Expert: Ken Alan - 6/18/2010

Question
Ken:
Any thoughts on incline trainers.   Although in our 60's we hit the gym for 2 hours every other day with 1 hour weights and one for treadmill (or elliptical)  We were looking to buy a treadmill for our home but wondered if the incline trainer (the Nordic Track treadmill that goes up to 40%) might be easier on our knees?  Our old gym had a stepper which worked me more than a treadmill or elliptical but my wife prefers a tredmill so we also thought this (incline trainer) might be a good compromise also.  Anyway, do you think the incline trainers live up to the hype from Nordic Track?( they claim a workout at 30% incline at 2 miles per hour is as good or better than a regular treadmill workout at 6 miles per hour)
Thanks Rod

Answer
Incline trainers are effective aerobic workouts.  Yes, they do live up to the hype, but understand a 30% incline is quite difficult, so depending upon your fitness level and fitness goals, you may not experience any "specific marketing claim" in your own workouts.  Most any low-impact exercise is always easier on the knees than exercise where you are bouncing [jogging, running] continuously, and that's a very good thing.  Even if your knees aren't bothering you now, it's a good idea to do low-impact exercise, especially for the duration that you do [one hour].  

Above all, you need to go to a store and try it out to see how you like it and make sure it is something you both will enjoy and benefit from.

Glad you're active.  Stay with it!