Uphill Walking on Treadmill

[TheSalche]

Hey guys, first post in this forum, hopefully one of many as I try to get more information about losing weight this year in school.

Last year I started to do uphill inclined walking on the treadmill (15% grade, 3.5 - 3.7 mph) and I've noticed that, according to the machine, that I burn more calories per minute than I would running level at anywhere from 5.5 - 7.5 mph. However, I also noticed that while I'm walking uphill if I take my arms off of the "safety bar" that it becomes much more strenuous to the point where I can't do it for more than a minute or two. I'm not in the best shape of my life, but my dad who is in great shape notices this as well.

My question is, if the goal of this exercise is for me to be losing weight, does it not matter that my arms are helping me out? When I do this I tend to go anywhere from 25 - 40 minutes depending on how tired I am.

[kerowo]

By using your arms you are basically "cheating" the excercise. If you can only do it without using your arms for X seconds try doing it for X-10 seconds then lower the grade for a while and repeat.

Also, if you have hills in your neighborhood go walk up them at night before going to bed or in the morning before breakfast.