Fit-Tip - Why You Should Put Your Treadmill to a 1% Incline

In this Fitness Disrupted Fit Tip, Tom gives you the science behind why you should set your treadmill to a 1% incline.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Fitness Disrupted, a production of I Heart Radio.
I am Tom Holland and this is Fitness Disrupted. Fit
tip why you should put your treadmill to a one
percent incline. Now, for many years, one of the top

(00:23):
questions I have received is the treadmill the same as outside?
And the answer, the short answer is no. There are
several reasons, and this fit tip is one. So whether
you are indoors or outdoors, there is a difference, and
one of them is the incline. Fitness people for years

(00:46):
have used the line that if you are running on
a treadmill at a zero percent incline, it is almost
like running downhill, or it is like running downhill. Now,
I think many don't know the reasons why or the
reason why that is. And here it is. That's the
fifth tip. Okay. So this comes from a study way

(01:10):
back August of in the Journal of Sports Sciences, and
they investigated what incline could make running on the treadmill
the same as running outdoors. So, in other words, was
running on the treadmill at a zero percent incline the
same as running outdoors? And it wasn't okay, Uh, these

(01:30):
was researchers from the University of Brighton in the United Kingdom,
and they had nine runners trained mail runners run for
six minutes at various speeds at various inclines ranging from
zero to three per cent. Then they were tested while
running outdoors on a flat road. What they found was

(01:51):
that the participants oxygen intake that's their v O two
max that they tested during both runs, that running on
a treadmill at a one percent grade that best matched
the same output or the same oxygen cost the same

(02:12):
effort as running outside. So if you are on a treadmill,
running on a treadmill, you generally want to put it
at a one percent incline two as closely approximate being outdoors.
And why is that, you know, why? What is it?
What's the difference? The huge difference in this specific example

(02:37):
is the lack of air resistance. So when you run
indoors on a treadmill, the lack of wind resistance. Air
resistance results in a lower energy cost compared with running
outdoors at the same velocity. So if you are trying
to burn more calories, if you are trying trying to

(03:01):
prepare for a race, if you are trying to just
improve your endurance. Ideally you put it at one percent.
Now you can mix it up, but just know that
you are going easier. So if you always have it
at a zero percent incline on a treadmill and then
you go outdoors, so often people say why is it harder? Again,

(03:24):
there are several reasons, but this is one big one
because you get acclimated too, as they say, we can
use it because it kind of makes it easier to understand,
kind of like running downhill slightly because you're just not
working as hard as on a flat surface outdoors. And
that's why. It's the wind resistance. So cyclists in an

(03:44):
arrow position, right, Swimmers they're fighting against the the water,
you know, literally the resistance of the water. You gotta
fight through that. And runners, yes, there's wind resistance as well.
So that is why if you want to maximize or
burn more calories, make it more like running outdoors, you

(04:07):
want to put your treadmill to a one percent incline.
Then you don't go out to do your five k
race after training almost exclusively on your treadmill and go, oh,
this is harder than I thought it would be. And
there you have it. Wind resistance one percent incline and
you will get the same energy cost as running outside

(04:30):
when you are running on a treadmill. Thank you for listening.
I am Tom Holland. This is Fitness Disrupted. Please rate
the show if you haven't subscribe as well. Tom h
Fit is my Twitter and my Instagram and you can
ask questions right through my website Fitness disrupted dot com.
Thank you for listening. My goal is to help you

(04:51):
have your best life, to look better, to feel better,
to live longer. We do this through science and common
sense and excessive moderation. Thank you for listening. I am
Tom Holland. This is Fitness Disrupted. Believe in yourself. Fitness

(05:15):
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