To all those who are frustrated and confused on buying a Treadmill. I work in the fitness industry and have done so for 13 years.
My Goal with this Blog post is to arm you with great information so that you can make a very informed decision on buying a Treadmill.
The end result should be a good value for your dollar treadmill that meets the need of it’s owner.
Here are the most asked questions that I encounter. In answering these questions you should have a solid foundation on what to look for in a good treadmill.
1) Can I buy a good treadmill for $1000.00?
A: For the record I am sure if you find a good $1500.00 – $2000.00 treadmill on Sale for $500.00 – $1000.00 off you could possible buy a good Treadmill for a $1000.00
How a treadmill generally gets to the price of $1000.00 is they take a decent treadmill at $1500 – $2000.00 and Strip it clean of all the things that
make it worth $1500 – $2000.00. Things like the warranty which should be 1 year labour, 3-5 years parts and 10 years to life time on the motor and
frame, the $1000.00 treadmill has generally 1 year on everything. The $1000.00 manufacturer usually puts a 1 ply belt on the machine and has a smaller
motor size than usual. Beware of fans and TV’s and internet access on a $1000.00 Treadmill. They are cheap features that they use to replace a bigger
motor, better belt and or a better warranty. So to answer this questions I will say no you can’t buy a $1000.00 treadmill and get the integrity of the product
you should when buying a Good Treadmill.
2) Is a Treadmill the best piece of Cardio Equipment?
A: All Cardio Equipment that is good quality can serve your purpose. Lets define the purpose of a cardio piece. The word Cardio is a word that describes the act of
elevating ones heart rate. The purpose of Cardio is to Raise ones heart rate. The process of elevating your heart rate allows you to burn calories in turn losing weight
and strengthening your heart. The Treadmill has been the staple in the fitness industry for many years. Walking and Running are the most natural things most people
actually do. With this in mind the Treadmill is a great choice for raising your heart rate and burning Calories. I do make the point that the best piece of cardio equipment
is actually the one you use. There is lots of truth to this comment. If you enjoy using a bike or a Treadmill or even skipping for that matter you have to choose a cardio
machine that you will want to use on a regular bases. The machine you choose cannot be hard to operate, hard to use or cause you pain because you will not use the machine. Not using the machine is the biggest fear of most people. To ensure this doesn’t happen make sure that you ask yourself the three questions above in order to
get the right machine for you.
3) How often should I use my Treadmill to get my results?
A: The first thing that anyone should do when they buy a new piece of Fitness Equipment is figure out a program or guideline to work with to get your result. If you fail to plan you plan to fail. Don’t sell yourself short there are thousands of programs and helping tools to get you started on a fitness program. Get help if you need it. The internet, Personal trainers and Fitness consults can all help you if you are not completely sure how to get started and how to maintain an regiment of fitness. There are two Keys to Fitness that should always be followed. A) Always keep moving. B) Do something active everyday. 1 hour of exercise daily is recommended for the average person. If you are just starting out you will have to work up to this over time.
4) What makes a good Treadmill?
A: Here are a few things that make a good treadmill:
– 3.0 continuous duty motor
– 2 Ply Belt
– Min. Belt length should be 54 inches
– The machine must be relatively quiet
– The warranty must be at least 1 year labour 5 years parts and 10 years to life time on the motor and life time on the frame.
– Buy a machine with Heart rate. If you think you don’t need it you do. How can you know how intense you are training. If you don’t know for sure how hard you are training then you probably are training to hard or not hard enough. Heart rate is so important that they even put the heart rate feature on all the cheap treadmills that
Don’t work very well to, so there must be something important about it.
– Machine has to be easy to use.
– The machine has to be comfortable to be on. For those of you that have not been on a treadmill before at slow speeds it is hard for anyone to feel comfortable on a treadmill. My suggestions is to test a machine in the show room and run the machine at 3 mph so you can get a real feel of the machine. Once again it must be smooth and comfortable.
– One of the most important points of a good treadmill is to find out if the company selling it is an authorized Dealer. If they are not you do not have a manufactures warranty. In purchasing in this situation the company may or may not be able to service you in timely fashion
5) Should I buy the extended warranty on my new Treadmill?
A: Most people that ask this questions generally have felt like they have been burn at some point or another on warranties. An extended warranty is a good sound investment if you can get something in return if it is not use. Most people’s fear of buying a warranty is that they will buy it and not use the warranty. This is a very
Valid point but many companies have combat this issue. When buying the warranty you should ask these three questions: do you get a credit back if the warranty is unused and is it a full in-store credit? I personally would only take it if it was a full store credit back. This means you don’t lose any money. Is this warranty transferable?
The warranty is there if something goes wrong. Yes if you buy a good machine in a perfect world it should work for a long time, The unfortunate thing is we don’t live in a perfect world and things break down with use or not. If you protect yourself against these things happening you just save yourself money in the end.
If you have any questions about treadmill at all feel free to comment on this post.
Remember to always keep moving…..
Arlen Quashie
Fitness Town Langley
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