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What you should know about treadmills

Walking or running is the most natural form of movement for us humans and is ideally suited for integrated fitness training. Before a treadmill is purchased it is important to think about how it will be used.
Is the treadmill going to be used mostly for power walking or light jogging or are you into serious running? With each step a multiple of the runner’s weight is transferred to the running deck. Only technically well engineered and extremely stable designs as well as strong motors will guarantee your continued enjoyment while training.  For this reason you should ask yourself the following questions prior to making a buying decision.
How often will you use the treadmill?
The more often a treadmill is used the more solid its frame constructions and components should be.
How many people are going to be using the treadmill?  
When looking at hours of usage do not just think of yourself here but also take into consideration that other family members and friends might use the treadmill.
What are the user weight demands?
What is the weight of the heaviest person that will use the treadmill?
If any one of the users weighs more than 90-100 Kilos than it becomes even more important to pay attention to a solid frame construction.
What is the height of the tallest user?
The taller the user the longer the stride. Starting with a user height of 180cm a running deck length of 140 cm should be chosen.
 

The Motor:
A strong motor guarantees long live for your treadmill. A stronger motor runs quieter, smoother, and is more durable. It is important to always look at the continuous power output of a motor not the peak power. The peak power is three times as high as the continuous power, and represents the peak of possible performance, which can only be sustained for a short period of time. If you see ads putting emphasis on a high peak performance this usually is a sign that a lower quality motor is used. For less intensive use like walking or light jogging a 2 HP continuous power motor is sufficient. For the more demanding user a motor with at least 2.5 HP should be chosen.

Note:
There are many special offers where only the peak performance is listed. You should always be sceptical here, peak is three times the value of the continuous power (i.e. peak power of 4.5 HP would be equal to continuous power of 1.5 HP.

The Frame:
a solid construction is extremely important, this prevents excessive vibration. For light jogging or power walking a unit weight of 80-100 kg is sufficient but for serious running a treadmill with a weight of above 100 kg should be chosen.

 
The Incline:
To keep variety on your work out it is very important that the incline level can be changed. To create the feeling of running outdoors an incline level of at least 2 % should be chosen. It is important that the incline level can be adjusted electronically on the console.

The running deck:
The larger of the running deck the more safety during your work out. It could lead to serious consequences should you accidentally step on the plastic side rails while training. For walking, running deck dimension starting at 45x130cm (W x L) are sufficient. For serious running you should choose dimension of 50x140cm.

The shock absorption:
A critical subject. The shocks that occur with each step have to be absorbed well, to avoid negative impact on ligaments and joints. Common are rubber cushions that are placed under the running deck. These elastomer pads have limited qualities for shock absorption. Today however many treadmills offer advanced shock absorption systems which vary among manufacturers

Heart Rate:
There are three options for heart rate monitoring:
Heart rate monitoring via hand pulse sensors: sufficient for walking, is not as accurate using a chest belt and not at all practical when running, since the hands would need to stay on the sensor at all times.
Heart rate monitoring via ear clip sensor: is not offered much, it is not very accurate at all, uncomfortable and bothersome while running.
Hear rate control via chest belt: this is the most common and accurate way of monitoring the heart rate. The belt sits right below the chest line and sends its signal to the receiver build into the treadmill computer. More expensive running machines offer programs where the heart rate controls the intensity of the work out. The computer registers the pulse and adjusts incline and speed accordingly so that the user stays within a desired target heart rate range.

Price:
What should you consider spending for a quality treadmill? Well it depends how it will be used by you and your family. Generally speaking a sound treadmill for walking can be purchased starting at 800 €. It should offer a 2.5 HP continuous power motor. The running deck should be 50 cm wide and between 135 and 140 cm long. For a premium quality treadmill, with a large running surface, a good warranty, quiet and durable operations you should look in the range of between 1.300 and 1.800 €.

More Information and Technical Details:

User Weight
If any of the users in your family weigh over 100kg, you should consider spending a bit more for a stronger motor and higher grade belt and deck combination, even if you are only planning on walking on the treadmill.  The reason for this is that all home treadmills are made using DC motors. DC motors only operate at their full capacity when running at the highest speed, which means that a person walking at 4 mph on a machine with a 2.5 HP motor will likely only be using a small fraction of the motor’s capacity. This is not a huge problem for most users, but a very heavy person walking at a slow speed will cause the motor to run hot and eventually result in motor or lower electronic board failure.

Frame:
One of the most important and overlooked components is the treadmill frame. There are two types of frames: steel and aluminium. We much prefer steel because with a steel frame you will feel a more spring-like feel when your foot strikes the deck, and generally the steel frame lends itself to a tighter, quieter unit. Aluminium frames are strong and last just as long as steel, but those aluminium units have a deadpan feel which is really bad for runners (why?). Understand that companies that use aluminium rivet the frames, and that is just not as good as a unibody stelook at the specs of the treadmills you are considering. For the price point of 900 € or less, look for a unit over 88kg. For a unit over 1,300 € the weight should be at least 100 kg.

Motor:
unfortunately there is no such thing as standard guidelines for horsepower ratings, so you will not beable to compare the motors of each treadmill manufacturer on an equitable basis. The actual HP rating—believe it or not—is solely determined by the treadmill manufacturer itself!  There is no industry standard as to how to rate your DC motors. Manufacturer A may call their motor a 2 HP continuous duty motor rated at 2,000 rpm and 15 amps. Meanwhile, Manufacturer B may buy that very same motor and label it as a 3 HP commercial grade continuous duty motor. You might ask how this is possible: it’s quite simple Manufacturer B just rates their motor at a very high rpm speed (around 5,000 rpm) in order to achieve a bigger HP number strictly for marketing purposes. As you can imagine, with more than a million treadmills annually around the country, many consumers just look for the highest HP rating at the lowest price. Treadmills are using good quality motors now. Generally, they will last a very long time, and you should look at the motor warranty to separate the high quality ones from the sub-standard ones. Don’t consider any motor that comes with less than a ten-year warranty.                                                           

Running Belt:
Most high-quality treadmills have two-ply belts which consist of a black polyurethane (not rubber) top layer and an under-layer which should be made of a nylon-polyester weave. It is the underside of the running belt which will wear out first. Take a look at the underside of the belt! Peel the running belt back and take a look. Here are the three simple things you should be looking at:
 
1. Determine whether the seam is a horizontal or a diagonal cut. Diagonal is the preferred method of making a long-lasting tread belt because the extra bonding area creates a stronger bond where the belt is glued together. Furthermore, with the diagonal method of cutting and gluing, you will not get that THUMP-THUMP sound with each rotation of the belt travelling over the front and rear rollers.
 
2. Look at the weave of the belt itself. Like an oriental rug, the tighter the weave, the more expensive the belt is to make. The belts with the tight, soft weave on the bottom will last for thousands of hours of use. 
 
3. Rub your fingers across the underside of the belt. You should feel a soft (almost cottony) feel from the polyester. It is a common cost cutting measure of many manufacturers to use only nylon in their belts. You will only be able to know this by feeling the underside of the belt or by listening to the sounds of the machine while in use. (If you hear a sound that is akin to bees buzzing, don’t buy the treadmill!)  You can imagine that if the underside of the belt is rough, it will wear away the top (phenolic resin) coating of the deck which again will make the unit run hot and cause the treadmill to break down. On very high-end machines, you may see what some call 4-ply or multi-ply belts. Those belts generally are geared for very heavy use such as high-speed running or large-family use.

 Running Deck:
Most of the top treadmill manufacturers are using 2 – 2 ½ cm thick solid wood decks which are usually mounted on top of elastomer rubber grommets laid upon the steel frame. The rubber grommets are designed to absorb impact and are commonly referred to as a floating deck in the industry. Cheaper machines will use pressboard and not solid wood and those will surely break if you run on the machine at all.  You should know that although decks are not the most expensive component, they can be very expensive to change since it requires a few hours of labor to completely disassemble and break the machine down to the base frame. Since belts and decks are designed to wear out at about the same time if you do change your deck you should also change the running belt at the same time. The deck and running belt on a high-end unit usually last through a few thousand hours of use.  It is not unusual for sporting-goods sold treadmills to have belt and deck combinations that will only last about 500 hours. Some of the high-end manufacturers like Life Fitness, Landice, True and Smooth use triple-laminated phenolic resin coatings on their decks. These reversible decks offer twice the life-span since they can be turned over once before they need to be replaced.

Rollers:
Look for a roller that is anywhere from 2”-3” in diameter. Bigger is not necessarily better, though. The most important thing about a roller is not the size of the roller but the size and type of the bearings.  Every treadmill has two screws in the rear of the machine which are used to adjust the running belt tension.  High-end machines have several features like crowned rollers, rubber-coated front rollers or even auto-tracking computerized rollers.  During your machine’s break-in period, the running belt may stretch.  If you notice any slippage, you may need to tighten up the rear roller.  Cheap machines are a constant headache because it tends to be very difficult to keep the belt centered—you’ll find yourself continually having to adjust the rollers

Elektronics:
Each treadmill has both an upper electronics package (usually called the console) and a lower motor control board which is the brain of the treadmill and typically the most serviced part—especially on cheap models.  Today, most treadmills have hill profiles, custom program storage and user profiles which can be set up for each user in the family.  Look for at least a two-year warranty on your electronics.