Every one understands the importance of exercise on a daily basis to ensure our body stays young and healthy; however, many of us do not want to get out in all kinds of weather to go for that walk. This is the main reason that treadmills have become so popular. Other reasons are the location we live. Those living in a big city may not feel safe jogging in a park or down the street. Those living in the country may feel exactly the same if there are no homes nearby.

Treadmills give us the ability to exercise in the privacy of our homes, even in our pajamas if we desire. Today, you can find a large variety of treadmills for the home including brands such as Bowflex, Healthrider, Horizon, Image, Landice, Nordic Track, Precor, Proform, Reebok, Smooth, Sole, Star Trac, Spirit, and Weslo.

The main thing to remember when choosing a treadmill for your home is to find one that will fit properly in the area you have, one that is a space saver, or one that can be folded up when not in use. Some of the features many look for in their home treadmill include Mach Drive Motor, QuickSpeed Control, Power Incline, 2 CrossWalk Calorie Workouts, CrossWalk Upper-Body Arms, Built-in Workouts, ProSoft Plus Impact Reduction, LCD Display,  EKG Grip Pulse Heart Rate Monitor and Space Saver Folding Design.

As you start your search, you should know there are two main types of treadmills, manual and electric. With a manual treadmill, you are the engine, so to speak. The belt will only move when you are walking or jogging and will increase in speed as you walk faster. Electric treadmills can be adjusted to various speeds and you will need to keep up with the moving tread belt.

Today, you can find all kinds of features such as ones that are programmed to go faster as you do, keep track of your heart rate, and ones with impact reduction to protect your joints while exercising. Another awesome feature found with many revolutionary treadmills is the integrated EKG sensor, which provides feedback on heart rate while other metrics are displayed on a LCD display that tracks your time, speed, distance, pulse, and calories burned.

According to the type of treadmill you desire you can features such as ones allowing you to compete with virtual competitors, easy shock drop assisted folding mechanism, adjusting cushioning system which is less stressful on hips, knees, and ankles, convenient button system to change from speeds 1 to 10 mph, power incline with a touch of a button, and even a nice sized treadbelt.

You can now begin your search and find all the features you desire in your treadmill for your home. You can find small ones that offer the basics to commercial ones with a space saver design.

Exercise treadmill is a home exercise equipment but used also by cardiologists. It is also well known in the medical circles by many alternative names such as exercise ECG, Stress test – exercise treadmill, EKG – exercise treadmill etc. But before we get onto see the medical relevance of this wonderful simple exercise equipment, let us see what it does to our everyday life and how.

You are hard pressed for time, but you are aware that you are slightly going out of shape. And, your physician has advised you to reduce weight and get back into shape. It is here that the exercise treadmill comes to your rescue. One strong supporting point in its favor is treadmill is amongst the top calorie burning equipment.

What Does a Treadmill Do To You?
Basically, an exercise treadmill is used for general screening of heart to find out how good its general is and how it responds to stress or exercise. When you walk on the treadmill, physicians collect data like your cardio electrical activity on ECG while monitoring the blood pressure. These data can be interpreted later to find out whether the heart asks for additional oxygen as a reaction.

Stress test on treadmill helps doctors in determining the heart’s ability to withstand exercise. This in turn helps in determining the appropriate level of exercise so that an exercise regime is developed for persons in need. Apart from this, there are various other reasons, such as determine the causes of chest pain, for your doctor to go for stress test.

That apart, a survey conducted by Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association tells that people spend more on treadmills than other exercise/fitness equipments. The basic realities that go in support of exercise treadmill are the unbeatable workout on cardiovascular muscles and high rate of calorie burning. In a joint study, VA Medical Center in Milwaukee and the Medical College of Wisconsin put the calories burnt on treadmill on top of the list of calories burnt by other exercise machines. After a 60 minutes’ workout treadmill burns an average of 865-705 calories.

Benefits of Exercise Treadmill
1. Treadmill lets you exercise indoors avoiding bad weather
2. Adjustable speeds accommodates both running and walking
3. Little or no impact on heels, knee ankles, back and as a result fewer injuries. As a result you can run for years
4. High end treadmills allow adjusting of speeds and inclines so than running or walking uphill/downhill is simulated. They allow preprogramming exercise preferences like speed variations and inclines

Buying an Exercise Treadmill
1. Decide on long time exercise goals. There are different models to suit individual preferences
2. Consider the space availability/constraint at home to choose an apt size
3. Go for a continuous and heavy duty motor which lasts longer than others if the cost difference doesn’t bother you
4. Decide what dimensions of walking track is comfortable for you. Normally 4′x1.5′ suits most. Running may call for longer track than this
5. Check for deck thickness which must be 3/4″ to 1″ to support both running and walking Shock absorbers, smoother decks, instrument console warrantee, price and brand can’t be left out while making a decision.

Buying a treadmill is a good investment for those who want to maintain good health by doing regular exercises at any time they want, irrespective of the weather and other influencing factors. The choice of the treadmill depends upon the budget and the goal for which it is purchased.

Treadmill can be bought either for losing some weight or for more rigorous practices. Depending upon the space available, treadmills that are foldable can also be purchased. There are other added features like support bars to get off safely after completing the workout, incline ability, heart rate monitoring and many more. The price of the treadmill ranges from around five hundred dollars to six thousand dollars, depending upon the various features and size of the treadmill. Of course, less expensive models would not have features of their expensive counterparts yet, would serve the basic purpose.

Basically, a good treadmill should have low coefficient of drag between the belt and underneath surface. This is an important factor because treadmills tend to buildup friction in what is known as the bed of the treadmill, which is nothing but the area between the belt and underneath surface. To make it have low friction and low wear, the belt should be a four ply using a high density polyester weave.

The rating of the motor is also vital which is rated in terms of peak hp which is the rate in which a treadmill will fail. Normally, manufacturers rate the peak hp and if the ratings are in continuous duty horsepower, it would clearly give an idea of the capability of the treadmill. Evidently, if the motors are large, the treadmill would have a higher chance of lasting longer and run cooler than smaller motors.

To be quite comfortable while using a treadmill, the one that is stable, considering the height and weight of the individual using it should be purchased. To ensure more safety and protection, treadmills that have shock absorption can be preferred since treadmills having harder belts may cause certain amount of discomfort to the joints and hence the one that has a floating deck or other built-in shock absorber would suit better.

Generally, treadmills are available with a warranty for one to three years and by paying some extra money, extended warranty can be obtained. The buyer can also be precautious enough to read the warranty agreement well to know exactly what is covered. But before finalizing on the purchase of the treadmill, it is a good advice to seek the help of a professional who has a thorough knowledge of the various treadmills prevalent in the market or try to get the reviews of the experts who would be in a position to give a clear view of the longevity and the important factors to be considered while buying a treadmill.

So you want to get back into shape and lose those unwanted pounds.