[glassmenagerie]

so i've been working out on the treadmill for about three weeks and walking for about 30 minutes a day. the lady at the gym told me i should start either increasing the intensity at which i walk or walk for a longer amount of time. so my question is really intensity related,

when upping intensity is it better speed up the rate at which i walk, or make the incline higher? i find when i up the speed i have a hard time keeping up. i carry the bulk of my weight in my thighs, so it's almost like my big legs can only go so fast. however i can up the incline quite a bit and still get a good workout in and feel fabulous after. granted i get that burn in my thighs, but that just means i'm actually working those muscles, which is something i havent done in awhile. also i know the little calorie counter on the treadmill isnt accurate, but it seems to show that more calories are burned when increasing the incline rather than speed. so am i right here? can i get by on just upping the incline until i lose some significant weight?

[witchyonadiet]

Hi ! I use the treadmill daily for 45 to 60 minutes. I am no expert on this but what I did was to start at a slower speed and do it for a set period of time - say 10 minutes - then go up slightly for the next 10 etc. When I started adding incline I used the same approach. If you are having trouble speeding up I would start with incline. It works your legs harder and seems to burn calories faster. Any preset program I have used actually decreases speed when increasing incline.

[BoopRN]

I usually do about 60-65 min on the treadmill. I'll start off with an incline as low as 2 then increase it every 4-5min all the way up to 10 incline for the first 30 min. My speed increases too from 3.5-4.0. Then start again for the next 30 min or so. Its a really good workout really feel it on my legs and thighs, plus I seen really good results. My thighs are slimming down and my butt too. yay!

[Mini-Me]

Go ahead and do incline, rather than speed, for now. And consider mixing things up.

Maybe one day gradually go up higher and higher every few minutes...

Another day, do interval hills...flat/hill/flat/higher hill/flat/even HIGHER hill

From time to time, you might also want to play around with speed...don't go crazy, but add a tenth or 2 tenths every couple of minutes and then alternate with the pace that you're comfortable at. I never thought my legs would move fast enough to go beyond 3.5, but now even 4.5 is still a 'walk' for me.

As your legs get stronger from walking the inclines, you'll find that you're more agile, too, and that will help you move faster.

ETA
Regarding the inclines...whatever you do, don't go so high that you have to hold onto the treadmill. That significantly reduces the number of calories you'll burn.