The treadmill, particularly uphill treadmill work, is becoming more prevalent among some of the top pro runners in the world.
Uphill treadmill work is kinder on the body, due to the same repetitive motion and low ground impact force. It’s also great for heat training, locking in on specific paces, and training through tough weather.
With that, here are some of my top tips for treadmill success!
SPEED & INCLINE CHANGES
When it comes to treadmill work, play around with the incline. The best part of treadmill work is the ability to run uphill for long, sustained periods of time. Even in mountainous areas, you can’t always beat that.
An 8-10% incline is often great for speed work and intervals, with steeper inclines above 12% great for working a slightly different set of muscles and practicing your hiking form.
Whenever I have an easy run on the treadmill, I’m always playing around with the speed and incline to keep things interesting.
PLENTY OF FUEL
Treadmill runs are not only a mental scrap, but they often feel harder.
You’re sweating more. You’re working harder. You don’t have any distractions around you. Everything just feels tougher, even if the work you’re doing is actually taking less out of you.
In order to aid that, and all the sweat from the heat of the experience, make sure to bring more fuel than you think. I almost always run out of liquid too early when I run on the treadmill, simply because I feel silly bringing two bottles to the gym. But that’s exactly what your body needs. Your body needs that extra fuel.
If you’re going for longer than an hour, up your sodium intake, and make sure to take in plenty of carbs.
I’ll often increase my typical sodium intake by 200-300mg for an indoor workout, and bring an extra gel for good measure.
START SLOWER
One of the most difficult things about the treadmill is that running fast feels so much more effortful than it does outdoor. Too slow, and you’re bored out of your mind.
This is why I like to start slower, and gradually increase. I typically start at speeds much slower than the norm outdoors, and find this particularly useful at the start of each interval on a workout.
By starting slower, you can get into the rhythm, ease into things, and then increase once you’re confident that it feels too easy.
This is where runners often go wrong with indoor speed work. They start too fast, and then suffer a drop-off on later intervals. But if you start slower than you think you need to, you can usually hang on stronger, giving yourself the option to speed up, instead of slowing down.
If you ever feel yourself falling behind, work harder to get back up to the front of the machine. You can usually tell that you’re going too fast on a treadmill, because you’ll slowly start making your way toward the rear end. But if you work to stay closer to the front, you will feel stronger and less out of touch with the reality of the speed at hand.
Finally, if you feel like you’re going slow uphill, that’s the point! This is not a bad thing. It’s not about the speed. You don’t want your heart jumping out of your chest or the machine to be covered in puddles.
You want to stay relaxed and controlled. It’s all about getting those strength gains, and saving your body from the hard pounding of another outdoor run. It’s not a bad thing to end the run and feel like you haven’t travelled as many miles as you should have when it comes to uphill treadmill work. If anything, that means you were doing it right.
These are my top treadmill tips for success! If you have any others to throw into the mix feel free to comment below or reach out to me below!
Thanks for reading and see you soon.
