Power Hiking on a Treadmill for Vert¶

A treadmill at a steep incline lets you practice the power hike most runners use on long climbs, at a steady effort you can hold. Use it on the days the weather or the light rules out going outside. Save the outdoor days for the long runs.

This post is for the runner whose town is flat, whose race map has a long climb on it, and who has a treadmill in the garage. It could be a first 50K with one big hill or a fifth hundred with ten of them. The worry is the same: the climb is coming and you have nowhere to practice it.

Why hike at all¶

On a steep race climb, a lot of runners walk it, and it is a skill you can practice. NavRun's longer guide to power hiking for ultras covers form and when to switch between hiking and running. This post is about doing it indoors.

The treadmill's advantage is control. You pick the grade and the minutes. The belt never runs out of hill, so a 60-minute climb is possible in a town where the biggest rise is an overpass. The more you build up to a long climb, the less a long climb on race day is a surprise.

How much climbing is on the belt¶

Treadmill grade is a percentage: 10% means 10 feet up for every 100 feet forward. That makes the arithmetic easy.

• At 10%, you climb about 528 feet per mile of belt.
• At 15%, about 792 feet per mile.
• At 15% and 3 miles per hour, one hour is about 2,400 feet.

Your speed will differ from 3 mph, so treat that as an example, not a target. The point is that a long hike at a steep grade adds up fast. Check your machine's top grade before you plan around it. Many stop at 12% or 15%.

A first session¶

Ian Torrence, writing for iRunFar, suggests that a newer treadmill hiker start with 5-minute blocks at 10%, then 12%, then 15%. Adjust the speed to an effort you could hold, and keep your hands off the handrails. Hands resting on your quads are fine. Greenwood, quoted in the same article, suggests starting with 20 to 30 minutes of power hiking and building toward 90 minutes. It is a hiking workout, not a running one.

Your first session might look like this:

1. Walk 5 minutes at 0% or 1% to warm up.
2. 5 minutes at 10%.
3. 5 minutes at 12%.
4. 5 minutes at 15%, or as steep as your machine and legs allow.
5. Walk 5 minutes at 0% to cool down.

If 15% is out of reach, stay at 10% or 12% and repeat the blocks. A session that stays under what you can hold is a good session.

More sessions to rotate in¶

Running Mums Australia published five treadmill sessions that top out at 12% and run roughly 35 to 40 minutes. Two of them:

• Incline pyramid: 5 minutes at 0%, then 5 minutes each at 8%, 10%, 12%, 10% and 8%, then 5 minutes at 0%.
• Steep, steep and steep: a 5 minute warm up, then 8 minutes at max incline followed by 2 minutes at 0%, three times, then 5 minutes at 0%.

The article notes that as the incline goes up, you lower the speed and keep the same brisk cadence. Its advice for the warm up is the same as above: walk 5 minutes before adding any incline.

Two more ideas from the iRunFar piece:

• On tired legs. Greenwood suggests adding 30 minutes of power hiking to the end of a long run, to practice hiking on legs that are not fresh. That is closer to what a climb at mile 40 feels like.
• Steeper machines. If yours goes past 15%, strong hikers can move the grade between 15% and 20% every 5 to 10 minutes, slowing down as it steepens.

Both sources also suggest adding weight once you are comfortable: iRunFar mentions a weight vest or weighted pack, and Running Mums Australia a backpack loaded to race-day weight.

Can I wear trail shoes on a treadmill?¶

Probably, with a caveat. I did not find a good test of it. What I found were product blogs, and they disagree. Some say deep lugs can scratch or wear the belt, especially if the soles carry grit in from outside. Others say the grip helps.

So the honest answer is to check your treadmill's manual or the maker's support page. If you want to be careful, wipe your soles before you step on, and keep a pair of shoes for indoors. If your race has a pack or poles, practice with the pack. Poles on a treadmill belt are a question for the manufacturer.

What the treadmill cannot train¶

It trains the climb. It does not train the descent. Torrence says it directly: uphill treadmill hiking does not prepare you for quad-crushing downhills, so add downhill work somewhere else. Our post on downhill running and quad prep covers that, and training for trails without trails puts the treadmill, stairs and garage ramps together in one week.

Steep hiking is new work for your calves and Achilles tendons, so build slowly and recover well. If something hurts instead of aching, or a pain does not go away, that is a question for a physiotherapist or doctor.

Which days are treadmill days¶

This is where weather comes in. You can see ahead which days will be treadmill days, if you look at the plan beside the forecast.

NavRun's training calendar shows each planned run next to the forecast for that day: temperature, precipitation and wind. If Thursday's climbing session lines up with a stormy evening, that is your treadmill day. If Saturday's long run has a clear morning, that one goes outside. You decide the week on Sunday instead of on the doorstep at 6 a.m.

Common questions¶

How do I power hike? Slow the belt as the grade goes up, keep a brisk cadence, and rest your hands on your quads, not the handrails. The power hiking guide goes into form.

Why does climbing practice matter for an ultra? A long climb asks for time spent hiking uphill, which flat running does not give you. The treadmill gives you that time when the hills are not there.

How often? Torrence's article does not set a weekly number. A reasonable shape is one climbing session a week alongside your long run, which is what our flat-city week uses.

Start from the climb on your race map¶

Find the longest climb on your race and set the treadmill to something like it. Build slowly: add minutes before you add grade.

If you want the week laid out next to the forecast, the training calendar does that. Start free. navrun.app

Sources: iRunFar, Ian Torrence, "Preparing for Steep Events When Mountains Aren't Available"; Running Mums Australia, "Treadmill sessions to boost your power hiking".