So you have decided to buy yourself a treadmill running machine for home. You’ve used them down the gym and they are a great benefit to your health, so why not? Before you jump in with both feet though, take a little time to think about what type of running machine you really want. How about space? Do you know where at home you are going to set it up? If you have a spare room, a basement or an empty garage, it will be easy to answer that question. What about whether to buy a new or used one; a manual or an electric?
There are so many options available in the treadmills market, with dozens of manufacturers hoping to sell you their latest product. The price ranges for running machines can be staggeringly wide also, from the very flimsy manual ones all the way to the high end professional ones you will see in very exclusive gyms. But when all is said and done, all you really need one for is to go running when it’s snowing outside! So be careful about which shiny extras the salespeople use to entice you into paying far more than you need to for a treadmill. Some even come with built in televisions! There’s a real problem if you cannot go and take a 45 minute run without getting withdrawal symptoms from your beloved TV.
Okay, what features are important to have? Well, you can ditch ones that boast about heart rate monitors and the like. They are superfluous. If you are running on a treadmill, the chances are you enjoy running outdoors too. So buy a separate heart rate monitor that you can wear for both outdoor running and treadmill running; you certainly do not need to pay extra for a machine that has one built in. What you will need is a decent set of programs that allows you to get a varied set of workouts depending on your mood, and whether you are going for a cardio session or for fat burning. You will obviously want a readout that tells you how far you have gone, how fast you did it and other typical running statistics. You will certainly want the simplest of features: a shelf to keep your water bottle on so you do not need to hold it in your hand while running. Then despite many treadmill running machines having televisions and all manner of pointless gizmos, many do not have a big red emergency stop button, positioned where it can easily be pressed if you get into serious difficulty during a session. This is an absolute necessity.
So when you go out to buy your running machine, make sure you have your priorities right, and don’t let yourself get ripped off.
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