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Click to view GellaBella's profile Amateur 8 posts since
Dec 15, 2007

Nov 9, 2007 12:19 PM

Hills on a treadmill

Hi guys

I'm interested in trying to add some hill workouts to my running routine. I'm a basically new runner (sporatically since last Jan, consistently since May). I built up to 3 mi 2-3X/week in August and have been holding at that distance. When I was building up to 3mi I was running in central park which is hilly. In the past few months I've only been running on a track which is flat. I'd like to add some hill work in but getting back to central park is too far and the area I live/work in is not safe to run in, except on the track. So. What sorts of inclines do people use on their treadmill to simulate various hills (slight incline, moderate incline, even steep incline).

Thanks
Gella
Click to view Kevin E. Stroud's profile Legend 512 posts since
Oct 27, 2007
1. Nov 9, 2007 12:34 PM in response to: GellaBella
GB,

Is your treadmill programmable? Although I rarely use them, they're pretty nice because the treadmill will vary the incline and speed to simulate hills.

I find that more "fun" than just manually tweaking up the incline.

kestrou
Click to view AKTrail's profile Legend 360 posts since
Dec 14, 2007
2. Nov 10, 2007 1:47 AM in response to: GellaBella
I'll usually just run rolling courses outside, and with your low mileage, I definitely wouldn't do a lot of hill repeats.

I'll occasionally use a tm and for hills, I may use anything from -3% to +10% (occasionally 15%), depending on objective. My normal hills are 10-30% (with some steeper), so if ice has me inside, I'm likely to do something I can't do outside anyway. Good starting inclines are typically in the 3-8% range.

You might check out some of the pgms on your tm - either random hills or building up then decreasing. I think those are likely to be more interesting since you can get some variety and you don't have to constantly adjust stuff. You can tweak something if it doesn't feel like what you want, and it should remember that the next time it comes to that part of pgm.
Click to view runner92's profile Pro 77 posts since
Aug 31, 2004
3. Nov 10, 2007 2:49 AM in response to: GellaBella
I like to do target heart rate training at any level of incline. I tend to pic a heart rate range and try to increase the incline as much as possible until my heart rate won't settle down below the top end of the range I selected. I tend to play with speed and incline to try to find the most optimal combination of both that my body will tolerate. It keeps me busy and makes the time fly by!

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