Most people would love to have a treadmill in their home, but they simply cannot afford it. Most sophisticated treadmills will force you to unload over $1000 of your hard-earned money. As the usage of home treadmills rise, many people are willing to invest in their present and future health, despite the high cost. If you haven’t bought one yet, here are some tips to help find the right machine for you.
- Buy in person: you need to test the device before you buy it, just to make sure that it gives you a great workout. Do not buy it as a catalog item unless you can take advantage of a free trial period. That way, you won’t be stuck with a machine that under-performs.
- Pick your motor: if you choose to buy a motorized treadmill, ask about the motor. Usually, the better motor has a larger price tag. Your machine should have a “continuous duty” of about 1.5-2.5 HP, depending on whether you’re a runner or walker.
- Can you hear it? Pick a motor that is relatively quiet. If you intend to have music or television as a monotony-breaker, a noisy motor can overpower either tool. This is when you would really benefit from test-driving the machine. AC motors tend to be noisier than DC motors. But AC motors take in more energy than a DC motor.
- Find its features: check the treadmillout. What is the machine’s maximum speed? Does it indicate calories burned, speed, or distance traveled? Does the machine indicate how many calories you burned? These are some of the features you should be looking for; with the motor type being one of the most important features you should investigate.
- Know your budget: before you dip into your savings account, you should know how much your budget allows. If you can only afford a simple $500 machine, maybe you should buy it. If you insist on buying an extravagant machine, you should start saving money specifically for your dream machine.
Treadmills are great because they give you many workouts in one easy machine. That’s the reason for the expensive price tag. Treadmills provide great benefits to riders. Here are a few.
- There is no excuse: that’s right. You cannot say, ‘it’s raining, I cannot exercise.’ All you have to do is get on your treadmill. Treadmills are available rain, sleet, or snow.
- No learning curve needed: there is no learning curve needed because using treadmills is as easy as walking or running. As long as you know how to walk (or run), you can use this machine. Compared to treadmills, ski and elliptical machines are somewhat difficult to get used to.
- You get a great workout: some treadmills boast that you can burn up to 300 calories in 30 minutes! Imagine how much you can burn if you used the machine even longer! By comparison, exercise bikes and elliptical machines will not burn as many calories or get your heart rate as high.
It is best to know the type of machine you want before you buy it. If you love the machine that you’ve been using at the gym, ask how much it costs. Usually, treadmills that are manufactured for a gym cost more. It is a large investment, but a wise one to say the least.
By Michelle Presbury