tell me about treadmills

[*Efjay*]

I want to buy a treadmill but no nothing about them. What do I want in a treadmill?

[MsPink]

Hi FJ,

Well the first thing I can tell you is that they make an excellent clothes horse!!
Hmm - seriously that's what mine was for a long time. Now I only use it if the weather is bad outside. Look - it's great to have and even though I have a small TV to watch when i am on it..I find it terribly boring. I find going out to walk on the street with all the pollution and watching the cars, people etc somehow less boring - don't ask me why.

OK - onto what to buy. Firstly don't buy in a store. I did a lot of research when I bought mine. If you want a decent one that won't fizzle too early - make sure its a min of 2HP (that's horse power - I learned that one as well). This will make it a brilliant walker and for a jog if you are so inclined. I bought mine from a big store on Ebay. I just check it and was called Lifespan Australia - you will find them selling a lot of them if you just enter treadmills.

I am very happy with mine. It is not small..but the better ones are not. The incline is automatic and excellent and the machine goes up to 12mph and is very very sturdy.

Goodluck with your choice and let me know if you have any questions..

[CeCe]

Hi FionaJill,

DH and I bought a treadmill about 12 months ago and DH did most of the research and talking but here?s what I remember.

Make sure the motor is enough to power the treadmill when running, on an incline etc. I would recommend testing the treadmills at the shop as they have different suspension so can feel quite different. Find one you like. Ensure the belt area is wide enough and long enough so that it does not infringe on your natural stride while excercising.

Other things you may want to consider is if it is heart monitor compliant or whether you have to hold onto the bars to measure your heart rate. This may only be a concern if you are looking at getting a heart rate monitor. I guess check the range of programs on the treadmill and how easy it is to change speed, incline etc.

I only realised after we got ours it doesn?t have a pause function, so if my shoe lace needs tying up the treadmill keeps going. Only a little thing that doesn?t really bother me, but it may to someone else? It also does not give a workout summary at the end of the workout. It just simply goes back to the screen for choosing the program. This one bothers me a little more as I like to see what I?ve achieved in the workout so I just have to be vigilante towards the end and watch the screen as I go.

If I think of anything else I'll drop back in.

[maz]

Hi FJ,

Well the first thing I can tell you is that they make an excellent clothes horse!!

adn they make great dust collectors and a fabulous donation to St Vinnie's in your spring clean out. That hill you live on would give you far more value for money hon then any tread mill. Honestly.....I have bought 2 and have donated both of them after a year due to lack of use

Dont get me wrong...they were great for the first 2 weeks and then something cam eup and I couldnt be bothered!!!!

Put hte $$ towards a decent jogging pram

[*Efjay*]

Na see I can't walk with out a destination & there is no place to walk to here. Plus I never get time to go out the door. Plus walking with at least 3 kids with me drives me mental. I want to walk fast & little legs just can't keep up.
I want to be able to get on & run for 10 minutes while dinner is cooking etc. I can;t really do that outside.

[Mother Goose]

FJ, mine has shock absorbers in it - great on my knees I don't srping like I'm moonwalking but it is kinder on the body.

Perhaps think of the kind of functions you'd like it to have. I can set mine for time, calories, distance etc. I also have 4 or 5 set programs and the option to add 2 more I design. I would like it to have interval training but it doesn't, I have to manually do that which is a PITA.

Also think about storage. When ours is not in use we can fold it up so it takes a fraction of the space.

Also, warranty!!!! BIG issue. Ours is a little over 12 months old and we recently had issues with it shorting out (turned out to be the power point at the wall) and I was panicking until I realised the warranty we have.

Definately look at the speed it goes to. If you want to do serious running, you might need it to go more than the 9Km/hr most lower end tradmills go to.

I agree testing a few to see what you like and to see how fast certain speeds are.

HTH

MG

[SugarDust]

FJ - I'm gonna keep an eye on this as I'm looking at getting one also!

We have a bike and gym set but my heart will always lie with a treadmill! I find it better for me!