You may have noticed that I have been doing most of my runs on the treadmill lately. As much as I like running outside, the treadmill has just been so convenient this winter. The one problem is that I really haven’t been running any hills this when I use the treadmill. Finally, last week I created this treadmill hill workout to finally get in a few hills on my run.
I knew that if I made it too intense or long that I would probably back out of doing it. I wanted something short and sweet as I adjusted to running hills on the treadmill. This workout can easily be adjusted based on how many intervals you want to do. I started with 3 and will likely increase each time I do this workout. Obviously, you can adjust the incline to whatever is appropriate for your fitness. However, this is not a very long workout so it’s important to remind yourself to try to make it challenging.
Remember to always start with a warm up and end with a cool down. During the hill intervals, increase to a little faster than an easy run pace. You want the intervals to be challenging but the incline will already make this part of the run feel harder. Also, these are longer intervals so you want to be sure to choose a pace at which you can still maintain proper form throughout the run.
The Lazy Runner’s Short and Sweet Treadmill Hill Workout
1 mile warm up
.3 mile 4% incline
.1 mile flat
.3 mile 5% incline
.1 mile flat
.3 mile 6% incline
1 mile cool down
This workout is 3.1 miles the way it was written, but as I said you can easily make it longer, or even shorter if needed.
The treadmill is a great way to run hills if you live in a flat area. It also gives you control over the incline and distance of the hills so you can do specific workouts based on your training goals. Right now, I am just trying to ease back into running hills and also adjust to doing them on the treadmill.
Hills are a challenging but important part of running. If you are lazy about running hills like me, give this workout a try and you’ll see that running hills on the treadmill is not so bad.
Do you run hills regularly?
Ever do hill repeats on the treadmill?
Do you prefer specific hill workouts or just including hills routes in your run?
You may also like:
How To Run Hills Safely and Efficiently
Why You Should Be Running Hills In Your Training
The Benefits of a Home Treadmill
3 Benefits of Treadmill Running That You May Not Have Realized
Hills? What are those?? Haha! What I call a “hill” here is probably just a subtle incline for people in other parts of the country. We are super flat. That said, I trained hills on the mill for Boston obvi, Flying Pig, and NYCM, to name a few. Love this short, sweet workout!
That reminds me of what it used to be like when I lived in the city and ran by the harbor every day! There was one “hill” that would probably feel like nothing now!
Hills are pretty much non-existent here. If we want to do hill training, we have to do hill repeats. Or the mill. My CrossFit coaches are really good at throwing exercises at me that train the glutes for hills.
I remember trying to do hill repeats when I lived in the city but the “hills” there were not very steep at all!
ugh. You know me and my relationship with ‘Milly. Maybe it’s due to the fact that she’s approaching 17 years of age, but she is very slow in adjusting her speeds when I try to do intervals. That said, I don’t mind doing hills with her, but they never feel as effective as a real hill outside 😉 I’m just better off without her LOL
I agree running hills outside is probably better! But if I’m gonna run on the treadmill I better force myself to run hills once in awhile.
Hills are one of my favorite ways to pass time on the treadmill. I try to run hills at least a few times per week – there are a lot to choose from out here!
The hills are definitely a good distraction when running on the treadmill!
I live in a super hilly area and any run I do outside involves hills, so I actually use the treadmill to run flat! I find hill repeats are still a hard workout though. The treadmill is so great for adjusting the incline to make hills exactly how you want them, and it really isn’t that boring if you mix it up every few minutes!
Exactly! And that makes alot of sense to use the treadmill for flat runs if you live in a hilly area.
I usually keep the incline the same while I am on the treadmill. I find that I run a variety of inclines while I am outside with the hills that I try to incorporate, so I guess I use the treadmill for my easy days….haha.
That makes sense! In general I prefer running easy on the treadmill although hills and varying the paces help to keep me distracted.
One of the best running tricks is always the little mind game of I’ll just do X where you make X really small…then just keep doing that over and over, ha!!
So true! I constantly need to play mind games while running on the treadmill.
This looks like a great workout to get in those hills! Sometimes hills seem easier on the treadmill and I know exactly how long I’ll be running them. Thanks for sharing!
Its nice to have some control over hills when running on the treadmill!
I might do this. I have to do hill training this cycle to prep for San Francisco.
I hope you like it if you do decide to give it a try!
This looks like a good one! I am doing most of my runs of a treadmill lately. I’ll often pick the “random incline” setting but it’d be good to be more intentional and really up the % incline sometimes.
Its a good way to add some hills for those of us who have been on the treadmill alot this winter!
I have done a lot of hill workouts on my treadmill. We now have it “tricked out” to have decline too, which was super important in my Boston training. My “lazy” workout of hills is to adjust the incline every time I hit a round minute, or maybe by distance – so every time I hit a half mile increment. I adjust the pace like that sometimes too. And some days I just make the last mile all decline because it’s an easier run that way! 🙂
I’ve done almost the same workout, just increasing pace or incline at a certain time or distance. Thats awesome that you were able to get it to be on a decline! Sounds like a great way to end a run.
Ugh, the only place I can really get in a good hill workout is on the treadmill. My coach has me do hill repeats once a week. I’ll learn to love them one day, right? haha
That does look like a fun workout, though! I like that you can customize to make it longer, if need be. 🙂
I’m not sure if I’ll ever learn to love hills! But running them on the treadmill is a good option if you don’t live in a hilly area.
Great workout! The treadmill can be a great way to get hills in. I did a hill workout a few weeks ago on mine but my older treadmill got stuck on an incline, ha! My husband finally fixed it this weekend but I learned the hardway that my treadmill is not up for that challenge. 🙂
Oh no! I guess it’s best to just keep it flat then. The last thing you want is to have to run ALL your miles on an incline!
I do NOT run hills regularly and while I have done the occasional incline run on the treadmill, it’s nowhere near consistent. This is a great routine, that could can throw in here and there…. thanks for putting this together.
I hope you like it if you give it a try!
Ironically I am not a fan of hills but I do have a treadmill HIIT hill repeat workout that I love to do when I’m not in the mood to sprint. I have a date with the gym today and I think I’m going to try your workout. Thanks for sharing it!
Running hills can be a great alternative to speed work. I hope you like it if you give it a try!
No hills here so I would definitely need to train on the treadmill. I love this workout! I’ve been doing most of my runs outside. But I remember during the summer when doing a long run on the treadmill I would change the speed to get a variety and not get too bored. 🙂
Changing things up on the treadmill definitely helps to pass the time!
Do you know it’s been so long since I’ve followed a training plan that I forgot hill workouts existed! I was looking through my old Instagram pics the other day and came across a pic from when I last ran bridge repeats. I was like OH YEAH that’s a thing! I am actually looking forward to doing them again. I hate most speed work but I really like bridge repeats!
Bridges are a great way to run some hills!
I have not done a treadmill hill workout in forever or ever ha ha. Our regular run route has rolling hills so we do them that way. Seems like a better way to trick myself into doing them
If I run more than like 4 miles outside then I cant avoid hills. But Ive been on the treadmill so much that I needed a way to make sure I got them in!
I hate running incline on the treadmill – it messes with my stride. Luckily, I live in a super hilly area, so it doesn’t take much effort to find a hill workout. LOL
Sometimes its nice to run hills outside and use the treadmill for easy, flat runs!
I do Mile High Run Club for proper hill training, but when I’m just at the gym I usually do a randomized incline on the treadmill. It changes it up enough to keep it interesting.
That’s great! Running inclines on the treadmill can be so effective.