Sunday, October 24, 2010

The Power of the Incline



Have you ever seen people on the treadmill? Most times, they just want to get on, look like they really know what they are doing, and get off. Nobody wants to look like that novice messing with the buttons on the machines at the gym. But because of this attitude, we may miss some great things we could implement into our workouts to burn mega calories.

One of these things is the ‘incline’. If I asked for a show of hands of how many readers use the incline button, I’m sure there would be only two or three. But just as little as a level 1 or 2 incline can burn so many more calories. Well, maybe if they could have come up with a more fun name for it, people would be curious enough to push the button. Incline seems a little blah to me.

But this is good news! This means you don’t necessarily have to increase your run time to burn more calories, just increase your incline! If you’re a workaholic like me who has a limited amount of time to hit the gym, this would go right on your list of things that make you happy. Where you would have burned 200 calories in 30 minutes, now you can burn between 250 and 300. That’s a major increase!

Now, if you’re not a runner, or if you are worried about hurting your ankles and knees doing high incline levels, the best way to start with inclines is to walk. So I put together a workout we could all try out to see if inclines work for us. Don’t hate me yet. I tried it myself with more intensity so I say in my slave-driver voice “You can do it!”

Treadmill (30 minutes)

Try this workout this week and let me know how it works out (yes, I rhymed). I’d love to hear your opinions. This can be a good start to your new found love for the incline button 

Have a fabulous week Eights & Weights!

4 comments:

  1. I'm one of the people who doesn't love the incline button but I've heard using it when running can really increase my endurance, pace and all round fitness - I'll try and incorporate an incline run into my routine :) Just FYI for everyone, the incline on the treadmill should always be on at least 1 as that is the incline that most replicates running outside on a flat.

    Thanks for another great informative article!

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  2. Hmmm...I'm definitely gonna try this one...

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  3. Yes, I forgot to include that! The incline should always be on 1 to mimic running outside on a flat surface. Thanks Vickii!

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