Treadmills work as an exercise equipment for cardiovascular fitness activity. Indeed, it is more popularly known as a cardio workout. Treadmill, as one of its advantages, may have been conceptualized, as well, for convenience and protection, among others.
Convenience, in the sense, that you can simulate running or walking inside the comfort of your own house. Whereas, treadmills may have also been there for protection, since, when raining or during an intense heat, you can still do your running exercises, without having to go through the hazards of rainfall or intense heat outside.
Other than the above, treadmills are built to aid and support exercise drills, fitness workouts, and may be for sports activity warm up.
What kind of weight capacity does the treadmill offer?
Treadmills may come in all shapes and sizes. Some have a weight capacity of 100-160 kilograms (kg), others can support 225 kg at most. The treadmill which has more weight capacity is used by professional trainers for professional athletes who are relatively heavier compared to a normal person.
For us, non-athletic or sports persons, an ordinary treadmill will be enough for our daily exercise needs. Moreover, it will be much more economical for us to buy the usual treadmill used in gyms, as the same is not custom made. Custom made treadmills command a higher price point.
What type of features are you interested in a treadmill for your workouts?
As of now, brushing aside traditional ones, new market treadmills have digital capabilities. For me, I am interested in a treadmill which has a sensor which tracks my phasing and run efficiency.
I know for a fact that each person differs from another. Hence, monitoring my usual phasing will enable me to track and set realistic goals in terms of weight, or even time lapse.
On the other hand, I know for a fact that treadmills which can track your running efficiency are expensive and heavy. However, this kind of feature is what I want the most. It is just too enticing to have a treadmill which offers proposals to improve one’s running form or even running phase.
Are you interested in a heart rate monitor?
Not so much, here’s why. Heart rate monitors are used to determine aerobic and anaerobic phases in the exercise. I am not much of a geek in terms of working out. For me, working out in itself is a win for the day. But measuring heart beats per minute is just overkill.
While this additional feature may provide additional information about health vitals, still, it is not that indispensable to reach your objectives in using treadmill.
Do you need different workout programs to vary your workouts?
Very much so. Having varying workouts changes my attitude towards the workout day. Of course, it is obvious that having the same workout for the month or even a year, like constant squat exercises, will be very boring, not to say, ineffective. A variation here and then will surely bring positive changes to the workout.
What kind of space are you willing to allot for storage?
Do you need to be able to fold the equipment, or can you have a traditional style? To be honest, I prefer to work out in a gym and not inside my home.
I have a very limited space, my books, computer, and other essential appliances almost take up my whole room including my storage room.
Besides, who wants to buy a gym equipment if you can have it in your local gym and spend time socializing with your neighbors, right?
Nonetheless, if opportunity will open for me to have wide space for my exercise routine, it will be gladly a plus if I can have my own.
Then, I can say that I indeed will prefer to have my exercise equipment aside from the treadmill, to fit in to the fitness room.
What should be the adaptive speed on the treadmill to realize results?
How fast and slow does the machine move, and what is the speed that you require? I always set my treadmill in the speed where I can do 3 kilometers (kms) in about thirty to forty-five minutes.
Running is part of my exercise to warm-up only. I do not need to spend an hour in the gym just running. I also spend time to lift weights and do other training exercises, such as stretching exercises, and jumping exercises.
For starters, they might be shocked by how fast a treadmill can go, even the best athletes gasp for air if it was not set right. So, I suggest for someone to ask their local gym trainers or a friend to assist them before operating the treadmill first.
What type of warranty does the treadmill offer, and what type of ongoing maintenance does it need?
Usually, the warranties, coinciding the purchase of treadmill or any other exercise equipment or even appliances at home, will for parts and services for at least one year. Warranty for replacement of the whole item will be on a shorter period and may be limited to factory defects only.
However, this warranty privilege may depend on the brand and the company dealer, as the case may be.
There is a saying in engineering that moving parts require more maintenance. In this case, a treadmill’s whole purpose is to simulate you moving around and jogging.
Therefore, its whole system is comprised of various moving parts. Needless to say, a treadmill requires maintenance.
However, do not open it up and keep yourself from doing some magic works if you are not knowledgeable in what you will do.
Rushing may cause you to lose your warranty. Treadmill warranties sometimes range from one to three years, depending on the brand you wanted to get.
The cheaper it gets the shorter the warranty period is. Luckily, there are tons of guides online on how to fix these very useful machines.
Lubricants and polishers are pretty much the essential ones. So keep that in mind, the next time you buy your own treadmill.
What is the “continuous duty” of the treadmill?
You really need to look for a 1.5 to 2.5 HP to insure you are getting a solid motor. The best motor according to sources is a Continuous Duty Rating or Continuous Horsepower (CHP).
It is a commercial standard and one of the highest quality motor. It allows the motor to perform continuously giving you a more consistent run. Nobody wants an inconsistent ride, it is not a source of relief, but a source of headache, to be honest.
What price are you willing to pay for a treadmill?
Again, I am not willing to buy a treadmill. For one reason, the price is too much for the things it can offer. And when I say “things” I only mean one thing actually – running.
I can go only for the minimal price yet complete already with the basic and needed features. While basic, it may still produce the desired results. The price point for this may be at more or less $300 – $400.
A good treadmill is priced at $600. The best treadmills are pegged at $1,000, with some even almost at $2,000. And all this money is lost for one exercise / purpose – running.
This amount of money for me is just too much, compared to just going to my local exclusive gym, which offers variety of exercises with a reasonable membership fees.
Noise, do you need a quite model due to children in home, or a sleeping spouse?
Do you want to hear a TV over the sound of the treadmill? I do not plan to exercise in the middle of the night, so the short answer is, no.
However, it will still depend upon one’s preference. There is no hard and fast rule on this. As long as it is convenient for you to do your treadmill workout on a certain time of a day.
Even doing it while watching TV and blending to it, without experiencing breath shortage, that will still be fine, as long as you sweat and feel your workout through out your body.
Do I plan to watch television while gasping for air? Hell no! I think the best thing to do while running in treadmill is to just listen to music or a podcast through earphones.
For starters, a quiet model is much pricey and a feature most often than not is not needed. I would rather spend my hard earned bucks for some other feature or an accessory for running, than having a feature which no one enjoys.
Are you comfortable with the length and width of the treadmill?
Can you move your arms freely, and is the deck long enough to accommodate your stride? Going back to my introduction, treadmills comes in all shapes and sizes. I will run in a treadmill that is comfortable with my length and width.
Besides, how hard is it to fit in a treadmill? Jogging is not that much complicated, only the salesperson makes it sound complicated enough to make you think you are buying a state of the art equipment, which to be frank, not necessary if you like jogging outside your residence.
Is there a safety key, or an emergency shut off?
As part of safety measure in operating appliances, equipment, and tools, even exercise apparatus, there should be.
If you have children this is an important option to have available. All of these questions, if answered correctly by you and your salesperson, will begin a beautiful relationship with the right treadmill.
Safety is paramount in everything that you do especially to what you buy. An emergency shut off or a safety key is not a dispensable feature. Please, I cannot emphasize this enough.
If this feature is missing in the treadmill being offered to you, skip and look somewhere else. No amount of money will be commensurate to your safety and your children or loved one’s safety.
