Incline trainers are a new exercise equipment development combining the treadmill with the stepper. It’s a treadmill in function but a stepper in workout type. Essentially it’s a treadmill that offers a very steep incline for intense “hill climbing” simulated workouts. Some incline trainers incline to 40%.
What’s so great about an incline trainer?
If you’ve ever worked out on a step or stair climbing machine, you’ll appreciate the intensity and effort required to do a “climbing style” workout. That’s what incline trainers offer – but also offering the features and benefits of a regular treadmill. Yes, you can set incline trainers to lower inclines to function just as a regular treadmill.
Pros of Incline Trainers:
- Burn more calories.
- If you aren’t into running, but want an intense workout, incline trainers will deliver.
- Low impact workout option. Get an intense workout while walking which is much, much lower impact than running.
- Decline workouts simulating going downhill. Real life running includes running downhill which uses different muscles than running on flat or uphill terrain. The NordicTrack X5i and Nordic Track X7i incline trainers offer decline training.
- If you get an incline trainer with iFit technology, you can run or walk terrain simulated from all over the world. Imagine the tremendous training opportunities. You can train for a specific race in your home. If you’re running the Seattle marathon, which has hills, then program the Seattle marathon route in your iFit Live powered by Google maps and you can run the Seattle marathon terrain in your home. Both the NordicTrack X5i and NordicTrack X7i Incline Trainers offer iFit Google Maps technology.
- Best of both worlds – an incline trainer is really just a treadmill that offers a very steep incline. You can still run on an incline trainer.
Cons to Incline Trainers
- Shorter walking deck. No incline trainer that I’ve found offers a 60″ long deck. That said, you can still comfortably run on 50″ to 55″ decks.
- If you set it at a very high incline (steeper than 15 – 20%) you’ll likely need to hang onto the handles. I find holding onto handles while working out reduces effort and energy burned. Holding on is an assist which I like to avoid. I’d rather set the incline to a lower grade and not need to hold onto handles. When I work out on steppers I set the workout to a lower speed so I can do the workout without hanging onto handles.
List of incline trainers:
- NordicTrack X5i – comes with the iFit Google Maps feature / 55″ long deck.
- NordicTrack X7i – comes with the iFit Google Maps feature.
Click here to compare incline trainers.
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