5 Treadmill Incline Walking Workouts For Fat Burning
Take your treadmill regime to the next level with an incline walking workout. Ramping the treadmill’s gradient up significantly increases calorie burn and gives you a terrific cardio workout.
Walking up a steep gradient has as much impact on fat burning as running or jogging, and it’s an excellent way to boost your fitness. These treadmill-incline walking workouts will take your fitness to a new level. Choose from beginner treadmill incline workouts, interval training workouts (HIIT), and advanced incline treadmill workouts.
What Are The Benefits Of Incline Treadmill Workouts?
Adding an incline increases the difficulty level of a treadmill workout. The benefits include:
- Burn more calories: Walking uphill burns more calories than walking on a treadmill with zero incline. The actual calorie burn will depend on your weight, the incline, and your walking speed, but typically, you can expect to burn 100 calories every 10 minutes.
- It works the cardiovascular system harder: The added intensity of walking up an incline means your cardiovascular system is working hard to supply oxygen to your muscles.
- Engages your glutes, quads, and calf muscles: Walking up an incline is a strength training session for your lower body.
- Helps you tackle stairs: If stairs and hills in everyday life leave you out of puff, these workouts will make a big difference.
- Increases your motivation: incline treadmill workouts add variety to your cardio sessions, preventing boredom and improving motivation.
Are Incline Treadmill Workouts Suitable For Beginners?
Incline treadmill workouts suit all abilities, from complete beginners to serious athletes. You can adjust either the incline or your walking speed to completely control how hard you work.
Incline workouts are always challenging. If you’re a beginner, it will take time to build leg strength. Keep those first sessions short at 10-15 minutes, and don’t overdo the maximum gradient. It’s best to alternate between zero incline and at a higher gradient until you adapt to walking on an incline.
As you get stronger, you can increase the length of your workouts, the maximum gradient, and your walking speed. Aim to walk at a brisk pace. This will vary based on the gradient and your fitness level, but a typical walking pace is between 3 and 4 mph.
Enjoy your workout! Listen to music or a podcast, mount a TV in front of your treadmill if it’s a home workout, or work out with a friend. The more enjoyable the session, the easier it will be for you to stay motivated.
1. Beginner Incline Walking Treadmill Workout
A 10-minute workout plus a warmup and cool down to introduce complete beginners to incline treadmill walking.
- Warm-up: 5 minutes
- Speed: slowly build to 3mph or a comfortable brisk pace
- Incline: 0%
- Workout: 10 minutes
- Speed: 3mph or a comfortable brisk pace
- Incline: 4-6%
- Cool-down: 5 minutes
- Slowly reduce speed to 2 mph or an easy walking pace
- Incline: 0%
2. 15-Minute HIIT Incline Walking Treadmill Workout
This intense interval training workout will get your heart rate pumping! Go for maximum calorie burn in a 15-minute workout.
- Warm-up: 5 minutes
- Speed: slowly build to 3mph or a comfortable brisk pace
- Incline: 0%
- Workout: 15 minutes
- Speed: 3mph or a comfortable brisk pace
- Incline:
- 2 minutes at 5%
- 1 minute at 1%
- 2 minutes at 6%
- 1 minute at 1%
- 2 minutes at 8%
- 1 minute at 1%
- 2 minutes at 6%
- 1 minute at 1%
- 2 minutes at 5%
- 1 minute at 1%
- Cool-down: 5
- Slowly reduce speed to 2 mph or an easy walking pace
- Incline: 0%
3. 30-Minute Fat-Burning Incline Walking Workout
This zone 2 workout will maximize fat-burning. Reduce your walking speed if necessary to maintain a comfortable, brisk pace.
- Warm-up: 5 minutes
- Speed: slowly build to 3mph or a comfortable brisk pace
- Incline: 0%
- Workout: 20 minutes
- Speed: 3mph or a comfortable brisk pace
- Incline:
- 4 minutes at 5%
- 1 minute at 1 %
- Repeat 4 times until you’ve completed a 20-minute set
- Cool-down: 5
- Slowly reduce speed to 2 mph or an easy walking pace
- Incline: 0%
4. 12-3-30 Treadmill Workout
This is the workout coined by YouTuber Lauren Giraldo. Sometimes, the simplest ideas are best. It involves setting the treadmill gradient to 12% and walking for 30 minutes at a speed of 3 mph. It’s definitely challenging, but the pain is over in just 30 minutes, and the incline workout produces excellent fat-burning results. Lauren claims the routine helped her lose 30 pounds.
- Warm-up: 5 minutes
- Speed: slowly build to 3mph
- Incline: 0%
- Workout: 30 minutes
- Speed: 3mph
- Incline: 12%
- Cool-down: 5
- Slowly reduce speed to 2 mph or an easy walking pace
- Incline: 0%
5. Advanced Max Gradient Incline Walking Workout
I’ve included this advanced workout for trail runners and ultra runners who need to be strong walking up hills for long periods.
- Warm-up: 5 minutes
- Speed: 3mph
- Incline: 0%
- Workout: 40 minutes
- Speed: vary the speed as necessary, but aim for the maximum pace possible
- Incline: 25% or maximum based on your treadmill settings
- Cool-down: 5
- Slowly reduce speed to 2 mph or an easy walking pace
- Incline: 0%
These workouts should give you the confidence to start Treadmill Incline Walking. It’s one of the best ways to get in shape, and it’s a good option for non-runners. If you’re looking for more variety, try this 15-minute Incline Walking Treadmill Workout For Beginners or this 30-minute Fat Burning Beginner Treadmill Workout.
