Buying a treadmill for home use

Monife

Hi all.

Just wondering would any of you have any recommendations of a good make of treadmill for home use or any reputable companies that sell them?

I am not a runner and I only started exercising properly since last November but I am really interested in getting a treadmill. I know most of you will say I shouldn't waste my money but I hate exercising outdoors, even when it is not raining and I really do have my heart set on a treadmill so any advice would be much appreciated.

I will be using the treadmill for walking, a bit of jogging and possibly sprints (slow compared to the people on here but I am just starting out really). My maximum budget would be around 6/700euro.

Thanks

Plastik

Join a gym for two years with the money and use the full range of machines, weights and advice there?

Monife

Thanks but not really what I am looking for. I have tried many gyms out and at first I thought it was the particular gym but after trying out numerous ones I realised that I just do not like the gym environment at all. And whenever I was in a gym, the only thing I was drawn to was the treadmill.

So if anyone else has advice on my OP, that would be brill

marathonic

Monife wrote: »

Thanks but not really what I am looking for. I have tried many gyms out and at first I thought it was the particular gym but after trying out numerous ones I realised that I just do not like the gym environment at all. And whenever I was in a gym, the only thing I was drawn to was the treadmill.

So if anyone else has advice on my OP, that would be brill

Whilst 600 - 700 euro seems like a reasonable budget, Treadmill's are a very expensive piece of equipment. If you look at Powerhouse Fitness's range, you'll see that they have 76 machines and, after delivery, that budget will only get you one of the cheapest 3 machines.

If you're dead set on buying one, you're as well looking for a well-maintained used machine. At least then, you'll get better quality and you can sell it on at a reasonable price if you lose interest.

A better idea would be to get a good pair of trainers and hit the roads - much less boring too.

rubadub

Monife wrote: »

I know most of you will say I shouldn't waste my money but I hate exercising outdoors,

You can workout at home for free, or with minimal equipment, check out this thread

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=66851002

A treadmill takes up a lot of room, I have weights, chinup bar and other stuff, but it takes up minimal space.

Monife

marathonic wrote: »

If you're dead set on buying one, you're as well looking for a well-maintained used machine. At least then, you'll get better quality and you can sell it on at a reasonable price if you lose interest.

Would you have any advice on how to look for a well maintained used machine? And also where to look?

Also what would be say the top 5 best brand of treadmill for home use?

@rubadub: Pushups, sit-ups, kettlebells etc are totally not my thing. All I want to do is moderate cardio and then maybe when I get more used to exercise I will introduce some sort of weights to tone up. I am not really interest in strength exercises, I just want to get fit, but thanks for the advice.

marathonic

I'd continue to save up and keep an eye on these sites as well as any local papers such as buy and sell:

http://www.adverts.ie/for-sale/sports-fitness/exercise-equipment-weights/208/

http://www.donedeal.ie/find/gym/for-sale/Ireland/

This one's sold but it shows you an idea of what you'll get for your budget:

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/gym/2371003

In general, if equipment like this is anything up to a year old, it should be in good condition - as people rarely sell stuff like this if it's getting used frequently so one-year old models like this are usually very lightly used. There are exceptions to this but you should have a good idea when you view the machines.

Nwm2

Monife wrote: »

Hi all.

Just wondering would any of you have any recommendations of a good make of treadmill for home use or any reputable companies that sell them?

I am not a runner and I only started exercising properly since last November but I am really interested in getting a treadmill. I know most of you will say I shouldn't waste my money but I hate exercising outdoors, even when it is not raining and I really do have my heart set on a treadmill so any advice would be much appreciated.

I will be using the treadmill for walking, a bit of jogging and possibly sprints (slow compared to the people on here but I am just starting out really). My maximum budget would be around 6/700euro.

Thanks

I don't know why members of H&F can't just answer a simple question like what treadmill to get, without the first few posts telling you why you shouldn't get a treadmill.

The reasons you have listed to get one are ones that cannot be disagreed with. Treadmills are great for fitness, and even for training for racing. I do 99% of my running (excluding events) on a treadmill and although I am not very fast, I am decent enough (39:xx for 10k, 18:xx for 5k).

Elverys are doing a good deal on a Nordic Track for €899 (too expensive I know), and VJ home fitness have a BH M30 for €849. Both have motors with large continuous horsepower, and large running tracks.

If these are too expensive, maybe go for a 2nd hand one no more than 1-2 years old and with warranty. Compare the current new price and offer no more than 50%.

Transform

Nwm2 wrote: »

I don't know why members of H&F can't just answer a simple question like what treadmill to get, without the first few posts telling you why you shouldn't get a treadmill.

The reasons you have listed to get one are ones that cannot be disagreed with. Treadmills are great for fitness, and even for training for racing. I do 99% of my running (excluding events) on a treadmill and although I am not very fast, I am decent enough (39:xx for 10k, 18:xx for 5k).

Elverys are doing a good deal on a Nordic Track for €899 (too expensive I know), and VJ home fitness have a BH M30 for €849. Both have motors with large continuous horsepower, and large running tracks.

If these are too expensive, maybe go for a 2nd hand one no more than 1-2 years old and with warranty. Compare the current new price and offer no more than 50%.

because maybe when you have worked with enough clients you realise that treadmills at best become a fancy clothes horse and secondly there are better tools to get wayyyy better results than a treadmill e.g.

buy a kettlebell €40-70
Skipping rope - €10
Mat -€15-20
Foam roll €50
Lacrosse ball €5
Bands €50-70

Session with a personal trainer in your area to help you use all of the above - €50-80

Thats going to come to a fraction of the price to buy a decent treadmill plus you get all of the strengthening, mobility, conditioning benefits which you wont get from a treadmill.

There is the answer to the question and there is the suggestion that you might just be asking the wrong question?

Transform

Monife wrote: »

Would you have any advice on how to look for a well maintained used machine? And also where to look?

Also what would be say the top 5 best brand of treadmill for home use?

@rubadub: Pushups, sit-ups, kettlebells etc are totally not my thing. All I want to do is moderate cardio and then maybe when I get more used to exercise I will introduce some sort of weights to tone up. I am not really interest in strength exercises, I just want to get fit, but thanks for the advice.

using a treadmill or just going for a run is a really slow and actually quite counter productive way to get 'fit'.

Monife

Transform wrote: »

because maybe when you have worked with enough clients you realise that treadmills at best become a fancy clothes horse and secondly there are better tools to get wayyyy better results than a treadmill e.g.

buy a kettlebell €40-70
Skipping rope - €10
Mat -€15-20
Foam roll €50
Lacrosse ball €5
Bands €50-70

Session with a personal trainer in your area to help you use all of the above - €50-80

Thats going to come to a fraction of the price to buy a decent treadmill plus you get all of the strengthening, mobility, conditioning benefits which you wont get from a treadmill.

There is the answer to the question and there is the suggestion that you might just be asking the wrong question?

I think what Nwm2 was getting as was the fact that I did not ask for a personal workout routine, I did not ask what is the best workout and I did not ask about other (cheaper) exercise equipment. I did ask a specific question which the majority did not answer.

Transform wrote: »

using a treadmill or just going for a run is a really slow and actually quite counter productive way to get 'fit'.

How is it counter productive? Like previously said, I am not into weights, strength training etc, I have never been and will NEVER be a gym addict. I just want to be fairly comfortable with walking a long distance at a good speed and maybe even jogging some of it. Maybe in the future I will suddenly have an epiphany and decide I want to do all those "proper" workouts, but for now, I would sincerely appreciate any advice or someones own personal experience with treadmills for home use and what would be the best makes out there that dont cost an arm and a leg.

Nwm2

Transform wrote: »

using a treadmill or just going for a run is a really slow and actually quite counter productive way to get 'fit'.

Running is counter-productive for fitness?

In other words it makes you less fit?

WFT?:eek::eek:

stephendevlin

Try skipping. Skipping rope costs about €10 and is better than a tradmill.

Nwm2

Transform wrote: »

because maybe when you have worked with enough clients you realise that treadmills at best become a fancy clothes horse and secondly there are better tools to get wayyyy better results than a treadmill e.g.

buy a kettlebell €40-70
Skipping rope - €10
Mat -€15-20
Foam roll €50
Lacrosse ball €5
Bands €50-70

Session with a personal trainer in your area to help you use all of the above - €50-80

Thats going to come to a fraction of the price to buy a decent treadmill plus you get all of the strengthening, mobility, conditioning benefits which you wont get from a treadmill.

There is the answer to the question and there is the suggestion that you might just be asking the wrong question?

That would make sense if anyone had tried to understand what the 'client' wants before they went about recommending a whole program.

Which no-one did.

The Guvnor

I am with Transform on this.

There is nothing wrong with a treadmill.

As said though they are expensive - gym ones can be north of €7k so that gives an idea of what a quality piece can cost and one can then judge what the durability of a €700 one will be.

I would always try and buy ex-commerical machines if available.

Bodyrock.tv will give some examples of workouts that can be done at home without the use of much equipment bar perhaps Kettlebells, bands etc.

If I were spending money on a cardio machine it would be a concept 2.

marathonic

The Guvnor wrote: »

If I were spending money on a cardio machine it would be a concept 2.

Agreed, a concept 2 is on my wish list but I only recently got the Power Cage, Bench and Olympic Weights set so it'll be next year before I'm on the market for one - hopefully, I'll come across a well maintained used one (maybe an unwanted xmas present :-) )....

Nwm2

The Guvnor wrote: »

I am with Transform on this.

There is nothing wrong with a treadmill.

As said though they are expensive - gym ones can be north of €7k so that gives an idea of what a quality piece can cost and one can then judge what the durability of a €700 one will be.

I would always try and buy ex-commerical machines if available.

Bodyrock.tv will give some examples of workouts that can be done at home without the use of much equipment bar perhaps Kettlebells, bands etc.

If I were spending money on a cardio machine it would be a concept 2.

The only thing about ex-commercial ones is that while they are built to be much more rigorous, they could well have seen as much operation in a couple of weeks as a home one would see in a year, and the motors could be close to knackered.

The Guvnor

Very true but if maintained then far, far better.

It's a chance I'd be willing to take.

As with everything second hand it is caveat emptor.

Off to the gym for some weights.:D

It's ok I did cardio yesterday.

Monife

So apart from commercial ones, has anyone got an idea as what a good brand(s) of home use treadmills are?

Boss_eye

2nd hand commercial - with warranty from €800 - www.expertleisure.ie

Transform

Nwm2 wrote: »

Running is counter-productive for fitness?

In other words it makes you less fit?

WFT?:eek::eek:

then your definition of fitness is not complete - fitness should include strength, mobility, play etc

Nwm2

Transform wrote: »

then your definition of fitness is not complete - fitness should include strength, mobility, play etc

I never gave any definition of how I defined fitness.

You on the other hand suggested that running makes you less fit, and now it looks like you realise that is BS. Otherwise, if you still think running makes you less fit, please explain how.

Tom Joad

In response to OP's question, I would recommend taking at look at VJ's in Blanchardstown - they have ex gym equipment for good prices.

Bought a treadmill from them 8 years ago and is still going strong - gets used at least 2-3 times a week and even survived a year in storage in my dad's uninsulated garage. It took me a couple of trips to get one I wanted - this one folds up so is easy to store and move as/if required.

The make etc decal fell off it a long time ago so can't help you with make or model but worth a look there (am sure they have a website too)

Hope that helps

marathonic

Nwm2 wrote: »

I never gave any definition of how I defined fitness.

You on the other hand suggested that running makes you less fit, and now it looks like you realise that is BS. Otherwise, if you still think running makes you less fit, please explain how.

The suggestion that running can be counterproductive to getting fit depends on ones definition of fit - which is likely why Transform put the word in quotes.

If you look at a dictionary, you'll see the definition of counterproductive is "tending to hinder or act against the achievement of an aim"....

When most people say they want to get fit, they don't mean they want to be able to run faster or for longer. They mean they want to get fit in general.

In other words, running on a treadmill (or on the roads) would actually be counterproductive to a lot of people, myself included.

I cycle a lot of miles every week to and from work. I know this is counterproductive to my goal of lifting heavier via Starting Strength. However, I eat a lot more to try and alleviate this as much as possible.

Transform

Nwm2 wrote: »

I never gave any definition of how I defined fitness.

You on the other hand suggested that running makes you less fit, and now it looks like you realise that is BS. Otherwise, if you still think running makes you less fit, please explain how.

to be honest dude i really dont want to get into it for so many reasons so let the OP buy his treadmill and keep on running

Wollwead

No offence intended to the OP but it always makes me laugh that when people decide they want to get fit they just wanna run and/or walk but never really fully understand how beneficial weights or even simple bodyweight movements can improve how they look, feel and even the speed at which they can run. I have this argument day in day out with people that 'run'. It's pretty tiresome really!

Transform

Wollwead wrote: »

No offence intended to the OP but it always makes me laugh that when people decide they want to get fit they just wanna run and/or walk but never really fully understand how beneficial weights or even simple bodyweight movements can improve how they look, feel and even the speed at which they can run. I have this argument day in day out with people that 'run'. It's pretty tiresome really!

My sentiments exactly and have written about it at length in the past and most recently

Caros

Wollwead wrote: »

No offence intended to the OP but it always makes me laugh that when people decide they want to get fit they just wanna run and/or walk but never really fully understand how beneficial weights or even simple bodyweight movements can improve how they look, feel and even the speed at which they can run. I have this argument day in day out with people that 'run'. It's pretty tiresome really!

The longest journey begins with a single step....

Transform

Caros wrote: »

The longest journey begins with a single step....

just wish more people would take a step on the road less travelled to produce better results in less time

marathonic

Transform wrote: »

just wish more people would take a step on the road less travelled to produce better results in less time

I'm travelling from Donegal to Dublin airport in November when going on holidays. The journey will begin with the first mile but should I use the motorway or the back roads?

Monife

Transform wrote: »

just wish more people would take a step on the road less travelled to produce better results in less time

Not everyone wants what you want. Everybody is different and everyone has different goals. I wish that people would give advice on the OP in this forum, rather than derailing the thread completely and trying to force "their" way on people.

Anyway, it is proven that cardio is the best way to burn calories. You may want to build muscle mass and strength and tone. I just want to burn calories, for now.

DM-BM

You would probably get a better answer to your question in the running forum.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=972

jhanson00

Search on google about best treadmill for home.

noeldegood

Monife wrote: »

Hi all.

Just wondering would any of you have any recommendations of a good make of treadmill for home use or any reputable companies that sell them?

I am not a runner and I only started exercising properly since last November but I am really interested in getting a treadmill. I know most of you will say I shouldn't waste my money but I hate exercising outdoors, even when it is not raining and I really do have my heart set on a treadmill so any advice would be much appreciated.

I will be using the treadmill for walking, a bit of jogging and possibly sprints (slow compared to the people on here but I am just starting out really). My maximum budget would be around 6/700euro.

Thanks

Stick a wanted ad on done deal and be sure to specify one that is suitable to support your weight. e,g, 100k, 150k etc. otherwise they hack up if you are too heavy. A good 2nd hand one should not cost more than 3 or 4 ton. Good luck!

Nermal

Wollwead wrote: »

No offence intended to the OP but it always makes me laugh that when people decide they want to get fit they just wanna run and/or walk but never really fully understand how beneficial weights or even simple bodyweight movements can improve how they look, feel and even the speed at which they can run. I have this argument day in day out with people that 'run'. It's pretty tiresome really!

Not nearly as tiresome as listening to bros who think that merely looking at a treadmill will rob them of hard earned gainz...

Alf Veedersane

Nermal wrote: »

Not nearly as tiresome as listening to bros who think that merely looking at a treadmill will rob them of hard earned gainz...

Maybe he's changed his mind in the intervening 6 years.

why is this even

Alf Veedersane

bluewolf wrote: »

why is this even

It's odd.

2017girl

Monife wrote: »

Hi all.

Just wondering would any of you have any recommendations of a good make of treadmill for home use or any reputable companies that sell them?

I am not a runner and I only started exercising properly since last November but I am really interested in getting a treadmill. I know most of you will say I shouldn't waste my money but I hate exercising outdoors, even when it is not raining and I really do have my heart set on a treadmill so any advice would be much appreciated.

I will be using the treadmill for walking, a bit of jogging and possibly sprints (slow compared to the people on here but I am just starting out really). My maximum budget would be around 6/700euro.

Thanks

I have a Nordic Track find it really great😊

daithi1970

Monife wrote: »

Not everyone wants what you want. Everybody is different and everyone has different goals. I wish that people would give advice on the OP in this forum, rather than derailing the thread completely and trying to force "their" way on people.

Anyway, it is proven that cardio is the best way to burn calories. You may want to build muscle mass and strength and tone. I just want to burn calories, for now.

..would you be better off getting an exercise bike?
1. its cheaper
2 takes up less room
3 more amenable for hiit there are loads of good training plans on line
4 easier on joints

just a thought..

``daithi