What is Treadmill Incline Training?

Treadmill incline training is a workout that involves adjusting the incline or slope of the treadmill deck to simulate uphill walking or running. By raising the incline, this form of exercise increases the intensity, making your body work harder against gravity.

In this article, we’ll be breaking down the benefits of incline training and our best tips for maximising your treadmill workout.

Why is incline important?

Increases Heart Rate

When you walk or run on an incline, your body has to work harder to move uphill, requiring more oxygen and energy. This increased demand prompts your heart to pump faster, delivering more oxygen-rich blood to your muscles. As your heart rate rises, you strengthen your heart muscle and enhance lung capacity, all key components of cardiovascular health.

The steeper the incline, the more intense the workout, which helps build stamina over time. What’s more, regularly elevating your heart rate through incline workouts can lower your resting heart rate, indicating improved overall fitness.

By incorporating incline into your treadmill routine, you can push your cardiovascular system to work at a higher intensity without the need for faster speeds, maximise heart health.

Prepares Body for Realistic Terrain

Unlike running or walking on a flat treadmill surface, incline training simulates the natural slopes and hills you encounter in real-world environments. This makes your workout more functional, as it mimics the varying terrain you’d experience during activities like hiking or trail running.

It prepares your cardiovascular system and muscles to respond to the fluctuations in terrain you find in the outdoors, ensuring you're ready for a variety of conditions.

Targets Hamstrings and Glutes

Treadmill incline training is highly effective for targeting the posterior chain, which consists of the muscles running along the back of your body, including the hamstrings, glutes and lower back. These muscles play a vital role in supporting your posture, maintaining stability and powering your movement, especially during activities like running or lifting.

When you walk or run on an incline, the steeper angle forces your body to lean slightly forward and engage the posterior chain more intensely. The hamstrings, located on the back of your thighs, are activated as they work harder to extend your hips and flex your knees, helping to pull your body upward with each step. At the same time, your glutes contract to help propel you forward and stabilise your hips.

Strengthening the hamstrings and glutes is essential for improving athletic performance and reducing the risk of injury, as these muscles help support proper movement mechanics and maintain balance.

Improves Lower Leg Muscles

When you walk or run on an incline, the added resistance forces your calf muscles to work harder to push off with each step. The steeper the incline, the more your calves engage, leading to improved strength and endurance over time. Stronger calf muscles not only enhance your overall athletic performance but also improve your balance and reduce the risk of injury by stabilising your ankle joints.

Incline training also develops better foot control and ankle mobility, which are essential for navigating uneven terrain or performing dynamic movements. By strengthening these muscles, treadmill incline training contributes to better overall leg function, enhancing your ability to walk or run efficiently both indoors and outdoors.

Burn More Calories

By walking or running on an incline, your body has to work harder to overcome the resistance of the slope, which elevates your heart rate and requires more energy, resulting in a higher calorie expenditure. Even a slight increase in incline can significantly boost the number of calories you burn compared to exercising on a flat surface.

One of the key factors in burning more calories is the increased muscle engagement. Incline training activates larger muscle groups like the glutes, hamstrings and calves more intensely than flat treadmill workouts. The more muscles you use during exercise, the more energy your body requires, leading to greater calorie burn.

The higher intensity of incline training also boosts your metabolic rate, meaning you'll continue burning calories even after your workout ends.

Customise Incline Gradients

Understanding how to determine the right incline levels is crucial for optimising your workout, whether you aim to improve cardiovascular fitness, build strength, or burn more calories.

For beginners, starting with a lower incline between 1% to 3% is ideal. This mimics the resistance of walking or running outdoors without overwhelming your body, helping you ease into incline training while reducing the risk of injury. As your fitness improves, gradually increasing the incline to 5% or 6% will add intensity to your workout, engaging more muscles, especially in the lower body.

For more experienced users looking for a challenge, adjusting the incline to 7% to 10% can simulate steeper hills, significantly boosting calorie burn and muscle activation, especially in the hamstrings and glutes. For endurance-focused workouts, alternating between inclines helps build stamina while providing variety.

Higher inclines, above 10%, are typically reserved for advanced users or those training for events like hiking or mountain running.

It’s important to listen to your body and adjust the incline based on your comfort and fitness goals, progressively increasing the gradient as your strength and endurance develop.

Conclusion

Incorporating incline training into your routine is a powerful way to improve cardiovascular health, strength and endurance. Ready to get started? Explore the best small treadmills to fit your space and budget here or contact us for more information.