If you are running up a hill in the real world, it’s harder than running on a flat surface because you need to do all the work required to lift your body mass vertically. The work is based on the force (your weight) times the distance travelled (the vertical distance).
But if you are on a treadmill, no matter what “incline” setting you put it at, your body mass isn’t going anywhere. I don’t see how there’s any more work being done than just running normally on a treadmill. Is running at a 3% incline on a treadmill calorically equivalent to running up a 3% hill?
In: Engineering
you’re still lifting your body mass up the incline of the treadmill, the treadmill wants to send you backwards and a little bit down, so you need to exert effort a little bit up to stay in place. imagine if the treadmill was at a 90 degree angle. you’d have to climb vertically like a gecko in order to stay on it.
treadmills are almost never calorically equivalent strictly speaking since you don’t have to fight wind or air resistance. but the incline does require you to push harder to stay in place.
Latest Answers