Treadmill...increase incline, speed, or distance first?

[Ottakee]

I just got a treadmill this week. I am an older 40s overweight/plus size mom.

 

Outside I can walk at 3mph for up to 5-6 miles without stopping and can speed up some as well. Generally though O was doing about 2 miles at 3mph on the level.

 

I have a history of torn meniscus and Achilles tendonitis. I have been pain free for quite a while u til today when O tried to speed up and increase the incline a bit.

 

I was doing 3mph for 1 mile at 0.5 incline

Today I did just over a mile at 3.2mph at 1.5% incline. My ankle tells me that was too much. I have newer shoes (same model I have worn for years) with custom orthotic.

 

So. If you were 60 pounds overweight and wanted to increase the workout on the treadmill...slowly would you increase the distance you go, the speed you walk, or the Incline? Any good guidelines for this? I seriously will only have 30 minutes or so a day for this.

[cintinative]

Maybe start with speed and then work on the incline? Inclines can be hard on the knees.  Are you doing any other strength training for your legs to keep your knees healthy?  That's probably a good idea. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

I didn't increase anything for quite some time until I lost a good amount of weight.  I was in enough pain as it was.  I still made amazing progress just doing it little by little that way.

 

Now that I've lost the weight and gotten in decent shape, I've been able to increase the speed and incline (I do a random interval).  I've always kept my time the same. 

 

I don't know officially what you should do.  My thinking all along was I wanted to do what I'd stick to and not worry too much about increasing anything on any sort of schedule.  There have been points along the way where I wanted to increase because the workout became too easy and therefore boring. 

 

 

Edited December 10, 2017 by SparklyUnicorn

[mlktwins]

I would focus on increasing speed for that 30 minutes.  Once you have a lost a few pounds, I would work on incline.  It's not going to do you any good if you push too hard and are in pain.  You won't want to work-out at all.  I am 50 and need to lose about 40 pounds.  This is what I'm going to do.

[Alice]

I do it in intervals just because I find the treadmill so boring that I can only do it if I keep myself engaged. I do 5 minutes at a good normal pace (about 3.0), then do 5 min of a “fast†set where I do 2-1-2 minutes at a speed that pushes me, right now that’s 3.2 for 2 minutes, then 3.5 for 1 min then 3.2 for 2 minutes. Then I do 5 minutes at my normal pace. Then I do an incline set where I do the same 2-1-2 pattern and increase the incline. 

 

That only works if you don’t mind pushing the buttons a lot. I only do it when I’m at the gym waiting for my son in swim practice. I’m about the same as you it sounds like as far as age and fitness level. 

Edited December 10, 2017 by Alice

[Jyhwkmama]

The extra weight will definitely put stress on your feet and knees (no judgment here as I am a chubby girl).

 

Absolutely work on speed/endurance first. Increase the incline when you are in better shape. Do not run! Running is high impact. You can get am excellent workout with fast walking.

[Ali in OR]

I've read before that for people who have sluggish metabolisms and need to lose a lot of weight that the best thing is to increase time spent exercising--that simply walking around the neighborhood (or treadmill) is fine, but the longer the better. If you can't do longer or more sessions in a day, I would first just make sure that it sticks as a regular daily habit. You said this is your first week. I would do the comfortable 3 mph for 30 min at 0 incline daily for a couple of weeks and make sure there are no injury problems starting up (I had some hip issues when I started on the treadmill years ago). Then I would slowly increase speed. I wouldn't be anxious to increase incline as I think that it is more likely to cause injury. It would also be good to do calf stretches daily (easy for me to say, harder for me to implement myself). I think if I did that regularly I wouldn't have the plantar fasciitis I have right now.

Edited December 10, 2017 by Ali in OR

[Laurie4b]

You've already discovered that incline is not the way to go for you. Running uphill is how I tore some smaller tendon that attaches to the Achilles. (Can't recall its name.) 

 

If your goal is weight loss, I would do intervals. So warm up, then walk at 3 mph for 5 min. Then speed up to maybe 3.5 for 30 sec, then back to 3 mph. Check your heart rate during the interval. (You may need to work up to a speed that gets your heart rate up enough during the intervals.)3 Walk a minute or so and then do another interval at the higher speed. Start out with maybe 10 min of  30 sec speedier then 1 min normal speed intervals. Then do the rest of your workout at your 3.0 speed and do a cool down  As you adjust, you can increase the speed during the interval and decrease the recovery time. 

 

The warm up and cool down are really important as we age. It protects the heart. Keep the warm up and cool down (5-7 min ea) even if you have to cut the workout part down. 

[TCB]

Sorry if this is something of a hijack, but can anybody recommend a decent, reasonably priced treadmill. I walk outside, but have long thought of getting a treadmill for the worst of winter (and summer), but am put off because I have no idea what to buy.

[Lanny]

Have you had a Stress EKG recently?   If not, I suggest that you call an M.D. who is a Board Certified Internal Medicine / Cardiologist and have him or her check you out, before you begin your exercise program.  You want to improve your health, not kill yourself...

 

My experiences, when I took Stress EKGs, with my Cardiologist standing next to me, was that increasing speed can be difficult, but as I recall, when the elevation is increased, it gets A LOT harder than when it is flat and level.

 

Please have a Physical Examination BEFORE you begin your exercise program. Good luck with the weight loss and improvements in your health!

[Laurie4b]

The extra weight will definitely put stress on your feet and knees (no judgment here as I am a chubby girl).

 

Absolutely work on speed/endurance first. Increase the incline when you are in better shape. Do not run! Running is high impact. You can get am excellent workout with fast walking.

 

Yes! On all joints. A back specialist and knee specialist have told me every extra pound of weight is 4 pounds of pressure on joints. The good news is that it can be very encouraging as you are losing weight cause you can count every pound lost as 4 lbs of pressure off. It adds up fast that way!

[Ottakee]

I do it in intervals just because I find the treadmill so boring that I can only do it if I keep myself engaged. I do 5 minutes at a good normal pace (about 3.0), then do 5 min of a “fast†set where I do 2-1-2 minutes at a speed that pushes me, right now that’s 3.2 for 2 minutes, then 3.5 for 1 min then 3.2 for 2 minutes. Then I do 5 minutes at my normal pace. Then I do an incline set where I do the same 2-1-2 pattern and increase the incline. 

 

That only works if you don’t mind pushing the buttons a lot. I only do it when I’m at the gym waiting for my son in swim practice. I’m about the same as you it sounds like as far as age and fitness level. 

That will work once I get better at pushing buttons :-)  That sounds like a doable plan.

[Ottakee]

Sorry if this is something of a hijack, but can anybody recommend a decent, reasonably priced treadmill. I walk outside, but have long thought of getting a treadmill for the worst of winter (and summer), but am put off because I have no idea what to buy.

This was me.  I found a Proform 600i on Craigslist for $400 that was in almost brand new condition.  It had good ratings and seemed to meet all of my needs.  It was so hard to figure out what to get, what I needed/didn't need, etc. since I had never used one.

 

I still like walking outside much better but this is getting done in the winter when it is dark by the time I get home from work and there is lots of snow and ice.

[6packofun]

If you're good to go with more intense exercise, I'd start with short speed intervals (this doesn't mean all out sprinting, IMO) especially if you'd like to lose weight.  I would always get frustrated at not being able to do more difficult runs with hills on the treadmill or outside because my cardio/lung strength would give out before my legs would.  lol  Intervals will get you there.

[Ottakee]

Have you had a Stress EKG recently?   If not, I suggest that you call an M.D. who is a Board Certified Internal Medicine / Cardiologist and have him or her check you out, before you begin your exercise program.  You want to improve your health, not kill yourself...

 

My experiences, when I took Stress EKGs, with my Cardiologist standing next to me, was that increasing speed can be difficult, but as I recall, when the elevation is increased, it gets A LOT harder than when it is flat and level.

 

Please have a Physical Examination BEFORE you begin your exercise program. Good luck with the weight loss and improvements in your health!

I have had open heart surgery and a history of congestive heart failure and atrial fib but I am cleared for activities now.

 

I am not new to exercise/walking but rather new to the treadmill.  I have been walking outside 2-4 miles a day, 4-5 days a week, at the 3mph pace for several years.  I can do up to about 6 miles without a rest at a steady pace when I have a friend along to chat with.

 

Your concerns are very valid though for someone who has not been exercising at all.

[umsami]

I always did incline first....doing hills/HIIT training.  Not sure if it is the "right"thing to do, but it worked for me. :)  But with your orthopedic issues, I'm not sure what is the best choice for you.  Any chance you could give your orthopedic surgeon or PT a call and just ask which may be best?

Edited December 11, 2017 by umsami

[Free Indeed]

Sorry if this is something of a hijack, but can anybody recommend a decent, reasonably priced treadmill. I walk outside, but have long thought of getting a treadmill for the worst of winter (and summer), but am put off because I have no idea what to buy.

I have a Nordictrac now- but it's an older model- so know virtual walks or anything. We paid $200 for it. Still a good treadmill, but hubby wants to upgrade to a new sole f80. He is over weight and weighs enough to put "stress" on this older treadmill. If you want new- now is a good time to buy- if you want used- March/April will be a great time.

[katilac]

I have a Nordictrac now- but it's an older model- so know virtual walks or anything. We paid $200 for it. Still a good treadmill, but hubby wants to upgrade to a new sole f80. He is over weight and weighs enough to put "stress" on this older treadmill. If you want new- now is a good time to buy- if you want used- March/April will be a great time.

 

I would wait on incline. It can intensify a workout a great deal, but also is more likely to result in injury. 

 

If you only have about 30 minutes a day, increasing distance inherently means increasing speed, so speed it is. 

 

Interval training is very effective, but should only be added after at least a month of building stamina. My personal choice would be to only use speed in interval training until I was at a lower weight (risk of injury plus resistance is so. very. difficult with the extra pounds). Once I lost some weight (but not all of it, lol), resistance training became sooo much easier, I mean, everything did, but resistance was very noticeably easier. 

 

Do keep in mind that walking on a treadmill is much harder on your joints than walking outside, even at the same pace and incline. They are an extremely hard surface, and you are constantly walking. You might feel like you are constantly walking outside, but every now and then you slow down, or have a micro pause, or turn around to see what dog is barking . . . there is none of that on a treadmill. 

Edited December 11, 2017 by katilac

[Ottakee]

 

Do keep in mind that walking on a treadmill is much harder on your joints than walking outside, even at the same pace and incline. They are an extremely hard surface, and you are constantly walking. You might feel like you are constantly walking outside, but every now and then you slow down, or have a micro pause, or turn around to see what dog is barking . . . there is none of that on a treadmill.

Yes. I notice this. That is why I am.starting out with the mile and working up. I do have a cushion do track treadmill but it is still different and there are no micro breaks to call the dog, look at a tree, etc.

[SparklyUnicorn]

 

 

Do keep in mind that walking on a treadmill is much harder on your joints than walking outside, even at the same pace and incline. They are an extremely hard surface, and you are constantly walking. You might feel like you are constantly walking outside, but every now and then you slow down, or have a micro pause, or turn around to see what dog is barking . . . there is none of that on a treadmill. 

 

 

Are you sure about that?  I have read just the opposite.