Treadmill
Running

The treadmill is a powerful training tool, but requires adjustments to adequately simulate outdoor running. The main difference is that on the treadmill you don't need to overcome air resistance — making the effort slightly lower at the same pace.

The widely accepted solution in sports science is to set the treadmill at 1% incline. This adjustment compensates for the absence of wind and the biomechanical difference between running on the stationary belt vs pavement.

Another important difference: on the treadmill, the belt moves under your feet, which slightly alters the biomechanics of the stride — especially the push-off phase. It's normal to feel a difference when returning to the road after a period training only on the treadmill.

With 1% incline, treadmill pace can be considered equivalent to road pace. Without incline, a pace 0:05-0:10/km faster on the treadmill approximately corresponds to road effort.

Practical rule: treadmill pace with 0% → add 5-10s/km for equivalent road effort. With 1% incline → pace is directly equivalent.