The incline walk is treadmill walking at a steep gradient, usually somewhere between 10 and 15 percent. It gets your heart rate into a useful range at walking pace with almost no impact, which is why it survives on the same day as heavy leg work when running does not.
How to do it
- Set a steep incline and a walking pace — this is not a slow run.
- Stand tall and let go of the rails.
Common mistakes
- Gripping the handles, which removes most of the work you set the incline for.
What it trains
- Glutes
- extend the hip on every step, and take a much larger share the steeper the belt
- Calves
- push off constantly from a stretched ankle position — usually what aches first
- Hamstrings
- assist the hip extension as you pull the belt back underneath you
- Heart and lungs
- the actual training target, reached here without the joint cost of running
Variations and alternatives
Common questions
What incline and speed should I use?
A common starting point is 12 percent at around 5 km/h, but that is a template rather than a rule — set it so you are breathing hard and could still speak a sentence. If you have to hold on to keep up, the speed is too high for the incline you picked.
Is it cheating to hold the handles?
Yes, and it is the main thing that ruins this exercise. Holding on takes a meaningful chunk of your bodyweight off your legs and lets you keep a setting you cannot actually walk at. Drop the speed until your hands are free — the session is worth much more that way.
Is incline walking better than running for fat loss?
Not inherently, but it is easier to do consistently and much easier to recover from. Running gets your heart rate higher per minute; an incline walk lets you do forty minutes of steady work on a day your legs are already beaten up, and consistency is usually what decides this.
In StackUp. Logged with a stopwatch that keeps running if you leave the app, plus distance. Get the app.
Cardio
