When selecting a proper location for a treadmill in your home, it’s crucial to consider not only the available floor space but also the height of your ceilings. A safe overhead clearance is necessary to ensure that you can walk and run comfortably without the risk of hitting your head. Additionally, if your treadmill has an incline feature, which elevates the deck’s front, this will require even more ceiling height to accommodate the raised position safely.
How to Calculate
So to calculate the step-up height when the treadmill is inclined we need to calculate the rise of the deck. The ‘rise‘ is the vertical distance that the deck will lift when inclined. To find this, we use the incline percentage and deck length. For a 15% incline, this means that for every 100 inches of horizontal distance, the treadmill will rise 15 inches. Of course most treadmills are about 60 inches in length, and we usually run in the middle of the treadmill. So we will find the rise for this middle point (about 30 inches). Then we need to add this to the original step-up height when the treadmill is flat.
This is not hard but let us give you a table for common rise values for different inclines and different deck sizes. Here’s a table displaying the rise value for treadmill deck lengths of 55 inches, 60 inches, and 62 inches at incline percentages of 5%, 10%, and 15%, you can add the step-up heigth while the treadmill is flat to correct rise value to find the step-up height when the treadmill is inclined:
| Incline (%) | Rise for 55 inches deck | Rise for 60 inches deck | Rise for 62 inches deck |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5% | 1.375 inches | 1.5 inches | 1.55 inches |
| 10% | 2.75 inches | 3.0 inches | 3.1 inches |
| 15% | 4.125 inches | 4.5 inches | 4.65 inches |
This table gives the additional height (rise) that a treadmill deck gains when it is set at an incline. For example the Horizon 7.0 AT treadmill, which has a deck length of 60 inches, the relevant data point from the table is under the 60 inches column.
At a 15% incline, the rise is 4.5 inches. This means that when the Horizon 7.0 AT’s deck, which is 60 inches long, is inclined to 15%, it will raise an additional 4.5 inches from its original flat position.
The Horizon 7.0 AT has a step-up height of 8.625 inches (the height of the deck from the ground when the treadmill is not inclined), so you would add the rise of 4.5 inches at a 15% incline to this step-up height to find out the total height from the ground when the deck is inclined.
So, the total height from the ground when the Horizon 7.0 AT is at a 15% incline would be:
Original step-up height: 8.625 inches + 4.5 inches = 13.125 inches
Of course we also need at least 10-12 inches safety margin when walking and running. So you should add about 25 (13″+12″) inches to your height with shoes to find out the proper ceiling height. For a user who is 6 feet tall (72 inches), the calculation for minimum ceiling height in inches would be 97 inches.
Step-Up Heights in Flat Position for Various Treadmill Models:
Here are the step-up heights for various models to help you choose the right treadmill or determine if your intended room can accommodate it.
Horizon 7.0 AT Step-Up Height
The step-up height for the Horizon 7.0 AT is 8.625 inches.
Horizon 7.4 AT Step-Up Height
The step-up height for the Horizon 7.4 AT is 8.75 inches.
Horizon 7.8 AT Step-Up Height
The step-up height for the Horizon 7.8 AT is 8.75 inches.
Sole F63 Step-Up Height
The step-up height for the Sole F63 is 8 inches.
Sole F80 Step-Up Height
The step-up height for the Sole F80 is 8 inches.
Sole F85 Step-Up Height
The step-up height for the Sole F85 is 8 inches.
NordicTrack Commercial 1750 Step-Up Height
The step-up height for the NordicTrack Commercial 1750 is 10 inches.
NordicTrack Commercial 2450 Step-Up Height
The step-up height for the NordicTrack Commercial 2450 is 10 inches.
Bowflex T10 Step-Up Height
The step-up height for the Bowflex T10 is 10 inches.
