acalculator

What does treadmill incline add?

Enter your treadmill speed, incline, time and weight. The treadmill incline calculator uses the ACSM walking and running equations to show what the incline adds to your workout.

Your numbers

Units
Walking or running
Calories
283

About 283 kcal and 792 of climb over 1.5.

Elevation gain
792
Distance
1.5
Oxygen cost (ml/kg/min)
26
METs
7.4
Calories per minute
9.45
Same effort on the flat
8.4
Equation range
Inside the equation’s range

Calories: 283. About 283 kcal and 792 of climb over 1.5.

How to calculate

Computes the distance, elevation gain, oxygen cost, METs and calories of a treadmill walk or run at an incline with the ACSM metabolic equations, and the flat speed with the same effort.

Example with the default inputs (Units US, Walking or running Walking, Speed (mph) 3, Incline (%) 10, Time (minutes) 30, Body weight (lb) 160): About 283 kcal and 792 of climb over 1.5.

Method: S = speed in m/min, G = incline ÷ 100. Walking VO2 = 0.1S + 1.8SG + 3.5; running VO2 = 0.2S + 0.9SG + 3.5. kcal/min = VO2 × kg ÷ 1,000 × 5.

  • The ACSM equations estimate the oxygen cost of steady treadmill exercise for an average adult; your own cost may differ.
  • Elevation gain is belt distance × grade, as treadmill grade is defined.
  • 5 kcal per liter of oxygen and 1 MET = 3.5 ml/kg/min.

Machine-readable copies: Markdown, JSON.

Worked examples

Each example is checked against the calculator on every build.

  1. Units US, Walking or running Walking, Speed (mph) 3, Incline (%) 10, Time (minutes) 30, Body weight (lb) 160 gives Calories 283, Elevation gain 792, Distance 1.5, Oxygen cost (ml/kg/min) 26, METs 7.4, Calories per minute 9.45, Same effort on the flat 8.4, Equation range Inside the equation’s range.Source: Moore CC et al., Development of a Cadence-Based Metabolic Equation for Walking, Med Sci Sports Exerc 2021;53(1):165–173 (ACSM walking equation VO2 = 0.1·speed + 1.8·speed·grade + 3.5; speed in m/min, grade as a decimal; most accurate at 1.9–3.7 mph), https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7896743/; Compendium of Physical Activities, Unit conversions (1 MET = 3.5 ml/kg/min; L/min × 5 = kcal/min), https://pacompendium.com/unite-conversions/
  2. Units Metric, Walking or running Running, Speed (km/h) 10, Incline (%) 2, Time (minutes) 20, Body weight (kg) 70 gives Oxygen cost (ml/kg/min) 39.8, Calories per minute 13.94, Calories 279, Elevation gain 67, Same effort on the flat 10.9.Source: Koutlianos N et al., Indirect estimation of VO2max in athletes by ACSM’s equation: valid or not? Hippokratia 2013;17(2):136–140 (VO2 = 0.2·S + 0.9·S·G + 3.5; for speeds above 5.0 mph), https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3743617/; Compendium of Physical Activities, Unit conversions (1 MET = 3.5 ml/kg/min; L/min × 5 = kcal/min), https://pacompendium.com/unite-conversions/
  3. Units US, Walking or running Walking, Speed (mph) 4.5, Incline (%) 0, Time (minutes) 10, Body weight (lb) 200 gives Equation range Outside the range: the walking equation is for 1.9 to 3.7 mph (3.06 to 5.95 km/h), Elevation gain 0.Source: Moore CC et al., Development of a Cadence-Based Metabolic Equation for Walking, Med Sci Sports Exerc 2021;53(1):165–173 (ACSM walking equation VO2 = 0.1·speed + 1.8·speed·grade + 3.5; speed in m/min, grade as a decimal; most accurate at 1.9–3.7 mph), https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7896743/ (most accurate at 1.9 to 3.7 mph)

How it works

Let S be the speed in meters per minute (mph × 1,609.344 ÷ 60, or km/h × 1,000 ÷ 60) and G the grade as a fraction (incline % ÷ 100).

Oxygen cost (ACSM metabolic equations), in ml/kg/min:

  • Walking: VO2 = 0.1 × S + 1.8 × S × G + 3.5
  • Running: VO2 = 0.2 × S + 0.9 × S × G + 3.5

From the oxygen cost:

  • METs = VO2 ÷ 3.5
  • kcal per minute = VO2 × body weight in kg ÷ 1,000 × 5 (5 kcal per liter of oxygen)
  • Calories = kcal per minute × minutes

Distance and climb:

  • Distance (m) = S × minutes; shown in miles (÷ 1,609.344) for US or km (÷ 1,000) for metric
  • Elevation gain (m) = distance × G; shown in feet (÷ 0.3048) for US or meters for metric

Same effort on the flat: the speed at 0% with the same VO2. Walking: speed × (1 + 18 × G). Running: speed × (1 + 4.5 × G). It is in the speed unit you typed.

Equation range: walking is in range when the speed is from 1.9 to 3.7 mph inclusive; running when it is above 5 mph. A km/h speed is compared after converting it to mph (× 1,000 ÷ 1,609.344). The text is exactly one of:

  • "Inside the equation’s range"
  • "Outside the range: the walking equation is for 1.9 to 3.7 mph (3.06 to 5.95 km/h)"
  • "Outside the range: the running equation is for speeds above 5 mph (8.05 km/h)"

The answer is given either way.

Inputs and limits

  • Units: US (speed in mph, weight in lb, distance in miles, climb in feet) or Metric (km/h, kg, km, m). 1 lb = 0.45359237 kg.
  • Speed 0.1 to 20 mph or 0.1 to 30 km/h; incline 0 to 40%; time 0.1 to 1,440 minutes; weight 0.1 to 2,200 lb or 0.1 to 1,000 kg. US and metric have their own speed and weight boxes, so switching units never reads 3 mph as 3 km/h.
  • Every typed value is read as an exact decimal and every step is exact. Shown values are rounded half up: calories and climb to whole numbers, distance and kcal per minute and flat speed to 2 decimals, VO2 and METs to 1 decimal.

Worked examples by hand

Walking 3 mph at 10% for 30 minutes, 160 lb. S = 3 × 1,609.344 ÷ 60 = 80.4672 m/min; G = 0.1. VO2 = 8.04672 + 1.8 × 80.4672 × 0.1 + 3.5 = 8.04672 + 14.484096 + 3.5 = 26.0 ml/kg/min, 7.4 METs. Weight = 160 × 0.45359237 = 72.5747792 kg. kcal per minute = 26.030816 × 72.5747792 ÷ 1,000 × 5 = 9.45; × 30 = 283 kcal. Distance = 80.4672 × 30 = 2,414.016 m = 1.5 mi; climb = 241.4016 m = 792 ft. Flat equivalent = 3 × (1 + 1.8) = 8.4 mph. 3 mph is inside 1.9 to 3.7 mph.

Running 10 km/h at 2% for 20 minutes, 70 kg. S = 166.667 m/min; VO2 = 33.333 + 0.9 × 166.667 × 0.02 + 3.5 = 33.333 + 3 + 3.5 = 39.8. kcal per minute = 39.8333 × 70 × 5 ÷ 1,000 = 13.94; × 20 = 279 kcal. Climb = 3,333.33 m × 0.02 = 67 m. Flat equivalent = 10 × (1 + 4.5 × 0.02) = 10.9 km/h. 10 km/h is 6.21 mph, above 5 mph, so in range.

Walking 4.5 mph on the flat: 4.5 mph is above 3.7 mph, so the page says the speed is outside the walking equation’s range. Climb is 0.

Other questions people ask

How many calories does walking on an incline burn?

Walking 3 mph at a 10% incline for 30 minutes costs about 283 kcal for a 160 lb person, by the ACSM walking equation. The same walk on the flat costs about 126 kcal, so the incline more than doubles it.

How do I work out elevation gain on a treadmill?

Multiply the distance by the incline as a fraction. 1.5 miles at 10% is 1.5 × 5,280 × 0.10 = 792 feet of climb.

What flat speed matches an incline walk?

The walking equation adds 1.8 × speed × grade to the oxygen cost, against 0.1 × speed for the flat. So each 1% of incline adds 18% to the flat speed with the same cost: 3 mph at 10% costs as much as 3 × (1 + 1.8) = 8.4 mph of flat walking. That pace is a run, so read it as the effort, not a pace to walk.

Which equation should I use between 3.7 and 5 mph?

Neither was built for that band: the walking equation is most accurate from 1.9 to 3.7 mph and the running equation is for speeds above 5 mph. Pick the one that matches what you are doing (walking or jogging); the page says when a speed is outside the range.

How accurate are the calories?

They are estimates for an average adult on a treadmill, without holding the handrails. Koutlianos and others (2013) found the running equation overestimated the oxygen cost of trained athletes, so use the numbers to compare workouts rather than as an exact count.