5% incline. I sometimes go as high as 3%. In my mind, hills are outside, where they belong.
The only woman marathoner the US sent to Sydney in 2000 did most of her training on a treadmill. Check it out.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/olympics/news/2000/02/26/marathon_trials_ap/
I like to do speedwork on the treadmill – easier on the knees. I would argue that using an elliptical trainer doesn’t do much for running other than cardio but not a treadmill.
Sorry, your totally wrong. Except for the part about HR. Yes, a treadmill is an aerobic activity that will increase your HR but so are jumping jacks. Treadmill running is not real running, it’s just lifting your feet up and putting them forward, the “tread” then move your leg back and you repeat this with the other leg. It looks like running, but is not.
Running defined as propeling oneself forward in a motion where both feet are montentarily off the ground. The treadmill leaves off the “propel” part of it.
Nuf said.