I recently got a tip from a running friend about treadmills that I had never heard before. Apparently folks have figured out that the optimal incline to simulate outdoor running on a treadmill is 1.5%. The theory is that this makes up for things like wind resistance and hills that you would experience when running outside. Of course if your typical outdoor runs take place in a hilly area you may need to dial up the incline even more but for most folks this will work fine.
I’ve been running at 1.5% for the past month or so and I gotta say it really does feel more like outside running. In fact at times it feels harder, so much so that I think treadmill training is actually getting me in great shape for the outdoor running season!
I have heard this time and time again….but just am chicken to go ahead and punch that into my treadmill.
It’s that much harder! And no fresh air to refresh me while running? I’d rather run outdoors, and keep “indoor” running indoors!
But, alas, I’ll have to stop denying this and just start running 1.5 incline eventually! It’s just that outside, there is a chance of actually going DOWNHILL where with a 1.5 incline, it’s always UP! LOL
You are right, it’s tough to constantly run uphill on a treadmill. You can do the “hills” setting on the treadmill which will vary the inclines on your run. I too love running outdoors because if you start and finish at the same point you know that all the uphill running you do will have an equal amount of downhill.
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