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Incline/Decline on Treadmill?

Patrick LargePatrick Large
in General Training Discussions

Does/has anyone used the treadmill at extreme incline or decline (not sure if they have this) while training for an ultratrail?

There is a lot of talk in ultras about inclines and "power walking" with or without poles. There are few hills here in Holland to really get that training in. So the downhill running is the same.

What about running stairs? Like bleachers in a stadium?

Thanks in advanced

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Comments

  • tim cronktim cronk

    I haven't seen a TM that declines ? . Running an incline on a TM would definitely have its benefits if you do not have hills to train on. The Pole discussion always revolves around hiking the ups but I would argue they are similarly beneficial on the downs. I have only used poles once on the R2R2R and thought they really saved my quads on the first big descent. They did a great job of relieving some of the weight/stress off the lower body and spreading some of it to the upper body. Its very important to train with poles if you plan to use them. While trails are irregular and stairs are regular, training on stairs will definitely train those needed body parts for the ups/downs. I'd even call stairs strength training. You have the right idea, simulate your Ultra terrain the best you can with what you have, train the ups/downs , train the walk/hike and the run....

  • Patrick LargePatrick Large

    ***to expand on this.. what do you ultra guys do when you live in a relatively flat area to simulate/ strengthen for the hills (up and down).

  • John WithrowJohn Withrow

    @Patrick Large I have an ultra buddy (attempted The Barkley this yr as well as past races of UTMB, Tors de Gents, Hurt 100, and many other 100+). He has a Nordictrack Incline trainer and has several climbing workouts where he cycles through intervals from 15% up through 40% for ~60 mins. Sounds Brutal. That TM also goes to ~negative 6%, but I don't think he ever uses it for downhill running.

    For Downhill simulations he does box step offs or depth drops. Like hundreds of them. It's that impact loading of the quads and shins and calves that take a beating on the downhills. We have almost no hills in MN and he is a beast on hilly courses.

    Happy to get you details on some of his workouts if you want them.

  • Patrick LargePatrick Large

    @John Withrow , I would love to see what what your buddy is doing. I think a normal treadmill goes to 15%... 40% is nutty. I need to check the race profile and see what max incline is. I believe it is pretty steep.

    I thought it would be a good forum topic as well. "how to train for hilly races when you live on flat flat flat"

    I also have a buddy here who is heavy into ultras. I believe he is sponsored by clif bar (not 100% sure though) and a running clothing company called willpower here in Europe. Along with all the EN guys he is and will be my go to for specific training questions. He will Race UTMB in 2019. I just learned about the Barkley Marathon recently.. man... WTF :)

    Thanks again for your input-

  • Francis PicardFrancis Picard

    Climbing stairs is definitely on the things I need to start doing next year ! I live in a flat area too, so thats a challenge.

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