A treadmill gives you the opportunity to run, jog or walk indoors without concern for outdoor conditions. Many people simply jump on the treadmill and walk or run without ever touching the incline button. Skipping this treadmill feature means that you miss valuable aspects of your training. The incline measures the relationship of vertical to horizontal distance covered. When you set your incline at a grade of 3 percent, you are essentially gaining three feet of elevation for every 100 feet that you move forward.

Outdoor Conditions

Running on a treadmill closely matches the cardiovascular and calorie-burning benefits of running outside, but there are important differences. Running on a treadmill offers no wind resistance. The movement of the belt propels you slightly forward. To make up for those factors, set your incline between 1 and 3 percent, recommends

Burn Calories

Using the treadmill incline degree function helps you burn more calories. Running or walking uphill takes more effort and energy. If you weigh 150 pounds and run on a flat belt for an hour at a 6 mph pace, you can expect to burn about 680 calories. Increase that incline to a 5 percent grade and burn an additional 150 calories during your hourlong workout. If you can sustain a 10 percent grade at 6 mph, you will burn almost 1,000 calories in the same period of time.

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Overview

A treadmill is a popular piece of cardiovascular equipment that has a durable belt that revolves around continuously while you walk or run at different speeds. Not only do treadmills increase your aerobic capacity, but they are also very efficient at burning calories. If you are afraid to put too much stress on your knees by running, you can do walking treadmill workouts that can be just as effective.

Step 1

Get familiar with the controls on the console. Learn how to use the speed and incline buttons, how to turn the machine on and off and how to attach the kill switch that will shut the machine down if you happen to fall off.

Step 2

Do an interval workout. Start your walking at a low intensity for 2 minutes. Turn up your speed until you are walking as fast as you can without jogging. Go for 30 seconds, then turn your speed down until you are walking at a moderate pace. Go for 60 seconds, then turn the speed back up. Alternate going back and forth for 30 minutes and finish with a light 2-minute walk for a cool-down.

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Raising the incline on a treadmill makes your workout harder and helps you burn more calories. Hill training also effectively improves your running strength, efficiency, power and aerobic conditioning, notes Rick Morris, author of “Treadmill Training for Runners.” How you approach hills depends on your fitness level, but regardless of whether you walk or run them, you will burn more calories than moving along at a 0 percent grade.

1 Percent

According to a study in the “Journal of Sports Sciences” published in 1996, treadmill running on a 1 percent grade most accurately reflects the energy expenditure experienced from an outdoor run. This means that running outdoors at about 6 mph, or indoors on a treadmill at 6 mph at an incline of 1 percent, will burn about 295 calories in 30 minutes for a 130-pound, person according to the activity calculator at the website Caloriesperhour.com.

Walking

For people unable or unwilling to increase intensity by increasing speed, adding hills offers a way to burn more calories during a workout. How many calories you burn during walking depends on your speed, size and efficiency. Adding an incline to your walk definitely increases the challenge of your walk and the calorie burn. On a flat belt, a 130-pound person going 4 mph burns about 120 calories in 30 minutes. Up the incline to 5 percent and burn 198 calories in the same amount of time. If you can sustain your speed at 10 percent, you will burn 280 calories, and at a steep 15 percent incline, expect to burn 360 calories in a half hour. Hiking up a 15 percent incline at 4 mph, however, is no easy feat.

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