Do you self-identify as a treadmill runner or do you prefer to think of it as Satan’s sidewalk?
Regardless of where you side on the treadmill argument, there’s an undoubted utility in these mechanical monstrosities. Treadmill running often becomes a steady staple in the fitness diet for those of us training in the frigid, darkness of the Northern hemisphere this time of year. When it’s too icy to do your workout outdoors, or your local trails are only accessible by skis, the treadmill offers a convenient, controllable environment where you can bank plenty of miles and tons of vert when using the incline features.
Incline treadmill running (and hiking) builds strength and endurance without the impact of doing so outdoors, meaning that running in the comfort of climate control isn’t just an excuse to avoid snot icicles and frozen corneas; it’s a path to becoming an aerobic monster. While there’s no magic workout that will unlock your fitness (despite what Instagram fit-fluencers will have you believe), there is magic in being able to repeat and appropriately progress sessions within a training block. Incline treadmill workouts can be a tool to add to your quiver of consistency.
Need some extra convincing? Take a look at this article Strava posted on David Roche’s journey to breaking the “unbreakable” Leadville 100 course record in 2024. In his strategy, David talks about using the incline treadmill for threshold workouts and for adding more volume to his daily runs. You’ll also find incline treadmill workouts in Killian Jornet’s 2022 training and racing log. If it’s good enough for trail running’s GOATs, it’s good enough for all of us.
In this article, we’ll explore 5 incline treadmill workouts to improve your running. From base phase to sharpening, you’ll walk away with an understanding of the purpose of each and how to progress or modify as you go.
As a note, none of these workouts are designed to be all-out race efforts, so if you’re looking for a time trial idea, check out our 15 Minutes at 15% Incline Treadmill Challenge!
For each of the 5 workouts, we use RPE (rate of perceived exertion) to determine the intensity, so just in case you aren’t familiar with the 1-10 RPE scale, here’s a refresher:
1.) TreadHill Progression
Progression runs, also referred to as “cutdown runs”, require you to dig deep once you’re already fatigued, which requires smart pacing and attention to perceived effort cues. By doing progressions, we develop our aerobic endurance and improve our resilience to late-race fatigue. Progressions are ideal for days when you want to run by feel rather than starting or ending at a specific pace. A classic progression run done on flat terrain involves running each mile split just a bit faster (think 5-15s) than the previous.
Now, we know that mile splits go out the window once we introduce technical trails and undulating terrain, so the TreadHill Progression workout offers even more freedom than a classic progression run. Using RPE (rate of perceived effort) is your best and easiest bet. You can also use heart rate to gauge effort if you have an understanding of your zones.
This particular workout has you spending most of the progression in your threshold zone and finishing closer to VO2 max.
Total Workout Time: 60 minutes (20 minute warmup, 20 minutes of quality work, 20 minute cool down)
The Workout Structure:
- Warm up at RPE 2-3 and maintain this effort at 1-3% incline for 10 minutes.
- Start the progression by increasing the treadmill incline while holding the same pace until you’re running at an effort of an RPE of 6 (1-hour race effort). Hold your RPE of 6 for 10 minutes
- Ramp up the treadmill speed until you’re running at an RPE of 7. Hold for 6 minutes.
- Increase the treadmill incline until you’re running at an RPE of 8. Hold for 4 minutes.
- Cooldown: 20 minutes of easy running at the incline of your choice.
To progress this workout: increase the time spent at easy to moderate RPE levels before starting the progression. This can fatigue muscles and deplete glycogen leading to a greater endurance effect.
To modify this workout: reduce the progression’s RPE starting point and ending point. For example, you could start at an RPE of 5 and end at an RPE of 7 instead of RPE of 6-8 in the example above.
2.) 5/3/1 Power Ladder
If you haven’t heard the phrase, “hills pay the bills” in a while, it’s time for you to hear it again! Whether you’re running a road 100-miler or racing for a podium placement in a mountainous Spartan Beast, adding hill repeats into your training can pay dividends. Hills not only build strength, power, and endurance, but they also can help with improving your form and running economy.
This 5/3/1 Hill Repeat Ladder workout is designed to be done as a base phase workout that develops speed and mechanical efficiency. This means that you’ll have true rest periods between repetitions; think of these repetitions as fast and smooth rather than muscular and grindy.
Total Workout Time: 70 minutes (20 minute warmup, 18 minutes of total quality with 12 minutes of total rest, 20 minute cool down)
The Workout Structure:
- Warm up by running at an easy effort (RPE 2-3) for 15 minutes before ramping up to an RPE of 6-7 for 3 minutes. Hop off the treadmill and perform dynamic warm-ups that facilitate good uphill running mechanics (for example: walking lunges, skips, butt kicks, heel-to-toe-walks, etc.) Hop back on the treadmill and perform 2-3x 15s uphill strides with at least 60s of rest between reps to prepare the body to work hard.
- Work Bout: begin the first 5-minute repeat on an incline of 8-15% at an RPE of 7-8.
- Recovery: after the 5 minutes is up, slow the treadmill and either hike slowly or stand for 2 minutes
- Work Bout: begin the 3-minute repeat on an incline of 8-15% at an RPE of 8
- Recovery: hike slowly or stand for 2 minutes
- Work Bout: begin the 1-minute repeat on an incline of 8-15% at an RPE of 8-9
- Recovery: hike slowly or stand for 2 minutes
- Repeat for a total of two rounds of 5/3/1
- Cool down with 20 minutes of easy running at the incline of your choice.
To progress this workout: You can easily progress this workout by increasing speed OR adding one round of 5/3/1 to make it three total, but do not increase both within the same workout. Keep in mind that doing too much or going too hard in this workout is counter-productive to base-building. We want the early season to be full of consistent B- sessions rather than a few sporadic A+ hero workouts.
To modify this workout: To modify this workout, reduce the 5/3/1 RPE from 6, 7, and 8 to an RPE of 5, 6, and 7 respectively.
3.) Summit Split
Perhaps you’ve heard of Killian Jornet’s iconic and brutal VK10K session where he ran a vertical kilometer (3280.84 ft of climbing in less than 3.1 miles), descended, and then ran a flat 10K. His aim for the VK10K double? To run both in less than 60 minutes combined. Though we may not be at Killian’s level (yet), we can gain a lot from a similar session.
The Summit Split workout is designed to train speed on tired legs and test your ability to transition from uphill to flat running mechanics. Look at this incline treadmill workout as a demanding tempo run broken into two phases: climb first, and run fast later.
Total Workout Time: 65 minutes (20 minute warmup, 30 minutes of total quality with 5 minutes of recovery jogging total, 10 minute cool down)
The Workout Structure:
- Begin running at an RPE 2-3 for 15 minutes before ramping up to an RPE of 6-7 for 3 minutes. Hop off the treadmill and perform dynamic warm-ups that facilitate good uphill running mechanics (for example: walking lunges, skips, butt kicks, heel-to-toe-walks, etc.)
- Hop back on the treadmill and perform 2-3x 15s uphill strides with 45s walk recovery between strides to prepare the body to work hard.
- Set the treadmill to a steep incline. Most commercial treadmills go up to 15%, but if you can go steeper, have at it!
- Begin running or hiking at an RPE 6
- Hold this effort for 15 minutes.
- After you’ve been climbing for 15 minutes, drop the treadmill incline to 1-3% and recover with easy jogging for 5 minutes
- Set the treadmill to 0-1% incline
- Run at RPE 6
- Hold this effort for 15 minutes
- Finish off with 10 minutes of easy jogging
To progress this workout: Either increase the speed for both portions of the tempo OR increase the duration of the tempo.
To modify this workout: Dial back the RPE of your climbing portion of the tempo from a 6 to a 5.
4.) OCR Sim
Seneca said “luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity,” and preparation is the goal of this incline treadmill workout. If you’re an obstacle course racer, you’re probably familiar with the term “compromised running,” but just in case the idea isn’t ringing a bell…
Compromised running is running that is impacted by fatigue, muscle strain, or altered biomechanics after completing obstacles. An OCR Simulation is the holy grail of compromised running, preparing you for the specific demands of race day.
This incline treadmill workout is designed to prepare you for the specific demands of an obstacle course race: fast feet for screaming downhills, steep climbs, and bits of compromised running.
Total Workout Time: varies based on paces run during the work bouts and time taken to complete “obstacles”
The Workout Structure:
- Warm up with 10 minutes of easy running (RPE 2-3) before ramping up to an RPE of 6-7 for 3 minutes. Hop off the treadmill and perform dynamic warm-ups that facilitate good uphill running mechanics (for example: walking lunges, skips, butt kicks, heel-to-toe-walks, etc.)
- Hop back on the treadmill and perform 2-3x 15s uphill strides with 45s walking rest between strides to prepare the body to work hard.
- Work Bout 1: 0.5 Mile + Burpees/Pull-Ups
- Get ready and set the treadmill to 0-1% incline
- Work Period: run for 0.5 miles at RPE 6
- Obstacle: hop off the treadmill and do 10 burpees and 10 pull-ups. Run back to the treadmill, keeping the transition as quick/smooth as possible
- Get ready and set the treadmill to 8-15% incline
- Work Bout 2: 0.5 Mile + Heavy Dumbbell Thrusters
- Work Period: run uphill for 0.5 miles at RPE 6
- Obstacle: hop off the treadmill and do 10 dumbbell thrusters. Run back to the treadmill, keeping the transition as quick/smooth as possible
- Get ready and set the treadmill to 0-1% incline
- Work Bout 3: 0.5 Mile + Push-Ups/Hanging Grip Switches
- Get ready and set the treadmill to 0-1% incline
- Work Period: run for 0.5 miles at RPE 6
- Obstacle: hop off the treadmill and do 10 push-ups and 20 grip switches. Run back to the treadmill, keeping the transition as quick/smooth as possible
- Get ready and set the treadmill to 8-15% incline
- Work Bout 4: 0.5 Mile + Heavy Dumbbell Walking Lunges
- Work Period: run uphill for 0.5 miles at RPE 6
- Obstacle: hop off the treadmill and do 20 walking lunges with dumbbells. Run back to the treadmill, keeping the transition as quick/smooth as possible
- Get ready and set the treadmill to 0-1% incline
- Work Bout 5: 0.5 Mile + Burpee Broad Jumps/Pull-Ups
- Get ready and set the treadmill to 0-1% incline
- Work Period: run for 0.5 miles at RPE 6
- Obstacle: hop off the treadmill and do 8 burpee broad jumps and 10 pull-ups. Run back to the treadmill, keeping the transition as quick/smooth as possible
- Get ready and set the treadmill to 8-15% incline
- Work Bout 6: 0.5 Mile + Jump Squats/Wall Sit
- Work Period: run uphill for 0.5 miles at RPE 6
- Obstacle: hop off the treadmill and do 10 jump squats and a 30s wall sit. Run back to the treadmill, keeping the transition as quick/smooth as possible
- Get ready and set the treadmill to 0-1% incline
- Run Finish: 0.5 Mile
- run for 0.5 miles at RPE 6
- Cool down with 2-3 miles of easy running
Progression: Use this as a short course race sim by increasing the intensity to RPE 7 and hustle strength portions and transitions. Use at an ultra race sim by maintaining RPE 6 or even reduce to RPE 5 and double the rounds.
Modification: reduce the reps for each “obstacle” or modify movements as needed.
5.) Mountain Minutes
This workout is best implemented in your sharpening phase of training because it requires a greater contribution from anaerobic metabolism, which can come at a cost to your aerobic base if done in excess over long periods of time. Think of this session as a dip into a lactate bath; we want it to be metabolically demanding enough to flush your system with metabolic byproducts from high intensity, but we don’t want it to compromise recovery. This principle should guide dosage.
To determine the treadmill incline for these 1-minute VO2 style hills, start out with a lower incline for the first set to minimize leg fatigue. Depending on experience, 5-8% incline is a good starting point for most trail runners, as it allows for natural running mechanics, but also demands more from your heart, muscles, and brain. If you are preparing for steep, yet runnable grades (9%+), it’s a good idea to do the latter part of this session on race-specific grades.
Total Workout Time: 59 minutes (15 minute warmup, 4x60s work with 60s jogging between, 3 minutes walking rest, 4x60s work with 60s jogging between, 10 minutes moderate, 15 minute cooldown)
The Workout Structure:
- Warm up with 10 minutes of easy running (RPE 2-3) before ramping up to an RPE of 6-7 for 3 minutes. Hop off the treadmill and perform dynamic warm-ups that facilitate good uphill running mechanics (for example: walking lunges, skips, butt kicks, heel-to-toe-walks, etc.)
- Hop back on the treadmill and perform 2-3x 15s uphill strides with 45s walking recovery between strides to prepare the body to work hard.
- Work Bout 1: 4x60s Hills
- Get ready and set the treadmill to an intermediate, yet runnable incline for you (5-8%)
- Work Period: run uphill at RPE 8 for 1 minute. If it’s your first time doing this workout, it is generally a good idea to take your first interval more conservatively to get a feel for the pace/effort sustainability. You will cook yourself if you go out too hot!
- Jogging Recovery: jog for 60s
- Repeat a total of 4 times
- Walking Recovery: 3 Minutes
- Work Bout 2: 4x60s Hills
- Get ready and set the treadmill to a steeper incline that you are still able to run (8%+)
- Work Period: begin running uphill at RPE 9 for 1 minute.
- Jogging Recovery: jog for 60s
- Repeat a total of 4 times
- Work Bout 3: 10 Minutes Moderate Running
- Get ready and set the treadmill incline to an intermediate, yet runnable grade similar to the starting incline you used for the first set of reps.
- Work Period: Run at an RPE of 6 for 10 minutes.
- Cool down at an easy effort for 15 minutes.
Progression:
For your first time doing this workout, approach it with a “less is more” mentality. Generally, there is no need to exceed 20 minutes of VO2 work in a single session.
Modification: modify this workout by shortening or skipping the moderate running.
As tempting as it might be for runners to hibernate during the tough winter months, the early season is where we can accumulate consistent work that lays a strong foundation for big mountain adventures, races, or FKTs. Although you might at first resist the “dreadmill”, don’t sleep on the benefits of incline treadmill workouts like these. Try one (or all) on the list and let us know how it goes!
Call for comments:
With these 5 sessions in mind, does one resonate with your current training? Do you have a go-to workout on the treadmill? Let us know in the comments!
Leave a Reply