5 Powerful Reasons to Add Incline Walking to Your Self-Care Routine

Getting healthy doesn’t require spending three hours a day at a stuffy gym where you feel everyone is judging your technique. Unless your job is professional bodybuilding, the greater health goal is to feel empowered and move in a way that isn’t restrictive.

An incline walking treadmill is one of the best ways to boost your mobile and shave off a few hundred calories. These are valuable tools for moving your body in the convenience of your home. Plus, you are in complete charge of how difficult the resistance walking is, based on your unique needs.

In this article, we’ll review incline walking, its benefits for overall health, and some quick tips to help you get started. 

Investing in a quality walking treadmill is the best way to begin your journey with incline walking. However, you want a treadmill that can be set to a gradient (angle) of incline. This will simulate walking uphill.

This exercise is perfect for at-home use because it can be completed at any time of day, rain or shine. When you engage in incline treadmill walking, you are moving your body, burning some calories, and enjoying the convenience of a climate-controlled setting. You can catch up on emails or watch your favorite streaming show as you move instead of worrying about too many eyes on your form. 

There are many reasons to add incline walking to your regular exercise and self-care routines. Walking is a low-impact exercise that reduces blood pressure, strengthens critical parts of your body, and helps trim your waistline.

When you engage in treadmill walking, you actively tone your leg muscles, back muscle structure, and core (around your belly). You can even improve your arm muscles if you “pump” your arms as you walk. Range of motion also receives a benefit as you move and shift your weight from side to side. 

People who use incline walking treadmills are likely to burn 17% more calories at only a 5% incline and 32% more calories at a 10% incline. That is assuming all factors are equal, as heavier individuals are likely to burn more. You are putting in more effort to climb than walking on a flat surface. 

Regular walking is crucial to reducing knee and joint stress. It may seem counterintuitive, but when you walk, you boost mobility around your joints. Your body has a “use it or lose it” kind of memory. If you don’t get out and move those crucial joints around, you could develop greater chances of pain, arthritis, and other osteo-related conditions. 

We should be clear that any helpful exercise is a mood and mental health booster. The difference with incline walking is you get those same mental benefits without the exhausting high-impact exercise that simply isn’t meant for every single one of us. This is an at-home exercise that fits perfectly into your daily life so you can maintain all the other objects you have while improving your overall health and wellness. 

When walking on an incline, you must use the posterior chain of muscles crucial to maintain a tall posture. All those helpful muscles around your spine and abdomen engage, and you are better able to stand tall, confident, and proud. 

The very first action you’ll need to take to get in some quality steps is purchasing a premium incline walking pad. Redliro has a fantastic Incline Walking Pad that fits under your desk, making it easy to bring out, get in a workout, and move on with the rest of your day. Other helpful tips include:

• Start with a Low Incline: You wouldn’t hike Everest without a bit of experience right? Start with a 3-5% incline and give your body time to acclimate to the new exercise style.
• Invest in a Heart Monitor: You want to shoot for between 100 and 120 heartbeats per minute while using an incline walking treadmill. You can go higher, but this is a good “middle of the road” rate that ensures you're working a little hard but not so hard that you’ll feel exhausted afterward.
• Adjust Your Speed Accordingly: You are in charge of your treadmill walking. Set the speed to what you feel is suitable for your unique needs. You want to push just hard enough to progress, not to collapse.
• Always Listen to Your Body: Your joints and muscles may feel amazing one day and rough the next. Listen to your body and adjust your incline walking so you aren’t overdoing anything.
• Gradually Increase Measurements: The more you walk, the more you build stamina and constitution. It’s okay to take your time and slowly increase the incline and speed.
• Alternate Incline and Flat Walking: The more you use an incline walking treadmill, the greater you ability to tell what works best for your body. Feel free to adjust the angle of the incline according to how much resistance you want. In many cases, you can fluctuate between incline and flat walking to diversity a single workout session.
• Don’t Forget to Stretch: Stretching after a workout is an evidence-backed method to reduce soreness and joint stress. Start with a simple routine you can find on YouTube. A good trick is to look for instructors over 45 years old because they will use stretches with much more emphasis on joint improvement.