Treadmills...

FutureGuy

Hi all,
I'm looking to buy a treadmill and am looking for advice. I'm hoping someone can help out.

We are looking to find a store that you can actually see the treadmill...can anyone sugget such stores in Limerick?

Also, what are the best brands...our budget is about 800 euro.

Thanks,
Tony

johnnyrotten

Yeah would be interested in this info too!!

SUNGOD

a friend of mine is selling a roger black gold threadmill for 500 euro its brand new and can be seen in use . i only saw it last night i dont like threadmills but it is very good .its on page 212 item number 4 of the argos brochure
PM me for more details
by the way im in waterford

Colm_OReilly

If this comes across as harsh I apologise, but why waste your money when you can walk/run outside with greater benefits? (you are actually running versus being propelled by a threadmill)

For €800 you could get a very respectable set of weights and a bench/squat rack - infinitely more valuable for fitness.

Deedsie

Where can you by a squat rack in Ireland? I was looking yesterday and i couldnt find any in my home price range.

Edwardius

Colm_OReilly wrote: »

(you are actually running versus being propelled by a threadmill)

I'd have to disagree here fella. The only differences between a treadmill and running outside are wind resistance (compensate with an incline) and the fact that you have to preemptively set your speed. If the belt is moving at 10mph and you're on it, you are in a frame of reference where standing still is 10mph backwards relative to the rest of the world. If you want to appear stationary in comparison to the rest of the world you need to be running forwards at 10mph.

This only serves to highlight the fact that treadmills are pretty legit for running. It doesn't change the fact that they're soul-destroyingly boring, a waste of money and are a solution to a problem that never existed. OP: get some running shoes and run outside, spend the cash you saved on something like what O' Reilly suggested. </hijack>

Bduffman

There is one benefit for those of us with creaky joints. The impact on a good treadmill is a lot less that on the road. Anytime I run on the road I've had joint pains for a while afterwards. On a treadmill I never get those pains - that along with good running shoes obviously. Surely that has to be worth it if you avoid problems in later life due to excessive impact?

Edwardius

Bduffman wrote: »

There is one benefit for those of us with creaky joints. The impact on a good treadmill is a lot less that on the road. Anytime I run on the road I've had joint pains for a while afterwards. On a treadmill I never get those pains - that along with good running shoes obviously. Surely that has to be worth it if you avoid problems in later life due to excessive impact?

Hmmm, have you had your running technique looked at? Alternatively, google "pose running" or lookey here (pdf link). I'd say it's a lot easier to modify your technique and stop pounding on your heels than spunking a grand on a 'mill and wasting a room in your house!

Bduffman

Dead Ed wrote: »

Hmmm, have you had your running technique looked at? Alternatively, google "pose running" or lookey here (pdf link). I'd say it's a lot easier to modify your technique and stop pounding on your heels than spunking a grand on a 'mill and wasting a room in your house!

Well I didn't modify my technique when I started using a treadmill & I haven't had a problem since. It stands to reason that they are easier on the joints as they absorb shock far better than concrete. A bit like running on grass (with the grip).
And I run in a gym so I didn't spend any money on one.

Bally8

Hi OP. I bought my treadmill in Elvery's Sports in the retail park near the Parkway. The one beside TKMAXX. They have treadmills on the shop floor. I would watch for a little while and see if they have a sale. My treadmill was €1000 and we got it for €500 at the start of the summer. And when they deliver the guy will put it together for you for €50. Although we didnt bother with that and my boyfriend and I put it together no bother.

I love it. Sur put a tv or some good music on you wont notice the time passing. I find it much easier to get off the couch and hop on the teadmill than going out in this horrible weather. Also there is no way I will run on my own outside in the dark winter evenings so a treadmill is perfect for me. I dont have to get a babysitter either so thats another bonus.

eoinoc333

JJB on Childers Road has them out too.

johnnyrotten

eoinoc333 wrote: »

JJB on Childers Road has them out too.

Where in the world is Childers Road?

rubadub

Colm_OReilly wrote: »

If this comes across as harsh I apologise, but why waste your money when you can walk/run outside with greater benefits? (you are actually running versus being propelled by a threadmill)

For €800 you could get a very respectable set of weights and a bench/squat rack - infinitely more valuable for fitness.

+1
I would like to hear the goals of the OP. If he is training for running it may be somewhat useful, if you are trying to just lose a beer gut then weights all the way IMHO

Deedsie wrote: »

Where can you by a squat rack in Ireland? I was looking yesterday and i couldnt find any in my home price range.

www.irish-lifting.com

Dead Ed wrote: »

I'd have to disagree here fella. The only differences between a treadmill and running outside are wind resistance (compensate with an incline) and the fact that you have to preemptively set your speed. If the belt is moving at 10mph and you're on it, you are in a frame of reference where standing still is 10mph backwards relative to the rest of the world.

I have heard people advise against them before for the reasons Colm gave. Maybe some can improve the technique somewhat, but I think many have bad technique. I would not think it is the exact same. If you lift your leg on the treadmill you move backwards, then place your foot down in front and it moves again, you do not have to overcome much inertia. I think walking on a treadmill may simulate walking on the road, but you could have a treadmill going at high speed and keep up with little propulsion from your strides.

Bduffman wrote: »

There is one benefit for those of us with creaky joints. The impact on a good treadmill is a lot less that on the road.

I simply do not run to save my joints. I do no cardio specifically for exercise, I just cycle or walk everywhere I can, get more than enough in. I also save a lot of time commuting on bike. e.g. I spend about 3.5hrs commuting/exercising on bike per week. If I were to drive it would be about 6hrs. Since I do not know what traffic will be like I have to leave earlier in a car, while on a bike my time is fine, in poor traffic for cars I go faster!. So not only am I saving time by not driving, I do not have to set aside time to do cardio. Not to mention saving a fortune on all the costs associated with driving. I think it is crazy that some people will drive 5miles to a gym, walk 10mile on a treadmill, drive 5mile home, and spend a fortune on the car & gym too.

Edwardius

rubadub wrote: »

If you lift your leg on the treadmill you move backwards, then place your foot down in front and it moves again

Hmmm, I thought about this a bit more today. Lets say you're running outside at 11mph and trying to keep a 10mph pace (say you have something in your brain that knows what speed you're at and it checks it every 2 seconds), if you were to reduce speed gradually it'd feel like your foot is being pulled backwards by the ground (inertia), which is a sensation many describe when running on a belt.

Now, on a 5 foot treadmill belt you have very little margin for error. if you slow too much, you're going off the back. If you speed up you're hitting the front so your speed will have to oscillate a lot. I personally notice decelerating more than accelerating as accelerating seems to feel more natural and decelerating gives the more memorable sensation of falling over, so it seems as though the ground/treadmill belt is pulling your foot backwards.

rubadub wrote: »

you do not have to overcome much inertia

Thinking about the inertia thing, it seems intuitive that there's less because you seem to be staying still. If (somehow) a 6 foot vertical wall materialised on the belt and was moving in unison with the belt it's going to hurt as much when you hit it as it would if you were running outside at the same speed and went into the side of a house. remember in a system consisting of you and the treadmill belt, the belt is the only thing you are interacting with and is, to all intents and purposes, stationary. You behave and percieve things differently on a treadmill because your movements must conform to a fairly strict set of very unnatural criteria, but it's still running.

One final thing I was considerating in relation to this stuff: Imagine your treadmill was 100 metres long, you are in the middle and your average speed remains the same as the belt but fluctuates as though it might when running in a traditional manner. I'll wager dollars to donuts that this will look and feel exactly the same as if you were running on something that was rotating at the same speed as the earth!

This is how I was thinking when I posted earlier and the above represents it a little better. Hopefully it makes little more sense though.

Edwardius

Bduffman wrote: »

Well I didn't modify my technique when I started using a treadmill & I haven't had a problem since. It stands to reason that they are easier on the joints as they absorb shock far better than concrete.

True, but you could also say that the treadmill masks the problem. I used to have sore hips for days after more than a few miles of road running. I sorted this by landing on the ball of my feet and letting the bounce of the ankle take up the impact. It feels odd for a while and hurts the calves while they're getting accustomed to doing what they're supposed to. My knees don't hurt anymore either because I try not to lock them out on landing. This is just to highlight the fact that running on hard surfaces might not cause the apocalypse, but each to their own.