How to Set the Percentage of Grade on a Treadmill

Running on a treadmill is never quite the same as running outdoors. This can put you at a real disadvantage if you are training for a race, particularly one that will take place on a course with lots of hills. But if your treadmill has incline settings, you can do your best to imitate outdoor conditions by adjusting its grade. Select the appropriate grade to imitate running on a flat surface or doing hill work.

Instructions

    • 1

      Set the elevation of your treadmill using the computer on the treadmill. Usually this will involve pressing an "up" button to increase the incline and a "down" button to decrease the incline. Check the user's manual of your treadmill for specific instructions.

    • 2

      Set the grade to 0 percent -- or a flat grade -- to imitate running on a flat outdoor surface at speeds of 8 mph or slower. At higher speeds you need to adjust the grade to imitate the effects of wind resistance, which is not an issue at the lower speeds.

    • 3

      Select a grade of 1 percent if you will be running at a speed of 8 to 11.2 mph. This will imitate running on a flat outdoor surface taking wind resistance into account.

    • 4

      Up the grade to 2 percent if you are running faster than 11.2 mph and wanting to replicate outdoor conditions on a flat course.

    • 5

      Adjust the grade to between 4 and 8 percent to imitate hills. According to Olympic marathoner Pete Pfitzinger, a grade of up to 8 percent imitates hill running but anything over 8 percent "feels more like climbing" and is difficult to sustain.

    • 6

      Set the grade to between -6 and -8 percent to simulate downhill running as recommended by running coach Jack Daniels. Not all treadmills have a negative grade setting however.