Most modern treadmills feature easy adjustment of the angle of the flat surface on which you are running. To change this angle -- known as the incline -- on most treadmills, you simply press a button to raise and a button to lower the surface while you are running on it. The ideal angle depends on your workout goals -- the shorter you want your workout to be for a set amount of calories burned, the higher your incline should be set.
Air Resistance
Since you are actually stationary while running on a treadmill, you will burn fewer calories than you would burn if you were running at the exact same speed outside -- even if the grades on which you were running were identical. This is because the air and wind resistance during an outside run is pushing you back slightly, forcing you to use more effort to continue your forward motion. Setting your treadmill to about a 1 percent grade can help simulate the air resistance of running outside on a level surface.
Calories Burned
A 170-pound individual running on a level treadmill at five miles per hour will burn about 166 calories in 15 minutes. If the same individual raises the treadmill's incline to five percent and continues running at five miles per hour, the calories burned in 15 minutes will go up to 199. A 10 percent incline would raise the calories burned to 231, and a 15 percent incline raises the calories burned to 264.
Handle Use
If you decide to enhance your treadmill workouts by increasing the incline during your run, make sure you do not develop a habit of running while hanging on to the handles or display panel. Not only does this largely negate the enhanced challenge of the incline workout, but it can also increase your risk for injuries or for damage to the treadmill. If you become fatigued, decrease the angle or the speed rather than compensate by holding your weight up by your arms.
Pace Impact
If you choose to begin incorporating increased incline into your treadmill workouts to raise your calorie burning efficiency, you should expect to see your mile times decrease. This is normal, even though you are burning more calories due to the increased strain on your body. The greater the incline, the more effort it takes to maintain the same time per mile.
References
- Calories Per Hour: Activity Calculator
- National Institutes of Health; A 1% Treadmill Grade Most Accurately Reflects the Energetic Cost of Outdoor Running; Jones AM et al; August 1996
- Hill Runner: Treadmill Pace Conversions
- Treadmill Use: Effective Workouts on the Treadmill Incline
- Treadmill Talk: Why You Should Set Your Treadmill Incline at 1%
- Trek Desk: Calories Burned: How a Treadmill Desk Helps
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