I live somewhere that is mostly flat. My goal race I'm running in a few months is very hilly. I have considered doing one or two runs per week on the treadmill just setting the grad to a moderate incline. However, it seems like running uphill on a treadmill feels a little "weird" for lack of a better term? I suppose it's better than nothing though? Anyone use this sort of method for training for a hilly course?
It helps with uphills but it doesn't do anything to train running downhillls well.
So the best compromise would be to train on a level treadmill.
That's not a compromise. That's doing nothing special to train for a hilly race. Train uphills with the grade adjustments and then put blocks under the back of the treadmill to train the downhill muscles. doing little mods like that isn't unheard of. For instance, I know someone who modified a treadmill to do 40% uphill grades training for mountain races.
This guy. He won Mt. Marathon (one of the most famous mountain races) training on it. It's set up at 50% in this (He uses 40% in most other photos if you scroll up and down his insta):
I live somewhere that is mostly flat. My goal race I'm running in a few months is very hilly. I have considered doing one or two runs per week on the treadmill just setting the grad to a moderate incline. However, it seems like running uphill on a treadmill feels a little "weird" for lack of a better term? I suppose it's better than nothing though? Anyone use this sort of method for training for a hilly course?
Short answer - Yes. Dont just set it and forget it. Vary uphill and flat inclines during use.
Also, add in some lower body & single leg work. ie lunges, squats/bulgarian & step ups w and w/o weight/dumbbells.
They need to make a fully adjustable treadmill that can simulate rolling hills.
have you guys never used a downhill treadmill? they exist in some gyms and they're great. i think many people don't even realise they are running on a treadmill that can go downhill, because they never try pushing the incline button below 0.0. the one at my gym goes to a 3% decline so not exactly like some of the 10-20% grades you might get in a typical trail race, but 3% downhill still feels so different to flat and so easy to run.
also OP look at arc/elliptical trainers. don't use your arms on those long handles that swing back and forth like you're skiing. adjust the incline, grab the small handles in front of you that dont move, and get on the balls of your feet. it feels just like climbing a hill.
Treadmill training is better than nothing but won't really get you used to undulation, going up AND down in short succession the way running outdoors will. I would add sessions utilizing the hilliest thing you've got outdoors - even if its only a 40 foot high hill or a bridge.
I live somewhere that is mostly flat. My goal race I'm running in a few months is very hilly. I have considered doing one or two runs per week on the treadmill just setting the grad to a moderate incline. However, it seems like running uphill on a treadmill feels a little "weird" for lack of a better term? I suppose it's better than nothing though? Anyone use this sort of method for training for a hilly course?
The treadmill is decent to get used to the uphill grades though as others mentioned, won't help with downhill pounding. Consider doing some sort of quad strengthening, particularly eccentric exercises, so they don't melt on you in the race, assuming you can't get any actual downhill running.
I might suggest also adding in stairs if you can, especially if the course will have steeper/ rockier climbs. stairs are also a little less stressful on the achilles, which is sometimes a complaint of people training on treadmill incline.
Happy this wasn't a troll post. To the OP, I would find a bridge and do repeats. In lieu of any (there's gotta be 1 right??) Just go hard on interval training. A high VO2 max > hill training
50% / 45 degrees is insane That'd be like a black diamond. I've climbed up a blue before in colorado and it was pretty intense. I think those "everest challenges" uses blues too.
I mean it's obviously done but but really crazy.
My own woodway treadmill has an incline of 25% which is far more than I ever need.
50% is 5-rise over 10-run or arctan(0.5)=26.56 degrees. That's steep but not 45 degrees, which is 100% grade.
So if 50% is a 100% grade, what 100%? Back to zero?
100% is 45 degrees like I said previously. I think you might be confused because grade doesn't end at 100%. Anything steeper than 45-degrees is higher than 100%. Grade (or gradient or slope) is usually used to describe surfaces like roads that as a practical matter, never get as steep as 45 degrees, so that's why you don't usually hear about grades greater than 100%.
Lets say you are rock climbing a slab that is 60 degrees. That would be 173% grade. The calculation would be tangent(60 degrees)=1.73 then multiply by 100% to get 173%. Or, if you took geometry, you might know that a 60-degree right triangle has sides with relative lengths of 2 (for the slope), square root of 3 (1.73. . .) for the rise, and 1 for the run. Grade is rise over run multiplied by 100%, so (1.73/1)*100% = 173%.