Having your treadmill motor blow up or your belt warp severely after only a few months use is not something you want, so here are a few basic treadmill buying tips.

Warranty – Any treadmill brand worth its weight will offer a nice warranty on their product. Usually the motor, parts, and labor will be covered under different warranties. Make sure you get at least a 5 year warranty on you motor. After the treadmill purchase make sure you abide by the warranty and send in any user registrations if required.

Walking Surface – How big is the surface you actually walk or run on? My first treadmill had a 16 inch width that seemed fine in the store, however after further usage I found myself always aware of where the sides were and extra careful not to “step off the edge”. Make sure the width of your treadmill will be comfortable for everyone in your household (I prefer 20 inch widths) and also the length is long enough for the long legged members of your family.

Weight Limit – Most treadmills have a weight limit. Too much weight can put a strain on the frame, belt, and especially motor of the treadmill. Make sure your potential treadmill has a weight limit to accommodate all of its potential users to avoid putting undue wear and tear on your new treadmill.

Test Things Out – Get on your treadmill and give it a test drive. Does everything work as the advertisement states? Try the heart monitor if it’s a feature, does it appear to be working properly? Is the treadmill quiet to your liking, or will it be an annoyance when home? Are the displays big enough for you to see easily?

Safety – Make sure your new treadmill has an emergency stop mechanism. This can help prevent serious injuries during malfunction or accidents.

Additional Features – Treadmills come in many shapes and sizes with various features. Some additional features you may look for are a water bottle holder, calorie counter, book stand, incline, and preset and programmable workout routines.

Once you’ve made your final treadmill buying decision, make sure you shop around for the best price for your new treadmill. Getting all the features you want at the price you want makes for happy treadmilling!

It is a great workout for women who are pregnant. It builds endurance which will likely help during labor because it is low impact and cardiovascular in nature. Treadmills especially the lower end models, are not expensive and they are easy to use. If you want to lose weight and body fat try using a treadmill.

Treadmills have a non-physical benefit, they don’t take up a lot of space. Some treadmills could take up a whole room but you can find some that fold and are powered by your movement only, if space is the issue. If you want to find the one that is appropriate for you, do some research and talk to professionals.

The best thing to do is to compare various models. What kind of features do you want on your treadmill? When comparing different models you should look at a number of things. This can all be overwhelming because all you want to do is workout.

The motor type can affect the size of your machine. One of the most important things to look at are the belt trackers. It’s the running belt placement and the type of movement of the belt as you work out. The belt should move smoothly over the rollers as opposed to jerky movement.

Have you seen the checkout belts in the market that move then stop and move again and stop again? If your treadmill works like that there can be more impact on your joints than necessary and injury could result. The width of the belt and its length is something else to look at.

You could end up “running-off” the end of the belt if it is too short. Your stance will not necessarily be supported if the belt is too narrow. You can try  a machine that is similar to the one you want or try the one you do want if possible. The impact on your joints as well as your workout will be affected by the type and percentage of incline.

You can increase the slope to be as if you were climbing a steep hill on most treadmills as you make progress. You should be able to adjust the speed-how fast the belt moves also. There is a minimum and maximum speed, do you know what it is? You can make your workout more effective with this knowledge and plan it better.

Check your treadmill console for the heart monitor which should be a key feature. Knowing your resting heart rate and the target heart rate (the highest number you can safely reach to get maximum benefits) will help make your workout more beneficial.

Also on  your console there should be displayed your speed, your time, and the distance you’ve covered. Learning how to properly use your treadmill is essential before attempting to use it. The control panel should be very easy to read.

In order to use the control panel, do you need the software program? Something you don’t want is a noisy treadmill. You don’t want the noise to be overpowering but know there will be some noise. The noise level should be tolerable, is it?

Is the belt’s thickness acceptable? You want a belt thick enough to last for a long time, a thin belt could wear over time. Some belts will stretch out. If you want your treadmill to last, be sure to check the belt for stretching or cracking.

The weight of the machine is something you should consider. Some companies will deliver it to the door but it’s your job to get it into the house and set it up. If you don’t like the looks of your machine you will be less likely to use it.

When not in use, will it be easy to store? Since it will likely occupy the same space it does when not in use, you will have to decide if this is practical for you. Treadmills should not be place near walls to prevent injury. Set it up at about 8 feet from any wall, ledge, or window.

In order to prevent someone from falling while getting off the treadmill all of the wires and the power supply should be out of the way of walking areas or taped down. Listed below are a few tips on using your new treadmill.

Straddle the belt before you get on it, and make sure it’s set at the proper speed. Keep your eyes straight ahead because your feet will follow your eyes. Preventing slips and falls can be done by staying in the center of the belt.

Bearing in mind the cost of a new treadmill, the quality of the machine itself should not surpass the quality needed, and expected, of the read out equipment that will come with it. In addition to the durability that one expects from a treadmill, the reader rack should be easy to use and give you the information that you require to complete your work out with the optimum effect. You really don’t want to be worrying about the onboard computers when you are doing a 20k run on your treadmill!

The treadmill reader rack should offer good ergonomic designs, as well as an ease of use. They should supply the information that you require on a wide range of relevant statistics, such as calories used up, speed, miles (or kilometres) run and heart rate amongst other things.

In addition to statistics on your own personal well being during your work out, a treadmill should also offer lots of practical functionality. By that I mean the means to control the type of workout that you are experiencing, by altering the speed at which you can run, or the incline of the slope. In an ideal world, a good treadmill should also let you vary both of these factors during the course of a workout, to give you precisely the type of exercise that you are looking for.

Some treadmills are specially designed for the rehabilitation of either the athlete or the patient, but, in either case, the machine should give you all the information that you require. If you are a sports person or just someone in the recovery room, the right information must be delivered in order to fulfil the criteria of the treadmill that you are using to give you the maximum benefit.

Some machines actually go a stage further and go beyond the functional to what could only be described as luxury. What else could you call magazine racks and space for your MP3?

The onboard computers of some treadmills also allow you to program and save custom routines that you might have entered yourself.

Either way, a treadmill should give you what you need – you should not compromise on quality, nor functionality.