Buying a Treadmill Buying a treadmill Firstly, anticipate your fitnesss goals and other users in your home before buying a treadmill. Most households will have more than one person that will want to use the treadmill. You should consider their fitness needs as well as your own. Buying a "bargain basement", under-powered treadmill that doesn't meet the future requirements of all users is a trap most people fall into. You will need a user friendly console and screen with a large easy to read digital readout. When buying an exercise treadmill look for displays and control panels that are large, simple and readable. Control panels with lots of controls will cause confusion and may even put people of using the machine. A good quality shock absorption system is a major selling point of treadmills. The treadmill deck should not be soft or spongy, as this kind of deck can lead to knee problems over time. Look for a treadmill whose manufacturer can give convincing reasons as to how and why their shock absorption mechanism works. Research the information that shows how the maker produced their cushioning mechanism and how and why it differs from others. There should be some feature in the mechanism over and above the use of rubber washers. Today's treadmills have a wealth of facilities to attract purchasers. These range from displays that measure calories used to the amount of energy expended in a fitness workout. Give consideration as to what is relevant to you and whether you would use that facility. When buying a treadmill the important thing is to go for features that can stimulate and challenge. Look for features that will meet your needs as you progress, and ones that will meet the needs of others in your family. Some of the best features are interval programs, and user ID's that can be customized and record past fitness workouts. Understanding what is an adequate sized motor causes much confusion. A 2.0 CHP unit is good enough for practically any user providing the other parts of the treadmill are of reasonable quality. A good cooling mechanism for instance removes excess heat from the motor and other mechanicals - thus enhancing the life of these components. A big motor with an inadequate cooling mechanism, however, will probably result in premature wear on components as well as inferior performance. When buying a treadmill view the treadmill as a whole with balanced components instead of merely going for an oversized motor.
Before buying a treadmill pay consideration to features like a safety key and a speed controller that starts and stops the treadmill in gradual increments. Also consider items such as warm-up and cool-down periods, and heart rate control. Handrails and console grips that are comfortable are also good features to have. Are they sensibly placed so that you can grip them at the start and finish of your workout? Also before buying an excercise treadmill check out dimensions - will it fit adequately into the space you have in mind for it? Ideally you want to buy a treadmill that requires no maintenance. A high quality machine will accommodate normal use without any need for maintenance from the user. Some treadmills have a reversible deck. This facility means that you can turn the deck over when normal wear takes it's toll on the deck surface. A modern treadmill contains lots of electronics. Most good quality machines will come with a lifetime frame warranty. With other components,consider a warranty that gives 1 year of labor and a minimum of 1-3 years on parts. When buying a treadmill consider what parts are covered. The warranty should cover: Motor, Frame, Deck, Electronics The best measure of progress and correct intensity of your fitness workout is your heart rate. Everybody has a heart rate range that they should work within. If your heart rate is too high you may put yourself at risk. If your heart rate is too low you will fall short of your goal. Good quality treadmills will automatically adjust their speed while monitoring your heart rate to ensure that you stay within this envelope. Machines can have either heart rate monitor or heart rate control. Ideally you should buy a treadmill with heart rate control because the treadmill will automatically adjust it's speed to maintain your desired heart rate. All you have to do is key in your desired heart rate and the treadmills will automatically make adjustments during your workout. Consider a treadmill that controls incline at a minimum. Some treadmills adjust both speed and incline and can cause problems for some people. On some exercise treadmills that adjust both speed and incline, you have to stop the program if you feel that the machine is running away with you. Treadmills with incline only heart rate control allow for manual speed adjustments to keep you feeling safe and in control. Sometimes people will quit a treadmill exercise program due to feeling bored. A machine which provides a full range of programs will help keep your fitness regime fresh and maintain motivation. Being able to customize a program for your personal requirements is also an excellent facility. User ID's for individual users that store that persons workout information are very useful facility. Both husband and wife and large families can store their individual training data. You can also create custom courses around your own preferences and fitness goals. When buying a treadmill look for treadmills that will log your workouts. Look for the facility to retain workout information for 2 or more users. Keeping it simple - many people can become overawed at the complexity of some treadmill controls. This can get in the way of simply getting on the machine and using it. The best machines try and keep things simple. A large green buttons for go. A large red button for stop. Emergency push buttons need to be readily accessible and it should take no more than couple of pushes to commence a training program. Some treadmills have a manual or quick start method of operation in addition to the more complex fitness programs. Periods of high activity training alongside periods of lower activity training is usually referred to as interval training. This is a very popular way of lifting fitness levels in a short time. When buying a treadmill consider programming that has some type of interval training. Usually a program works on a 1 minute rest, 1 minute work interval arrangement. This should be so arranged that all you require to do is adjust the rest period once and the work period once and the treadmills computer will do the rest for you. This is a dedicated program that you launch and the electronics take you through a routine that measures fitness level based on factors such as heart rate, distance and speed, etc. For the purposes of motivation and measuring progression this is a very useful feature. In essence this is a preset program that tests your fitness level at any given time by using scientific fitness benchmarks. Completing a fitness test periodically will help you see your progress and provide you with the necessary motivation to continue with your training. We are constantly monitoring treadmill prices - the link at
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