What the heck does that incline # even mean?

[thesinner]

For everybody who's ever used a treadmill, and wondered what these numbers mean when they adjust the incline. The inclines are given in % gradient which is just the tangent of the angle expressed as a percentage. Here's a table of the different inclines, and how they compare to their angle in degrees. Enjoy.

Grad% Degrees
1% 0.57
2% 1.15
3% 1.72
4% 2.29
5% 2.86
6% 3.43
7% 4.00
8% 4.57
9% 5.14
10% 5.71
11% 6.28
12% 6.84
13% 7.41
14% 7.97
15% 8.53
16% 9.09
17% 9.65
18% 10.20
19% 10.76
20% 11.31
100% 45.00
Yeah, I'm a dork and probably the only person on this forum who cared to know this, but here it is anyhow.

 

[PumpingIron]

so when I use 15, that means it's an 8.53 degree incline...???

 

[thesinner]

shocker, isn't it?

 

[PumpingIron]

I don't see why they just don't use the correct number.

 

[asianbabe]

Is the % the same as the level #? I wonder if those levels are the same for all machines..

 

[thesinner]

Is the % the same as the level #?

hmmm, not sure. I would assume they give you a real parameter rather than some arbitrary number....but you know what happens when you assume

I don't see why they just don't use the correct number.

Technically, it is the correct number. Inclined planes/hills are generally expressed as gradients. I know you've been through PA, ever see those hill signs with a percentage on it when you're on the freeway?

 

[PumpingIron]

Technically, it is the correct number. Inclined planes/hills are generally expressed as gradients. I know you've been through PA, ever see those hill signs with a percentage on it when you're on the freeway?

I work in PA...and used to live here...and yea I have but I don't remember the percentage, only the gradient...

 

[jmh80]

Use Bernoulli's Law, young Padiwan.

 

[asianbabe]

okay mr smartypants tell me how the resistance levels work, say on the elliptical (my fave machine) or bike?

 

[thesinner]

Use Bernoulli's Law, young Padiwan.

Why would I use an equation for fluid flow? There better not be a fluid running on the treadmill....that would be gross.

Besides, I wanna play with my kick ass lightsaber

 

[Innings Eater]

Use Bernoulli's Law, young Padiwan.

That explains why a curveball breaks or why a plane's wings "lift" the plane into the sky. How does it apply to the cardio torture machine?

 

[thesinner]

That explains why a curveball breaks or why a plane's wings "lift" the plane into the sky. How does it apply to the cardio torture machine?

Bernouli's law is used to calculate fluid flow. He's just messing with me (we're both chem engineers).

 

[Innings Eater]

Bernouli's law is used to calculate fluid flow. He's just messing with me (we're both chem engineers).

Free your mind.....air can also be considered "fluid". I was a physiology major. (with a hell of a curveball)

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