How To Choose the Right Treadmill: the Ultimate Buying Guide

If you’ve been putting together a home gym for yourself, then you’ve probably looked at treadmills for sale online only to be paralyzed by the massive amount of choice you have for a single machine. You feel unsure what features you need or even want for the most effective and enjoyable workout. With this ultimate buying guide that shows how to choose the right treadmill, you’ll be able to narrow down such a vast selection to only the treadmills you know you’ll want to buy.

Size and Space

First, consider size—both the size of the treadmill and where you’ll be placing it. How much space do you need for a treadmill? How much space do you have available within your home? The size of treadmills can vary quite a bit depending on the different features they include. Sometimes, when space is limited, it’s just best to go for something simple. If you don’t, all the features will just feel like annoying bells and whistles; they could cause the room to feel claustrophobic or makes the treadmill fit awkwardly within the space—if it fits at all. So, if you don’t have a lot of space, a simple treadmill is the way to go.

Aspects of the treadmill will need to be altered depending on your intent and body size. If you’re intending to simply walk for your exercise, you’ll only need about 50” of belt length, while runners will want roughly 55” of belt length, and users over 6’ will need 60” of belt length. These accommodations will alter the size of your treadmill and you may need to reconsider your space to ensure you have enough clearance around your equipment.

Something worth considering is that there are treadmills that fold up when not in use. This can afford you more opportunity in smaller spaces because rather than making sure you have enough space for the treadmill without interfering with your daily life and comfort, you can dedicate the majority of space to the treadmill while in use and then fold it up and get it out of the way once you finish.

Planning Your Routine

You don’t need to have a thoroughly detailed plan to pick a treadmill—but try to consider what sort of exercises you see yourself practicing on it. As we touched upon, some people use treadmills to simply walk while others run. This can help narrow down treadmills by factoring in the power of their motors. If you plan on just walking or power walking, select a treadmill with a weaker motor to stay at your desired speeds. If you want to run, get a treadmill with a stronger motor so you can reach higher speeds, as well as increase them so you can challenge yourself as you improve.

Picking Out Features

While the basic functionality of all treadmills is the same, the true choices to be made—and the reason why you probably sought out this ultimate buying guide to choose the right treadmill—are within the accessories your potential treadmill will have. In this guide, we’ll talk about some of the more common and practical features that you should consider in your search.

• Adjustable Incline. The ability to create an incline is a valuable addition to any treadmill. Not only does it offer a greater challenge that will burn calories faster, but it’ll keep your routine from becoming monotonous by adding variation. Furthermore, if your treadmill is capable of periodically and automatically changing the incline, your body will have a harder time adapting to the exercise and becoming more efficient.
• Workout Programs. Valuable for those new to exercise, workout routines pre-programmed into a treadmill make for a fantastic guide that will teach you what you should be doing and for how long in order to effectively work towards your goal.
• Treadmill Accessories. There are some extra items and equipment you may want in order to extend the lifespan of your treadmill and bolster its durability. Treadmill mats can protect both your machine and your floor by serving as a buffer between the two by absorbing the shock of your weight every time you take a step. Another thing you want to consider is cleaning supplies. Keeping your treadmill clean and well maintained will prevent corrosion and the likelihood of something becoming damaged or broken.

Treadmill Elements

You don’t necessarily have to know how to reverse engineer a treadmill. However, it’s good to be aware of certain components within it so you can get a better idea of what to look for and what questions to ask before you buy the one you want. Aspects such as the motor, the track size, or the tread belt durability are components that will impact your workout directly. If even one is off, it can make a treadmill feel uncomfortable or ineffective.

Furthermore, you need to understand how much weight a specific treadmill model can handle so you don’t damage it. You also need to know how portable and easy it is to store in your home gym—especially in conditions where you lack a large amount of space.

Third-Party Opinions

A valuable resource is the unbiased opinion of reviews and other people’s experiences. Take the time to do a bit of research; get a sense of what other people who’ve used certain treadmills think about them. This will help you know what quirks or shortcomings a treadmill model may have in addition to the benefits, advantages, and conveniences it may otherwise offer you. An additional step to take—if it’s available—is to visit a sporting goods store, gyms, or even some department stores to try out different models and get a feel for what features and accessories you think you’ll need or want for your own personal treadmill.

In the wake of these reviews, most companies will feature an FAQ page where you can easily find answers to the most common questions that will likely also be on your mind as you consider their model of treadmill. Such pages will be one of your most powerful tools as a point of reference.