Why incline at 1% if you could go faster with 0%?

It's all about energy cost. 12mph on the treadmill has a lower energy cost than 12mph outdoors.

Alan

The heat build up is no laughing matter. Today I did a 25:00 tempo with the beginning room temp at 74º. It was 82º when I finished. And this with a large box fan blowing on me not 3 feet away. Need to invest in an AC I guess!

Runningart2004 wrote:

It's all about energy cost. 12mph on the treadmill has a lower energy cost than 12mph outdoors.

Alan

Unless the treadmill is in a room that is 80° and it is a cool 55° outside. Now tell us what the energy costs are.

Refrain from treadmill training unless you're preparing for a treadmill race. Train using racing conditions.

Does anyone else have problems with sweat on the treadmill? On the few times I've done a long run on a treadmill, the belt was wet, the floor all around me look like a rain shower hit the immediate area. A big fan would help, but it's a fitness center.

Duck Smuggler wrote:

Refrain from treadmill training unless you're preparing for a treadmill race. Train using racing conditions.

I live in Ohio. If I am training for a flat race in Florida in the winter, the treadmill will be closest to race conditions.

I also tend to sweat a lot on the treadmill, but the fan definitely helps as does the gym towel. The problem is that many commercial treadmills don't have fans, but the mid-level residential ones do have them.

we should all get a "Tread-climber" because it burns 3x more calories than a treadmill!!!

1% incline is sufficient to replicate outdoor running. Except at slower than 6mph I believe. There have been numerous studies that conclude treadmill running at 1% is extremely close to outdoor running. As far as mechanics go, treadmill running has been proven to actually be not that different than outdoor running. There are so many myths and old wives tales, but do a quick google search and you will see that the studies conclude what I have written.

I am just much too lazy to provide the link which is why I prefer walking to my basement to run on my treadmill than going to a track.

Also, speaking of downhill and Boston Marathon, the Boston Marathon treadmill is a POS for $4000. Get a used precor which is a much better treadmill for the same money. If you are loaded, get a Woodway.

400m800m wrote:

Hill repeats are useful for the same reason you go on an incline. You can push yourself without going anywhere near your max speed, which is injury preventative.

^^This. Why not set the incline at 5% or higher? That way you get a high-level aerobic workout without the same stress or pounding. Also, due to the continuous incline, you may be able to accelerate motor unit recruitment, so you get the same neurological benefit as you would for a longer run.

Runningart2004 wrote:

It's all about energy cost. 12mph on the treadmill has a lower energy cost than 12mph outdoors.

Disagree. I think it depends on the treadmill. The one I own -- some model by Sole -- kicks my ass at 1% incline as compared to running the same pace on a track. If I travel somewhere and use a hotel mill, it can go either way. Most of them feel easier than running outside but some are really tough. I'm not sure what the cause is; maybe inaccurate slope or speed, but maybe something else like a surface that's too soft (that's how I feel about the Sole). Either way, I think it's a myth to say that treadmill running is necessarily any less taxing.

Ok I guess I just wanted to try and be less lazy

I did a 4M tempo on the treadmill today at 5:21 pace and 1.0 incline. I found this pretty hard in comparison to a treadmill workout a couple weeks ago where I ran 5:18 the last four miles and sub 6 the two or three miles before that, but with no incline. The 1.0 incline made it substantially harder, particularly because the area is very flat and I hadn't been doing any incline training on the treadmill. I cannot currently run a very quick 4M tempo outside with no training partners in temps that rarely go below 80 and are always humid. So, the treadmill forces me to keep up a cadence that would get me close to or ahead of a 5M pr outdoors in good weather.