The Home Buyers Guide To Choosing A Treadmill
August 18, 2009 by Treadmills and Elliptical Trainer Tips
Filed under About Treadmill
Ohiyo!
Hello again from the Far East on the West Coast, and greetings from the DOJO. This week, before I get in to the nuts and bolts of the treadmills and the ellipticals I work on, I’m going to start with a quick guide to how to choose a treadmill — well, how to choose a residential / home grade treadmill. Choosing a commercial treadmill tends to be a bit easier — go Star Trac, Matrix, Landice or Life Fitness and, in spite of their great ellipticals, avoid Precor treadmills. Precor is a great company, they just don’t quite have treadmills down as well as the other companies. With the commercial treadmills it’s kind of like choosing between a BMW, a Mercedes and a Lexus. It’s all about bells and whistles more than performance…they’re all great machines and we’ll talk about them another time.
Home treadmills are a tough sea to navigate for most buyers — there are so many different brands and they all look alike to outsiders. Luckily, over the past 20 or so years, I’ve had to repair just about every treadmill ever made. In other words, my pain will be your salvation!
My first piece of advice is: avoid anything and everything from Icon Health and Fitness. They’re the manufacturer of the units you’ll find at places like Sears — nothing against Sears, but the treadmills they sell tend to be on the lower end of the quality scale. Their treadmills seem to have specs that are too good to be true for their cost and, truth be told, they are. The old proverb, “you get what you pay for” comes in to play with them. Small motors with high RPMs to give them a perceived higher horsepower (most of their motors should really be rated at under 1.5 HP regardless of what they tell you — a motor the size of a soda can should not be powering a full sized treadmill!), lots of plastic pieces, tiny rollers, and generally unstable machines are par for the course for the Icon brands like Proform, Weslo, Healthrider and Image. Just stay away from them! There are better treadmills even at the more affordable prices that Icon tempts the unlearned consumer with.
On with translating the arcane lore that is treadmill purchasing for the lay person.
Let’s start with the motor. The first thing you want to do is make sure the motor is rated with “Continuous Duty.” Any sales person or manufacturer who gives you a “Peak” rating is trying to sell you a bag of magic beans. Peak is best described as the maximum a motor will perform at before it breaks down. What’s more imporant is: how the heck is that motor going to perform when you’re actually using it? Another thing a shady salesperson might mention is that a common home circuit (120v/15amps) will only let you run about 2.5 HP and any motor larger than that is a waste of money. Technically that is true (about the amps vs. HP, not the waste of money), but the larger motors will tend to last longer as they are not running at the higher RPMs of a smaller motor. And, if nothing else, the larger the motor, the smoother the “ride.” A bigger motor will allow you to run or walk on it without slipping.
The next thing to look at is the size of a treadmill’s rollers. The bigger the rollers, the longer your belt will last and the better the running experience.
Next, and this is my favorite thing — especially when recommending cardio equipment to my in-laws — the warranty. Like anything else, the better the warranty the more piece of mind you will have. The 5 year parts warranty on Spirit treadmills, for example, is one of the best in the business. For me, the more faith a manufacturer has in its own product (i.e. the warranty), the more faith I have in that product. Of course, doing repairs I absolutely love the lower end warranties as it means more paying work for me!
What’s next? The weight and stability of the machine. There is nothing worse than getting on a treadmill and having it move back and forth, or shake, or, even worse, creak as you run on it. The heavier the unit the longer it will last. If you’re used to running on a treadmill at your local gym and then get on most home units, you’ll immediately notice the difference. You don’t want to be running around on something that feels like it is going to fall apart now do you? Don’t answer, that was a rhetorical treadmill question.
The tread and the deck are where most problems for treadmills happen. When the friction from your running builds up between the deck and the tread, the badness begins. Stick with the 4-ply belts/treads that help to reduce the amount of friction, and look at units with reversable, phenolic wax coated decks. Reversable decks let you flip over your running surface to use the opposite side when the original wears down. It’s like having a free second deck if you wear out the first one.
Programs. Don’t be fooled by this. Most people only wind up using 3-4 programs. If the treadmill has 20, that’s cool, but you’ll rarely use them. If you do heart rate training, then heart rate control is great. If not, it’s just an extra you’ll never use…like the clock you’ve never set on your VCR.
Speed and Incline are worth talking about. Most treadmills can go up to about 10 miles per hour and a 10 degree incline. Don’t let speed or incline become a deciding factor unless you’re doing a lot of high speed or high incline training. Obviously, electronically controlled speed and incline are the way to go. If those feature are manual just move on.
Finally, test out the shock absorbtion. You want to make sure you aren’t running on a hard surface. This is a “feel” thing more than a “scientific” one. If the deck is bouncy, move on. If the deck feels like running on concrete, move on. If the deck moves from side to side, move on. You want to find a deck that feels good, with just enough give and little to no lateral motion.
Beyond that fans, speakers, cup holders, magazine racks and even television sets on the treadmill’s console are all just icing on the cake. It’s better to get a good treadmill without a fan or TV and spend $50 to buy your own than to get a crappy, fully loaded treadmill which will eventually just become an expensive coat rack for dirty clothes.
Now, I know I alread typed “finally” but there is one last piece to consider: PRICE. You can only get what you can get but don’t be fooled into buying a lemon. There are decent (and some downright Great) treadmills at just about every price point. I’ll go over some of the best, at least in my experience, treadmills in the under $1000 range in the next week.
Don’t despair, there is a good treadmill out there you can actually afford
Thanks to The Treadmill Sensei for contributing this article to our Treadmill blog:
Hello again from the Far East on the West Coast, and greetings from the DOJO. This week, before I get in to the nuts and bolts of the treadmills and the ellipticals I work on, I’m going to start with a quick guide to how to choose a treadmill — well, how to choose a residential / home grade treadmill. Choosing a commercial treadmill tends to be a bit easier — go Star Trac, Matrix, Landice or Life Fitness and, in spite of their great ellipticals, avoid Precor treadmills. Precor is a great company, they just don’t quite have treadmills down as well as the other companies. With the commercial treadmills it’s kind of like choosing between a BMW, a Mercedes and a Lexus. It’s all about bells and whistles more than performance…they’re all great machines and we’ll talk about them another time.
Home treadmills are a tough sea to navigate for most buyers — there are so many different brands and they all look alike to outsiders. Luckily, over the past 20 or so years, I’ve had to repair just about every treadmill ever made. In other words, my pain will be your salvation!
My first piece of advice is: avoid anything and everything from Icon Health and Fitness. They’re the manufacturer of the units you’ll find at places like Sears — nothing against Sears, but the treadmills they sell tend to be on the lower end of the quality scale. Their treadmills seem to have specs that are too good to be true for their cost and, truth be told, they are. The old proverb, “you get what you pay for” comes in to play with them. Small motors with high RPMs to give them a perceived higher horsepower (most of their motors should really be rated at under 1.5 HP regardless of what they tell you — a motor the size of a soda can should not be powering a full sized treadmill!), lots of plastic pieces, tiny rollers, and generally unstable machines are par for the course for the Icon brands like Proform, Weslo, Healthrider and Image. Just stay away from them! There are better treadmills even at the more affordable prices that Icon tempts the unlearned consumer with.
On with translating the arcane lore that is treadmill purchasing for the lay person.
Let’s start with the motor. The first thing you want to do is make sure the motor is rated with “Continuous Duty.” Any sales person or manufacturer who gives you a “Peak” rating is trying to sell you a bag of magic beans. Peak is best described as the maximum a motor will perform at before it breaks down. What’s more imporant is: how the heck is that motor going to perform when you’re actually using it? Another thing a shady salesperson might mention is that a common home circuit (120v/15amps) will only let you run about 2.5 HP and any motor larger than that is a waste of money. Technically that is true (about the amps vs. HP, not the waste of money), but the larger motors will tend to last longer as they are not running at the higher RPMs of a smaller motor. And, if nothing else, the larger the motor, the smoother the “ride.” A bigger motor will allow you to run or walk on it without slipping.
The next thing to look at is the size of a treadmill’s rollers. The bigger the rollers, the longer your belt will last and the better the running experience.
Next, and this is my favorite thing — especially when recommending cardio equipment to my in-laws — the warranty. Like anything else, the better the warranty the more piece of mind you will have. The 5 year parts warranty on Spirit treadmills, for example, is one of the best in the business. For me, the more faith a manufacturer has in its own product (i.e. the warranty), the more faith I have in that product. Of course, doing repairs I absolutely love the lower end warranties as it means more paying work for me!
What’s next? The weight and stability of the machine. There is nothing worse than getting on a treadmill and having it move back and forth, or shake, or, even worse, creak as you run on it. The heavier the unit the longer it will last. If you’re used to running on a treadmill at your local gym and then get on most home units, you’ll immediately notice the difference. You don’t want to be running around on something that feels like it is going to fall apart now do you? Don’t answer, that was a rhetorical treadmill question.
The tread and the deck are where most problems for treadmills happen. When the friction from your running builds up between the deck and the tread, the badness begins. Stick with the 4-ply belts/treads that help to reduce the amount of friction, and look at units with reversable, phenolic wax coated decks. Reversable decks let you flip over your running surface to use the opposite side when the original wears down. It’s like having a free second deck if you wear out the first one.
Programs. Don’t be fooled by this. Most people only wind up using 3-4 programs. If the treadmill has 20, that’s cool, but you’ll rarely use them. If you do heart rate training, then heart rate control is great. If not, it’s just an extra you’ll never use…like the clock you’ve never set on your VCR.
Speed and Incline are worth talking about. Most treadmills can go up to about 10 miles per hour and a 10 degree incline. Don’t let speed or incline become a deciding factor unless you’re doing a lot of high speed or high incline training. Obviously, electronically controlled speed and incline are the way to go. If those feature are manual just move on.
Finally, test out the shock absorbtion. You want to make sure you aren’t running on a hard surface. This is a “feel” thing more than a “scientific” one. If the deck is bouncy, move on. If the deck feels like running on concrete, move on. If the deck moves from side to side, move on. You want to find a deck that feels good, with just enough give and little to no lateral motion.
Beyond that fans, speakers, cup holders, magazine racks and even television sets on the treadmill’s console are all just icing on the cake. It’s better to get a good treadmill without a fan or TV and spend $50 to buy your own than to get a crappy, fully loaded treadmill which will eventually just become an expensive coat rack for dirty clothes.
Now, I know I alread typed “finally” but there is one last piece to consider: PRICE. You can only get what you can get but don’t be fooled into buying a lemon. There are decent (and some downright Great) treadmills at just about every price point. I’ll go over some of the best, at least in my experience, treadmills in the under $1000 range in the next week.
Don’t despair, there is a good treadmill out there you can actually afford
Thanks to The Treadmill Sensei for contributing this article to our Treadmill blog:
Treadmills?
August 17, 2009 by Treadmills and Elliptical Trainer Tips
Filed under More Treadmill Answers
Can you answer Ted V’s question about Treadmill?:
Which is a better Treadmill brand Life Fitness or Technogym?
Which is a better Treadmill brand Life Fitness or Technogym?
What are the top 3 treadmill brands out there?
Elliptical Cross Trainer Reviews
How do I stop vibrations from a treadmill from going through the floor?
August 9, 2009 by Treadmills and Elliptical Trainer Tips
Filed under More Treadmill Answers
Can you answer *~Stressed~*’s question about Treadmill?:
I just bought a treadmill and when it’s running the vibrations bother the landlord in the apartment below me. Would putting a heavy blanket under the treadmill stop or dull the vibrations?
Treadmill Consumer Reviews
I just bought a treadmill and when it’s running the vibrations bother the landlord in the apartment below me. Would putting a heavy blanket under the treadmill stop or dull the vibrations?
Treadmill Consumer Reviews
Which treadmill is better quality, a spirit or a sole?
August 7, 2009 by Treadmills and Elliptical Trainer Tips
Filed under More Treadmill Answers
Can you answer xoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox’s question about Treadmill?:
I need a treadmill for both walking and running. Both of these brands are manufactured by the same company, but I do not know which one to choose.
Best Treadmill Workout
I need a treadmill for both walking and running. Both of these brands are manufactured by the same company, but I do not know which one to choose.
Best Treadmill Workout
Treadmill Desk: Top 52 Reasons You Need One
August 4, 2009 by Treadmills and Elliptical Trainer Tips
Filed under About Treadmill
While most American’s dreamed of some day getting \”off the daily treadmill\” , there is strong evidence that the average American employee needs to do the exact opposite.
Obesity levels in America have reached epidemic levels in our nation and 2 out of every 3 adults are now categorized as overweight. This has put a tremendous strain on our health care system. Costs are spiraling out of control. While Congress and the President grapple with the means of providing health care to everyone perhaps it is time to ask ourselves who really is in control of our health.
It is estimated that 84% of all medical claims in the United States are the result of poor lifestyle choices such as poor diet, lack of exercise, and smoking. Those statistics seem a bit brutal when you consider some of the underlying reasons for our expanding waistlines. However, until Americans ( and their employers) face the fact that health insurance is not a replacement for healthy living our health care crisis will most likely to continue.
Have we gone soft? Are we in fact a lazy nation that has grown fat while the rest of the world suffers? No. We are growing larger because we are working harder. Sounds counter intuitive at first but this is a trend affecting every developed nation in the world. There is in fact a rising global obesity epidemic, including the nations of Japan and China.
The culprit? In a word: Chairs. The sedentary nature of employment prevents most employees from moving enough during the day to maintain optimal weight and health. Add to this the long commutes to work and the lack of exercise after work and it easy to see why the waistlines of many nations are growing along with their health care expenditures.
While we sit our bodies shut off the production of an enzyme known as Lipase, critical for burning fat. Calories meant to be burned by the muscles as fuel are stored instead in our adipose tissue (fat cells). Our metabolism and lymphatic systems slow as well making us more vulnerable to weight gain and disease.
What can be done? Many studies have shown that our health is dependent upon movement during the day. This should not be a surprise when one considers we have evolved over millions of years to walk 30-35 miles per day yet on average most of us only walk 1-2 miles in a single day.
During the 1960’s Americans burned on average 700 calories more per day and only consumed 100 calories less. The largest change is not in our diets but in the lack of movement in our day.
Americans cite two reasons for not exercising : lack of time and lack of motivation. We need a means of living that restores a natural flow of movement into our day which is automatic and does not require a commitment of additional time.
Treadmill desks offer this solution. Employees are able to walk slowly during the day (without sweating) and can complete nearly any task they normally undertake sitting down at a desk. It is automatic and requires no additional time commitment. At the end of the day an employee will have burned between 800-1400 calories and allowed the body to do what it was designed to do: walk.
There are literally hundreds of medical reports illustrating the virtues of walking daily. .
Listed below are 52 healthy reasons why employers should consider allowing their employees to use a treadmil desk during the day:
1. Switches on the body’s metabolic furnace, allowing efficient calorie burning.
2. Treadmill desks stimulate the lymphatic system and wards off disease.
3. Stimulates brain function, improving memory as much as 15% in a 6 month period using a treadmill desk.
4. Increases blood flow to the brain and increases productivity.
5. Improves mood and wards off mild depression without medication.
6. Treadmill desks promotes significant weight loss and control of appetite.
7. Prevents onset of Type II Diabetes and assists with control.
8. A treadmill desk improves blood circulation throughout the body.
9. Improve lung capacity and strength walking with a treadmill desk.
10. Promotes healthy restorative sleep patterns.
11. Bolsters the immune system.
12. Treadmill desks prevent bone loss (osteoporosis).
13. Reduces the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke.
14. Treadmill desks reduce bad cholesterol (LDL).
15. Improves blood lipid profiles.
16. A treadmill desk increases good cholesterol (HDL) levels.
17. Walking at a treadmill desk reduces overall body fat.
18. Treadmill desks enhance mental well being.
19. A treadmill desk reduces the risk of colon cancer.
20. Walking with a treadmill desk may reduce the risk of breast cancer.
21. Reduces inflammation from arthritis and osteoarthritis.
22. Increases flexibility and coordination, reducing risks of falls.
23. Reduces the risk of dementia and Alzheimers.
24. Walking with a treadmill desk consistently INCREASES LIFE SPAN.
24. Relieve back pain walking on a treadmill desk.
25. Treadmill desks assist in recoveries after some surgeries.
26. Treadmill desks may reduce side effects of chemotherapy.
27. Increases strength of leg and back muscles.
28. Treadmill desks prevent loss of work from sick days.
29. Increases overall fitness levels and health.
30. Treadmill desks prevent arthritis in the knees.
31. Walking daily assists in the rehabilitation of stroke victims.
32. Daily recommended minimum 10,000 steps completed in 3 hours with TrekDesk.
33. Frees up more time for you and your family,
34. A treadmill desk significantly reduces stress levels.
35. TrekDesk makes exercise automatic and habit forming.
36. A treadmill desk can assist in reducing high blood pressure.
37. Lowers the risk of gallstones and gall bladder surgeries.
38. Stimulates release of dopamine, increasing levels of happiness.
39. A treadmill desk assists in smoking cessation efforts.
40. Decreases craving for nicotine.
41. May decrease risk of heart disease in women by 40%.
42. May decrease risk of stroke in men by as much as 50%.
43. Treadmill desks assist in reducing health care costs.
44. A treadmill desk reduces necessity for some medications.
45. A treadmill desk may decrease the risk of contracting glaucoma.
46. Increases regularity, decreases incidence of constipation.
47. Significantly less stress on your joints than running.
48. Treadmill desks increase libido, enhances sex lives.
49. Treadmill desks decreases the incidence of impotence.
50. Decreases incidence of sleep apnea; enhances sleep.
51. Protects against likelihood of hip fractures.
52. Increases levels of self satisfaction and wellness.
If the benefits of treadmill desks listed above seem too good to be true remember they are backed by decades of solid medical research. Our society always searches for miracle cures from scientific breakthroughs and medicines, yet the greatest means of restoring health, walking, rarely is mentioned in the general media today.
Financial Benefits of a Treadmill Desk?
Companies analyze ROI differently depending upon their cost structure however treadmill desks have been shown to have a significant impact on decreasing sick days and increasing efficiencies and productivity. Combining that with lower overall medical care costs per employee makes treadmill desks a wise decision for both corporate and home office users.
Thanks to Steve Bordley for contributing this article to our Treadmill blog:
Obesity levels in America have reached epidemic levels in our nation and 2 out of every 3 adults are now categorized as overweight. This has put a tremendous strain on our health care system. Costs are spiraling out of control. While Congress and the President grapple with the means of providing health care to everyone perhaps it is time to ask ourselves who really is in control of our health.
It is estimated that 84% of all medical claims in the United States are the result of poor lifestyle choices such as poor diet, lack of exercise, and smoking. Those statistics seem a bit brutal when you consider some of the underlying reasons for our expanding waistlines. However, until Americans ( and their employers) face the fact that health insurance is not a replacement for healthy living our health care crisis will most likely to continue.
Have we gone soft? Are we in fact a lazy nation that has grown fat while the rest of the world suffers? No. We are growing larger because we are working harder. Sounds counter intuitive at first but this is a trend affecting every developed nation in the world. There is in fact a rising global obesity epidemic, including the nations of Japan and China.
The culprit? In a word: Chairs. The sedentary nature of employment prevents most employees from moving enough during the day to maintain optimal weight and health. Add to this the long commutes to work and the lack of exercise after work and it easy to see why the waistlines of many nations are growing along with their health care expenditures.
While we sit our bodies shut off the production of an enzyme known as Lipase, critical for burning fat. Calories meant to be burned by the muscles as fuel are stored instead in our adipose tissue (fat cells). Our metabolism and lymphatic systems slow as well making us more vulnerable to weight gain and disease.
What can be done? Many studies have shown that our health is dependent upon movement during the day. This should not be a surprise when one considers we have evolved over millions of years to walk 30-35 miles per day yet on average most of us only walk 1-2 miles in a single day.
During the 1960’s Americans burned on average 700 calories more per day and only consumed 100 calories less. The largest change is not in our diets but in the lack of movement in our day.
Americans cite two reasons for not exercising : lack of time and lack of motivation. We need a means of living that restores a natural flow of movement into our day which is automatic and does not require a commitment of additional time.
Treadmill desks offer this solution. Employees are able to walk slowly during the day (without sweating) and can complete nearly any task they normally undertake sitting down at a desk. It is automatic and requires no additional time commitment. At the end of the day an employee will have burned between 800-1400 calories and allowed the body to do what it was designed to do: walk.
There are literally hundreds of medical reports illustrating the virtues of walking daily. .
Listed below are 52 healthy reasons why employers should consider allowing their employees to use a treadmil desk during the day:
1. Switches on the body’s metabolic furnace, allowing efficient calorie burning.
2. Treadmill desks stimulate the lymphatic system and wards off disease.
3. Stimulates brain function, improving memory as much as 15% in a 6 month period using a treadmill desk.
4. Increases blood flow to the brain and increases productivity.
5. Improves mood and wards off mild depression without medication.
6. Treadmill desks promotes significant weight loss and control of appetite.
7. Prevents onset of Type II Diabetes and assists with control.
8. A treadmill desk improves blood circulation throughout the body.
9. Improve lung capacity and strength walking with a treadmill desk.
10. Promotes healthy restorative sleep patterns.
11. Bolsters the immune system.
12. Treadmill desks prevent bone loss (osteoporosis).
13. Reduces the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke.
14. Treadmill desks reduce bad cholesterol (LDL).
15. Improves blood lipid profiles.
16. A treadmill desk increases good cholesterol (HDL) levels.
17. Walking at a treadmill desk reduces overall body fat.
18. Treadmill desks enhance mental well being.
19. A treadmill desk reduces the risk of colon cancer.
20. Walking with a treadmill desk may reduce the risk of breast cancer.
21. Reduces inflammation from arthritis and osteoarthritis.
22. Increases flexibility and coordination, reducing risks of falls.
23. Reduces the risk of dementia and Alzheimers.
24. Walking with a treadmill desk consistently INCREASES LIFE SPAN.
24. Relieve back pain walking on a treadmill desk.
25. Treadmill desks assist in recoveries after some surgeries.
26. Treadmill desks may reduce side effects of chemotherapy.
27. Increases strength of leg and back muscles.
28. Treadmill desks prevent loss of work from sick days.
29. Increases overall fitness levels and health.
30. Treadmill desks prevent arthritis in the knees.
31. Walking daily assists in the rehabilitation of stroke victims.
32. Daily recommended minimum 10,000 steps completed in 3 hours with TrekDesk.
33. Frees up more time for you and your family,
34. A treadmill desk significantly reduces stress levels.
35. TrekDesk makes exercise automatic and habit forming.
36. A treadmill desk can assist in reducing high blood pressure.
37. Lowers the risk of gallstones and gall bladder surgeries.
38. Stimulates release of dopamine, increasing levels of happiness.
39. A treadmill desk assists in smoking cessation efforts.
40. Decreases craving for nicotine.
41. May decrease risk of heart disease in women by 40%.
42. May decrease risk of stroke in men by as much as 50%.
43. Treadmill desks assist in reducing health care costs.
44. A treadmill desk reduces necessity for some medications.
45. A treadmill desk may decrease the risk of contracting glaucoma.
46. Increases regularity, decreases incidence of constipation.
47. Significantly less stress on your joints than running.
48. Treadmill desks increase libido, enhances sex lives.
49. Treadmill desks decreases the incidence of impotence.
50. Decreases incidence of sleep apnea; enhances sleep.
51. Protects against likelihood of hip fractures.
52. Increases levels of self satisfaction and wellness.
If the benefits of treadmill desks listed above seem too good to be true remember they are backed by decades of solid medical research. Our society always searches for miracle cures from scientific breakthroughs and medicines, yet the greatest means of restoring health, walking, rarely is mentioned in the general media today.
Financial Benefits of a Treadmill Desk?
Companies analyze ROI differently depending upon their cost structure however treadmill desks have been shown to have a significant impact on decreasing sick days and increasing efficiencies and productivity. Combining that with lower overall medical care costs per employee makes treadmill desks a wise decision for both corporate and home office users.
Thanks to Steve Bordley for contributing this article to our Treadmill blog:
ABOUT TrekDesk : manufacturer of the first affordable full sized, adjustable treadmill desk designed to fit your existing treadmill and allow you to walk while you work, burn calories without sweating and enhance your health.
