Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Treadmill

I Want to get a treadmill between $500 & $1000 usd. i was looking at these from samsclub option1
option2 anyone have experience with these or other recomendations. Thank You
Jake

Do you already walk or run? Is this a new exercise regimen?

Is there a gym reasonably close?

How soon will it become a clothes hanger?

We had a treadmill. Used it a while. Hung clothes on it. Sold it.

The Y membership has been much more rewarding! More equipment plus other people motivated to do the same fitness workouts.

I you have to buy. Build quality is the best factor. Bigger motor, better (wider tread), solid upper frame. Go to a gym and test out their equipment. Some have several types of models. You can see which are better for running or walking.

Good Luck!

Thanks for the advice actually i have a golds gym 20 minutes away that i do work for and they give me a free membership. im just having a tough time getting there with my schedule currently. also when the weather is nicer i will run/walk outside but sometimes that is a bit much on the knees.

We have something very similar to this Keys model. It gets reasonably consistent use. It is very sturdy but has few bells and whistles. No problems. Make sure you plug something like this into a surge suppressor. See the mfr website at keysfitness.com. I understand they also manufacture the Smooth brand, which gets some favorable reviews.

I don't think that the width of the tread is that important, but the diameter of the rollers might be a consideration. Wider treads (within reason) only make the motor work harder.

We have a Proform and love it. It actually sat for a year until I inavertantly made a comment to my wife about how her jeans looked a little snugger. (stupid) Now for the past month she's been Hellbent on losing ten pounds, all 125 lbs of her, now I have to cook healthy meals as well as jump on the thing myself 3 times a week. I guess it's all for the better

Out of those two options, definitely Option 2 because it has a continuous horse power motor which basically means it can use it's maximum power at a longer period of time with less risk of burning it out. You should have a minimum of 2 continuous hp if you are running.

I've got a NordicTrack (mid price from Sears awhile ago) and it suits me well. I find that I DO use mine to keep in shape during the winter months because I hate going to the gym. Only on occasion, it's used it as a coat hanger!

Have you ever tried an eliptical?

I find that they give a much better workout than just flat out running. You can increase the plane of an eliptical so it almost performs like a stepper, or have the plane go all the way down so it's like a treadmill.

And, above all, it's low impact, so not so much pressure on joints and such.

Some people find it's not their bag, espcecially if they are a regular runner and don't want to mess up their stride.

Anyways, Precor has some of the best elipticals on the market. They were the first ones to pioneer the eliptical.

Link

Just an idea to consider!

I can walk forever (30 min. max at the Y unless nobody's waiting) on the treadmill but only last about a minute on the eliptical.

I'll have to try it again now that I am 65 lbs lighter than the last time I tried it.

Just my 2 cents.

I started to look at treadmills because w/ 2 kids under 3, it was hard for my wife to be able to run before 9 PM. I even looked at renting, just so I could get a higher end model and have the option of not ending up w/ a clothes hanger.

My wife has IT band problems and loves to run. I'm a cyclist and convinced her to try the bike on a $100 trainer I got on craigslist. My thought was that it was less stressful on her knees. And $100 is less than a cheap trainer. Result is that she actually doesn't mind the trainer, she can watch Tivo while on the bike, we have a way to use the bike during the off season, and she can keep up her cardio while saving her knees.

If you already have a bike, either road or mountain, it's an option.

I used to work in a sporting goods store and we sold treadmills. We had expensive treadmills and cheap ones. A lot of people were interested in the cheaper models because they were often less than $100. People always asked why it was so cheap. "It's a manual treadmill," I told them. They'd look at me funny and ask, "What's that mean?" I'd reply, "You don't plug it in. You have to get the tread moving by yourself, which is a bit hard, but once you get moving it's relatively easy." Invariably the reply would be, "That's sounds like too much work." And they'd walk away.

It always struck me funny that people wanted to exercise but wanted to expend the least amount of energy doing it. Maybe I'm just cynical.

My best advice, snakeyes, with any treadmill you get is don't stand on the tread when you start it up. That will wear the motor out quicker than anything.