Treadmills with incline

Who is a treadmill with incline suitable for?

A treadmill with incline is suitable for anyone who wants to train harder without running faster. The incline makes every step heavier, turning brisk walking into a full workout in no time. That also makes an incline treadmill suitable for those who want to build up calmly after a period of little exercise.

If you run, an incline treadmill brings the hills indoors and lets you keep training when it rains or freezes outside. Then pay particular attention to the top speed and the length of the walking surface, because at a higher pace you take bigger strides and need more room.

If you mainly walk calmly while working, watching TV or as a quick workout in between, a treadmill without incline is enough. An adjustable incline on a treadmill only adds something when you deliberately want to train more intensively.

How much incline do I need?

Start at 1 to 2% incline and build up from there; how much you ultimately need depends on your fitness and your goal. Increase the incline in small steps and only when your posture and breathing remain calm. The highest setting is room to grow into, not a setting to start with.

An incline percentage indicates how many centimeters the walking surface rises per meter you walk forward. An incline of 12% corresponds to approximately 6.8 degrees and 18% to approximately 10.2 degrees, so percentages and degrees are not interchangeable. Keep that in mind when comparing different incline treadmills, because some manufacturers indicate the incline in degrees or in levels.

A maximum of 12% is sufficient for solid walking workouts, because popular walking workouts such as 12-3-30 don't go higher. With 18% you have room for training sessions with a steep incline and to build up further as your fitness grows. A different rule of thumb applies to runners: set the belt to 1%, because according to research by Jones and Doust (1996) that compensates for the air resistance you do have outside, at speeds from approximately 10.5 km/h.

Treadmills with automatically adjustable incline

A treadmill with automatically adjustable incline adjusts the walking surface automatically while you walk. You choose a setting on the control panel or in the app and the belt adapts without you having to step off. This way you switch between flat sections and climbing within one training session.

With a treadmill with manual incline, you set the angle before you start, on many models with a lever. Such treadmills often only have a few fixed settings, so you quickly go up in big jumps. For interval training or gradual build-up, that's less convenient.

All our treadmills with incline have an automatic incline with up to 25 levels depending on the model. Each level increases the incline by less than 1%, so you build up very gradually. You operate the incline via the control panel and on some models also via the KS Fit app.

Foldable treadmills with incline for home

You fold our treadmills with incline after your training, so they don't take up a permanent spot at home. The belt folds in half or the handrail folds flat, after which it's less than 28 cm high and fits under a bed or couch if there's enough room. There are also models you can store upright against the wall when folded.

Do keep the weight in mind, because the mechanism that raises the walking surface adds weight. Our models weigh between 42 and 68 kg, so choose a storage spot close to where you train.

The motor drives both the belt and the incline, so you need a power outlet nearby. Because our treadmills with incline have a quiet motor, you can also use them perfectly well in an apartment.

Buy a treadmill with incline?

Do you want to buy a treadmill with incline? As the official distributor of KingSmith in the Benelux, we deliver your incline treadmill to your home for free and you can try it free for 30 days. If the treadmill doesn't quite suit you after all, we pick it up again for free.

For questions, you can contact our customer service by phone or via WhatsApp. Not sure which incline percentage suits you best? Then start the selection guide, which takes you in a few steps to the treadmill that matches your training needs.