Weight loss can be a challenging journey, but incorporating incline walking into your routine, alongside strength training, can be a highly effective strategy. Incline walking is a low-impact exercise that elevates your heart rate and boosts cardiovascular health. Research suggests that walking at an incline can be as beneficial as running, as it increases the intensity of your workout by engaging more muscles in your legs and core. This article delves into the multifaceted benefits of incline walking for weight loss, providing practical tips and insights for incorporating it into your fitness regimen.
The Science Behind Incline Walking and Weight Loss
Increased Calorie Burn
One of the primary reasons incline walking is so popular is its ability to dramatically increase the number of calories burned compared to walking on a flat surface. Research suggests that walking at a 10-15% incline can boost calorie burn by up to 50%. Walking on an incline requires more energy than walking on flat ground, and the amount of energy, or calories, required also goes up the steeper the gradient. Data from 24 participants showed that, compared to flat ground, metabolic energy cost increased by 22.9% at a 10% gradient and 44.2% at a 16% gradient.
Unlike flat-surface walking, which primarily engages the lower leg muscles, incline walking works larger muscle groups, such as the glutes, quads, and hamstrings. This increased muscle activation forces your body to burn more calories, even at lower speeds. Incorporating incline walking into your routine can also help you stay in the fat-burning zone more easily. In this zone, your body uses stored fat as energy rather than carbohydrates.
Cardiovascular Health Improvement
Walking on an incline challenges your cardiovascular system in a way that flat-surface walking doesn’t. As your body works harder to walk uphill, your heart has to pump more oxygenated blood to your muscles. This increases your heart rate and strengthens your cardiovascular system over time. Some research suggests that walking on an incline can further increase your heart rate.
Research has shown that incline walking can help you achieve your target heart rate for cardiovascular conditioning without the need for running or high-intensity workouts. It’s an excellent option for people who want to improve their heart health but find running or high-impact activities too strenuous. Additionally, incline walking allows you to maintain a challenging cardio routine without the risk of overexertion. Aerobic exercises like walking, running, and hiking can help improve both your resting and maximum heart rates. This means that your heart will have to work less hard to pump blood out to the rest of your body.
Read also: Comprehensive Incline Walking Guide
Muscle Toning and Building
One significant advantage of incline walking is its ability to tone and build muscle in the lower body. Walking uphill engages muscles that aren’t as involved in flat walking, such as the glutes, hamstrings, and calves. Because incline walking engages the larger muscles in your legs and glutes more effectively than flat walking, it can help improve muscle definition and overall strength. As these muscles strengthen, you’ll notice improvements in your overall endurance, posture, and functional movement.
Incline walking may better target lower body muscles like the quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves, which can help relieve pressure from the knee. Incline walking at a 10% or 15% gradient may also be beneficial for older adults, people with obesity, and those recovering from knee surgeries because it helps support lower body range of motion, movement, and balance.
Low-Impact Exercise
One of the biggest draws of incline walking is that it’s a low-impact exercise that’s easy on the joints. For people with arthritis, joint pain, or those recovering from injury, incline walking offers a great alternative to running or other high-impact workouts. Unlike running, which can stress your knees, hips, and lower back, incline walking is much gentler. The incline creates natural resistance, so your muscles and heart are still challenged but without the jarring impact that occurs with every stride when running on flat ground. The low-impact nature of incline walking also allows for more consistent, long-term workouts without the risk of injury.
Regularly walking or running on a flat surface may lead to osteoarthritis in the knee or other knee problems.
Core Engagement and Stability
Walking on an incline strengthens your legs and cardiovascular system and engages your core. As your body adapts to the incline, your core muscles are activated to help stabilize and balance you during the workout. Engaging your core during incline walking helps develop a stronger, more stable midsection, crucial for overall fitness and daily activities. A strong core can improve your balance and coordination, making you less prone to injury during exercise and daily life. Improved balance and stability also enhance your performance in other physical activities.
Read also: Walking for weight loss
Hormonal Benefits
Incline walking gently boosts adrenal function, helps lower cortisol (stress hormone), and improves insulin sensitivity. That’s important because high cortisol levels can lead to stubborn belly fat. Studies have also shown that walking at an incline can help reduce appetite-stimulating hormones like ghrelin. So, this kind of walking not only burns calories but helps reset the body’s hormonal environment to make weight loss easier.
Practical Tips for Incline Walking
To make the most of incline walking, it’s essential to approach it with the right mindset and strategy. Here are some practical tips to help you get started and stay consistent:
- Start Gradually: If you’re new to incline walking, begin with a low incline (1-5%) and gradually increase the steepness as your fitness improves. Ease into it-your incline journey starts here. A 1-5% incline gets your body used to working harder without overwhelming your muscles. Start with 20 minutes at 2%, and bump it up by 1% each week.
- Incorporate Interval Training: One way to maximize calorie burn and cardiovascular benefits is to incorporate interval training. Alternate between walking at a steep incline for 2-3 minutes and recovering at a lower incline for a similar amount of time. Keep things spicy by alternating speed and incline. Try 1 minute at a 6% incline and 3 mph, followed by 2 minutes at 0% incline to recover.
- Maintain Proper Posture: When walking on an incline, it’s important to maintain proper posture. Keep your shoulders back and your core engaged, and avoid leaning forward or using the handrails for support.
- Consistency is Key: Consistency is key to seeing results like any exercise. Aim for 20-30 minutes, 3-5 times a week.
- Stay Hydrated and Nourished: Be sure to stay hydrated and nourish your body with a balanced diet to support your weight loss efforts.
- Track Your Progress: Don’t just wing it-track it! Use your treadmill’s console or a fitness tracker to monitor your incline, speed, and calories burned.
- Listen to Your Body: It’s important to listen to your body and modify your workouts accordingly. If you have joint issues like knee, hip, or ankle problems, incline walking might feel too strenuous and could exacerbate existing conditions.
Incline Walking Workouts
There are many different types of incline walking workouts that you can do. Here are a few examples:
Beginner Workout
If you haven’t tried incline walking on a treadmill before, consider starting slow.
- Walk at a 1% gradient and a speed of 3 miles per hour (mph) for 3 minutes.
- Increase the gradient by 0.5% to 1% every 3 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, walk at a flat gradient and a speed of 3 mph for 3 minutes.
- If this is too easy, gradually increase the gradient until you find a challenging, but not painful, incline.
The 12-3-30 Method
A popular beginner walking workout is the 12-3-30 method. To do this, walk at a 12% gradient and a speed of 3 mph for 30 minutes.
Read also: Weight Loss: Walking vs. Swimming Comparison
- Set your treadmill incline to 12% (or lower - choose a challenging incline for your fitness level).
- Set your speed to 3mph (or 4.8kmph).
- Walk for 30 minutes.
Consider modifying the gradient, speed, and time of this structured workout to suit your ability and goals.
Interval Workout
The treadmill also has many programmed settings. These may include intervals, which alternate between steeper and lower gradients for timed periods. For example:
- Walk at a 1% gradient and a speed of 3 mph for 3 minutes to warm up.
- Walk at a 10% gradient at your maximum speed for 1 minute.
- Walk at a 3% gradient and a speed of 3 mph for 2 minutes.
- Repeat steps 2 and 3 up to 10 times.
- Walk at a 0% gradient and a speed of 2 mph to cool down.
You can modify these intervals based on your fitness levels.
Advanced Incline Walking
- Ready to level up? A 6-10% incline hits that sweet spot between challenge and endurance. Mix it up with intervals-try 3 minutes at 7% incline, then 2 minutes at 5%.
- Seasoned pro? Time to push those limits! Tackle a steady 12% incline for 30 minutes or crush interval sessions peaking at 15%. It’s intense, but the payoff?
Combining Incline Walking with Strength Training
Strength training is equally vital for building lean muscle mass, which is crucial for boosting your metabolism and torching calories. After all, the more muscle you have, the more calories your body burns at rest.
A simple way to combine incline walking and strength training is to dedicate specific days of the week to each type of exercise. For example, you could pick Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for incline walking, planning for sessions that last between 30 to 45 minutes on a steep treadmill or during a hike on a hilly trail. On alternate days, like Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, focus on strength training, targeting different body parts with each workout.
For a more intense workout, you could start with a brisk 10-minute incline walk to warm up. Following this, you can transition to your strength training routine, then end with another short incline walk as a cool-down. Incline walking reduces your risk of overuse injuries by engaging different muscle groups and adds variety to your workouts. Strength training complements this by increasing lean muscle mass and bone density.
Precautions and Safety Tips
While combining incline walking and strength training is an excellent weight-loss strategy for most people, some may need to exercise caution before starting.
- Consult with a Healthcare Professional: If you have any underlying health conditions or concerns, consult with your doctor before starting a new exercise routine.
- Start Slowly: If you’re new to fitness, start on flat ground. Gradually increase incline. “Slowly progress your incline, start at the lowest setting and (gradually) increase, like any other workout in terms of increasing mileage or intensity,” says Cardone.
- Proper Form is Crucial: When training someone, adjust the incline safely and with guidance to maintain posture, balance and stride. Inclining a treadmill is similar to walking up hills, which places different stresses on the musculoskeletal system.
- Avoid Overdoing It: Don’t do it every day. Almost whatever the routine is, the general rule is there should be a recovery day or at least alternating with some other activity in order to try to avoid overuse injuries.
Treadmill vs. Natural Terrain
Both treadmills and natural terrain offer unique benefits for incline walking:
- Treadmills: Offer precision. The incline can be set to exact percentages, making progress trackable. It’s also safer during monsoons or extreme heat. Many treadmills offer incline settings that start at 0% and move up by 0.5% increments to a maximum of a 15% incline or grade.
- Natural Terrain: Provides better muscle engagement because of uneven surfaces. It also brings in fresh air and Vitamin D, both of which support mood and fat loss.
In the end, it’s about consistency. When a heat wave hits, it's time to move indoors, and doing a treadmill workout can be fun and effective.
Is Incline Walking Really as Magical as It's Made Out to Be?
A common claim is that walking is enough for weight loss - and to some extent, that’s true. But what most articles skip over is how much more effective incline walking can be compared to flat walking. Walking at just a 5% incline can burn up to 50% more calories than walking on a flat surface at the same speed. The incline forces the muscles in the legs, glutes, and core to work harder. That means more fat burning and better metabolic function without increasing workout time.
What’s special is how it boosts the afterburn effect, where the body continues to burn calories even after the walk is done. That doesn’t happen much with regular walking.
The 12-3-30 Workout
The 12-3-30 treadmill workout continues to be a favorite among workout trends since it went viral in 2020. The workout is simple: Set the treadmill to an incline of 12 (or lower - choose a challenging incline for your fitness level) at a speed of 3 miles per hour and walk for 30 minutes.
The 12-3-30 is popular in part because there is no running required. Walking can lower your risk of heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Department of Health and Human Services recommends moderate-intensity aerobic exercise for 150 to 300 minutes a week. Doing the 12-3-30 workout five times a week would get you into the low end of that range.
Benefits of 12-3-30
Walking has many health benefits including improved cardiovascular health and blood pressure, reduced risk of diabetes, increased metabolism and improved mental health. It can even lower the risk of some cancers. Since walking is lower-impact, it is less likely to cause injury than running, and walking on an incline engages your leg muscles more than walking on level ground, says TODAY fitness contributor Stephanie Mansour. “This will make for a more intense workout for your glutes, hamstrings and quads, while also increasing your heart rate.”
Is the “12-3-30” Workout Safe?
There are some risks to adding a significant incline on the treadmill, Dr. Dennis Cardone, osteopathic sports medicine specialist and chief of primary care sports medicine at NYU Langone Health, tells TODAY.com. “The problem is people don’t think that walking is a stressor," Cardone says. But walking on an incline can be a big stressor to the lower back, hamstring, Achilles tendon, knee and plantar fascia. "These are the areas where we see some significant injury related to inclining a treadmill,” he says.
Here’s what to know to prevent injury if you’re ready to try the 12-3-30 workout yourself:
- If you’re new to fitness, start on flat ground.
- Don’t be fooled by the treadmill.
- Don’t do it every day.
- Gradually increase incline.
- Supplement with strength and stretching.
- Consider the impact.
Can You Lose Weight With the 12-3-30 Workout?
Walking treadmill workouts can improve endurance and aid in weight loss if you do them consistently. Gradual, steady weight loss of about 1 to 2 pounds per week is optimal for keeping the weight off, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Generally to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week, you need to burn 500 to 1,000 calories more than you consume each day, through a lower calorie diet and regular physical activity,” according to the Mayo Clinic.
Walking for 30 minutes burns about 125 calories for a 150-pound person - and adding an incline will increase that calorie burn. So with healthy diet changes, the 12-3-30 workout has the potential to burn the calories needed for steady, gradual weight loss.