Normally, when I use a treadmill for running, I have the incline set to 1-2% as it more closely relates to the difficulty of running on the road. My treadmill pace at a 2% incline is about the same as my road pace. Occasionally, I will up the incline for short periods of time to simulate a hill, but only for a couple of minutes.
Lately, however, I have been playing around with doing complete runs at a 5% or greater incline (albeit at a slower pace). My thinking is that it will provide better strength training for my legs. Hopefully, it would also make running outside feel that much easier.
So, that brings me to the question: is it physically bad for you to be constantly running on an incline? Am I risking some sort of injury by doing this?
You’ll have to be careful not to injure your achilles tendon. When you’re on an incline, your achilles is stretched more than when you’re flat. This overstretching can injure it and it takes a long time to heal. You’ll need to make sure you warm it up well and pay close attention to any pain during or after. If it starts to hurt in any way, stop running until it’s healed. Achilles injuries are no fun to deal with.
I don’t know of any other problem of running on an incline. You should be fine as long as you really pay attention to any achilles issues if they come up. Otherwise, it’s a great way to get a better treadmill workout.
I think you’ll be fine but if you want stronger legs I’d try to do some easy one-legged squats (if you know what a Shrimp Squat is those are perfect for runners). Mind the Achilles as mentioned; a few months off your feet would set you back big time.
Do almost anything for short periods. That simulates reality. I like 1-2 degrees myself. I have used 15 degrees for 10-15 minutes. The injuries don’t come immediately, but after you fall into the trap of repeating such things. Concentrate on maintaining pace and not getting cute with the incline. That’s what I have chosen.
I just got that norditrack incline trainer that uses google earth to build your run, and has incline up to 40 degrees. I have done a brisk sprint at 40 for about a minute and a half but most of the included workouts max out at about 25 degrees for my beginner phase. It also does decline as well. I wonder if this machine has caused many tendon injuries as it inclines more than any other machine. It certainly winds you much much faster though.
I was told by a physical trainer that you should never run on a treadmill with a 0% incline. Apparently it’s like running slightly downhill the entire time and can be damaging to your knees.
Thanks for the info so far; but, just to be clear, I am talking about running with a 5% or greater incline for 40-60 minutes at a time–an entire daily run.
What makes me a little gun-shy from doing this is that although I have fair amount of casual experience with running (and trainers), no one has ever recommended extended incline as part of a regular routine. It has always been something that is mixed in to a normal workout, but not the main component. That makes me think that there might be heightened risks or limited benefits from adding the incline. I could not find much information on the interwebs about doing this regularly.
My first guess as to why you probably haven’t heard about it much thus far is that not many people want to do it. As long as your muscles are up to the task and you’re not running through pain, I don’t see why it would be detrimental.
I took a quick look, but couldn’t find the article, but a recent Runners World piece addressed the longstanding runners’ “wisdom” that treadmills should be set at 1% incline to make up for the difficulties of running on the road (wind resistance, principally). There were some studies conducted (I don’t remember by who, so take this for what it’s worth).
The conclusion? If you’re running at or faster than 8 MPH, then 1% incline (or greater, depending upon how much faster than 8 MPH) is in order if you want to approximate the effort for running outside on the road. Anything slower than that, and the difference is so negligible as to make it overkill.
They also recently had some treadmill workouts covered in a different article, including (I think) someone who ran extended inclines at 4%. I don’t recall that there was any specific health issue in play that they mentioned. So, if your search skills on their website are better than mine, you might want to dig for the details.
Thanks for the pointer. I did a quick google search with “treadmill incline site:runnersworld.com” and it gave some useful results that I am still reviewing. I have not found the information on using higher inclines, yet (except for anecdotes in the forums).
I did, however, find one article that advocated not using a constant incline as preparation for outdoor running as it leaves you both mentally and physiologically unprepared for the road. Instead, it recommended changing the incline during the run, so that your body becomes accustomed to always working a little harder or coasting a little, which more closely resembles the real world. I guess that is the conventional wisdom.
It is, but as I understand it, meaning, “don’t think running all your training miles on an inclined treadmill will get you ready.” So, the idea is to mix it up, or that’s how I interpret it. There are some treadmills where you can actually program specific runs into them (except for the downhills, I guess).
I do recall an elite runner or 2 advocating treadmill workouts on a decent incline for all or most of the run for their winter hill workouts. Again, I think the general idea is to mix things up–long, slow runs; intervals; hill repeats; etc. I try to do one long run and one speed workout a week (and then 2 other runs with varying objectives). And “speed workout” is a relative term for me. I am a big, slower, middle-of-the-pack runner.
The great thing about running opinions is that if you don’t like one, just look around a little and you’ll probably find someone to contradict it (sometimes in the same issue!).
FWIW I was able to find this. It’s a paper defending hill running against an apparently perceived reputation for increased risk of injuries. The main thesis is based on the following quote:
Few of those experts would disagree with that general principle and “always on an inclined treadmill” flies in the face of that. Like just said, “the general idea is to mix things up”. Exclusive treadmill running already limits variety significantly compared to running on uneven real outdoor surfaces; restricting that running variety further to “complete runs at a 5% or greater incline” (with the Achilles tendon always stretched) seems unlikely to be a good idea. I’d *guess *exclusive significant incline running would increase the risk of Achilles tendonitis or even rupture and that it would increase the risk of back injury (but I can find nothing definitive about that.)
I did also find this study which documents that, in elite runners at least, incline running activates muscles differently than level running does, with less hamstring activation (and both shorter stride length and rate). Which minimally seems unlikely, if not part of a variation of inclines and levels and speeds, to prepare one to run outside in a more often level and occasionally declined running conditions much easier.
