dreadmills

hey wrote:

I really think that the only thing that really makes the treadmill different (which is still the case at 1% incline) is that you're not maintaining your momentum. There's probably some physics equation to quantify this, but really, after the initial acceleration you're just moving your legs to maintain that forward momentum. Depending on pace, there's not much energy involved in mainting pace - just flinging your legs about.

So I guess the treadmill workout isn't really that much easier, especially at an incline...don't feel bad for going on the treadmill for that workout, just don't do it all the time.

Running outside at a constant pace and running on a treadmill is the same -- momentum wise. We are maintaining our momentum in both cases. Outside though, we usually have wind resistance that we have to lean into and push through. On the treadmill, we can substitute a small incline to require us to lean forward (relative to the platform) that we have to constantly push ourselves forward up.

The drawback that I see is the nonspecific surface. Treadmill platforms are usually shock-absorbing whereas surfaces that I'd rather become better on are much harder.

The impact of incline should be slightly different for each runner. Otherwise, we would not have runners who are relatively better (or worse)in hilly road races.

So my take on this is we all need to figure out the proper pace (and incline) based on how it feels. (Taking HR might be a good idea.) I do most of my runs at 1% incline, and it seems about right.

One advantage of treadmill is that it allows a continuous hill climb without any downhill. I do a 5 mile hill climb at the constant pace, starting at 1% and ending at 5%. I don't think I could find any "natural" hill like that anywhere around where I live.

Treadmills Hurt wrote:

Am I the only person in the world who finds it more difficult to run on a treadmill than outside? I'll put a 1 or 1.5% incline on the stupid thing, and it takes a heck of a of effort to run anything faster than 7:30 pace. And once I'm off, my hamstrings feel like they've been ripped apart. Did some half mile repeats yesterday at 9.0 and 9.5mph and had a hard time walking today. I'm definitely a hobby jogger, but on a track, I could have done the same workout at 6:00 without breaking a sweat. What's up with that?

Your post is EXACTLY what I have been saying. You heard somewhere that running at 1 or 1.5% makes the treadmill running the SAME as running outside but it doesn't. There are different variables but the first is that at 1.5% the effort is equivalent to running 25-26 seconds faster at 9.5 mph. In other words, if you had the incline at 1.5% at 9.5 mph, that is equivalent to running at 5:56 pace. Even if you take a few seconds for the lack of wind resistence, the effort is still about 18 seconds faster. If the room you are working out in is near 70°, the advantage you gain from the lack of wind resistence will easily be negated by the extra work you are doing to dissipate heat.

Another factor is the shock absorbing that turkey leg referred to. While that may be "easy" on the legs, it isn't going to help any when you try to run fast because it is going to suck away a little energy. (like running on grass compared to asphalt).

If anybody wants to use a much more accurate conversion calculator, use this one. While turkey leg has become super efficient in his treadmill running, I design different workouts to do and it is much easier if I know approximately what speed at a certain incline will give me the effort I am shooting for on that workout. Once into the workout, I can gauge if it is too hard or too easy and adjust accordingly.

If you want just a ballpark figure without any calculator, figure 15-20 seconds harder for every 1% increase in incline.