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

Yeah, the point of a treadmill is not to go as fast as you possibly can. You might as well go downhill.

I suppose it's something to do with carryover (i.e. someone doing a 4min. mile on the treadmill no incline is not going to do that on the track). That, and so running outdoors won't feel harder just coz' you used the treadmill for awhile. I heard the rule was 2-3% though... Thanks for reading, and I hoped this helped.

Your legs don't know how fast you're going, just how much force they are generating. You are using less force per step to go the same "speed" on a treadmill at 0% compared to outside. Of course, there's pretty much no chance your treadmill is calibrated accurately anyway.

You can also clap your hands once every 3.12 seconds. That increases VO2 consumption so that it corresponds exactly to outdoor running.

tons but prob not you wrote:

Yeah, the point of a treadmill is not to go as fast as you possibly can. You might as well go downhill.

He didn't say that was the point of a treadmill.

He was pointing out that one can achieve the equivalent stimulus of running at X pace outside by running at faster than X pace on a treadmill rather than running at X pace on a treadmill with 1% incline.

And why wear running shoes on the treadmill when you can go faster if you wear rollerblades. And why do they call it Ovaltine? The mug is round. The jar is round. They should call it Roundtine.

smile wrote:

tons but prob not you wrote:

Yeah, the point of a treadmill is not to go as fast as you possibly can. You might as well go downhill.

He didn't say that was the point of a treadmill.

He was pointing out that one can achieve the equivalent stimulus of running at X pace outside by running at faster than X pace on a treadmill rather than running at X pace on a treadmill with 1% incline.

I know that. But he was implying that the latter option is better because you are going faster, as if the main goal is to go as fast as you can in training. Might as well go downhill or with a tailwind.

tons but prob not you wrote:

Yeah, the point of a treadmill is not to go as fast as you possibly can. You might as well go downhill.

They have downhill treadmills. They are GREAT to train on for a race like the Boston marathon.

The treadmill is an amazing tool for a runner who wants to maximize his/her potential. The most useful button on the treadmill is the one that controls the incline. Use it often. Do some runs at 0%, some at 1%,5% or 12%. There are an endless number of workouts you can do.

Don't worry about the pace it says you are going. Just run by effort. The only time that matters is what the clock says on race day. If you are using the treadmill to it's fullest potential, you will be very happy with the time on the clock when you cross the finish line.

Treadmill running is easier than outdoor running because you basically stand in the same place and just lift your legs. If you put on incline you run uphill all the way, and that evens out the oxygen uptake compared to outdoor running.

Wind resistence

Wind resistence

greg L wrote:

Treadmill running is easier than outdoor running because you basically stand in the same place and just lift your legs. If you put on incline you run uphill all the way, and that evens out the oxygen uptake compared to outdoor running.

I don't even lift my legs. I just stand there as the belt grinds away on the soles of my shoes.

Makloufi n Cheese wrote:

I don't even lift my legs. I just stand there as the belt grinds away on the soles of my shoes.

I like to turn the TM on while I go do my weights so that I get resistance and cardio in one workout.

greg L wrote:

Treadmill running is easier than outdoor running because you basically stand in the same place and just lift your legs.

Shut up and stop repeating this bullshit. The treadmill is easier because no wind resistance. Not the physics defying act that you just described.

In my own experience I have found less stress on the shins and knees plus better better form.

I dislike treadmills because there is minimal convective cooling effect. Therefore I get overheated more quickly than if I was running outside and cutting through the air.

I dislike treadmills because there is minimal convective cooling effect. Therefore I get overheated more quickly than if I was running outside and cutting through the air.

nobody has pointed out that there are treadmills on the market (such as elliptigo) that are specifically designed to allow you go to faster with less effort.

Those may or may not be useful, but they are used by some elite training programs. Some pros have run some very fast times using them as part of a training program. Of course, obviously some pros have also run very fast times while not using them as part of a training plan program.

But my point is, there is nothing wrong with setting the treadmill at 0%. I've always thought it was a bit silly for everybody to set it as 2% to keep it from being "too easy." A treadmill is never any serious runners first choice for a workout, it's always because it allows for some sort of scientific testing (vo2 testing, for example) or because there is some reason they can't run outside (blizzard conditions, crazy heatwave, etc.) So to me, insisting on setting it at 1 or 2% incline seems a bit insignificant.

So to answer the OP'S, question, the idea you posed is similar to the marketing reason for the elliptigo treadmills. The idea is that they allow you to take as much as 50% off of your apparent weight, to in theory allow you to run at race pace with a much reduced effort.

I would say though, I would find it very difficult to run at 10k pace for 20 minutes on a treadmill even at 0%. I wouldn't feel that this would be a tempo effort. Maybe somehow you take to the treadmill better than I do, though.

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.