Treadmills offer a chance for you to train on hills indoors, either at a walk or a run. If you live in a particularly flat area, treadmills can help you prepare for a hilly race. For walkers, inclines offer a way to increase intensity without upping the impact of your exercise.
Benefits
Incline training on a treadmill improves your overall efficiency on hills so that you can better tackle them when outdoors. According to Rick Morris, author of "Treadmill Training for Runners," hill training is one of the most efficient methods of training. When running on an incline, you improve your strength, your efficiency, your running skills, your running power and your aerobic conditioning. Hill training is an effective way to train your gluteal muscles and hamstrings.
Types
In addition to random inclines, you can perform specific drills. Runners may include rolling hills as part of a long training run by increasing the treadmill's incline every few minutes and then returning to a flat belt. Periods of moderate incline lasting a mile or more that you attack at a consistently strong pace will improve endurance. Hill repeats---in which you increase the incline for one- to three-minute periods and sprint up at a fast pace---challenge your heart.
Form
Maintaining proper form when training on inclines helps prevent injury and improves efficiency. Try not to disrupt your natural rhythm as your incline increases. Relaxing your upper body directs your energy to your legs. On steep inclines---those of 6 percent or more---lift your knees and push off the treadmill belt with every step. Walkers should avoid holding onto the hand rails to "haul" themselves up a steep incline. Doing so lessens the calorie burn by reducing your energy output and decreases the balance benefits you can gain from hill climbing.
Considerations
Setting your treadmill at a constant incline of between 1 and 3 percent better simulates outdoor conditions, notes two-time Olympic coach, author and educator Dr. Nicholas Romanov on the Pose Tech website. When you attempt very steep inclines, decreasing your speed may be necessary to sustain the movement.
Caution
If you have a calf or Achilles tendon injury, you should avoid hill work. Always warm up before attempting inclines by walking or jogging on a flat belt for five to 10 minutes. Cool down at an easy pace after an incline workout, and stretch your calves and ankles to ward off soreness and injury.
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