The treadmill is the most common aerobic fitness equipment and belongs to aerobic exercise. There are many brands of treadmills, generally divided into commercial brands and household brands. Commercial brands can meet the long-term use of a large number of people and are suitable for commercial gyms, fitness clubs and studios, hotels and clubs, enterprises and institutions, medical rehabilitation centers, sports and education Institutions, commercial real estate and other places. Household equipment can meet the long-term use of individuals and family members, and is suitable for long-term use by several people in the family.
1. Benefits of treadmills
- Not affected by weather, exercise time can be arranged flexibly
When running outdoors, you often have to look at the weather. Heavy rains in the south in the summer and rain, snow and haze in the north in the winter will occasionally block your pace of outdoor sports.
With a treadmill at home, you can ignore the influence of outdoor weather and start running at any time with flexible time. This way, you no longer have to worry about not being able to stick to your training plan every day.
- Compared with outdoor running, treadmills provide better knee protection
Long-distance running on concrete ground outdoors puts a lot of burden on the knees, requiring the legs to push forward. The conveyor belt of the treadmill has a buffering effect. After stepping on it, it can well cushion the impact of running. Moreover, the relative position of the person remains unchanged and is moved backward by the transmission belt, without the need for the human body to move forward, which can effectively reduce the force exerted by the legs when pedaling forward.
On the one hand, it saves effort, and on the other hand, it effectively reduces the burden on the knees.
- You can exercise according to your own exercise needs, and the training effect will be better
On the treadmill, you can set different paces and combine them with your own training plan to intersperse running training at different paces. For example, walking slowly, walking fast, running fast, and walking fast in an orderly manner can achieve a good training effect and put your body into a better state of movement. For example, you can achieve better fat-burning effects by incorporating HIIT elements.
2. Construction of the treadmill
2.1 Frame
As the skeleton of the treadmill, the frame is usually made of iron or aluminium. It generally includes the front column, rear column, crossbeam, turn handle, pedal support and running platform.
The front column supports the front part of the treadmill and the control panel. The rear column supports the rear part of the treadmill. The crossbeam is a horizontal structure connecting the front and rear columns to provide overall support. The turn handles are mounted on the front column for easy movement when the treadmill is folded.
The footrest bracket is mainly used to support the treadmill and usually consists of a metal frame and rubber shock pads. The running platform is the moving part, which usually consists of rubber running belt, support plate and rollers.
2.2 Running belt
The running belt is the part of the treadmill where we walk and run, usually made of rubber or PVC. The length and width of the running belt are different for different treadmills. The treadmill running belts on the market are all multi-layer running belts. Multi-layer running belt means that several layers of different materials (e.g. rubber, polyester fibre, etc.) are added on top of a thin running belt to improve the strength, abrasion resistance and shock absorption effect.
2.3 Drive System
The vast majority of home treadmills on the market are motor driven. The continuous power output of the motor is an important figure in determining the adaptability of the treadmill to the weight group. In addition the level of noise control when the motor is running is also an important criterion to measure the goodness of a treadmill.
2.4 Control Panel
The control panel is mounted on the front column and consists of start/stop buttons, buttons for adjusting speed and incline, display screen and other components. It can provide the running status of the treadmill and the control buttons of the control panel, etc. It is the control centre of the treadmill. The emergency stop button and safety key on the control panel ensure that we can quickly switch off the treadmill in case of an emergency.
2.5 Handrail
The handrail provides support and balance for our running, which makes our body more stable and protects our body safety when we run.
2.6 Shock absorbing systems
The most common shock absorbing systems are spring absorbing system, silicone absorbing system, coil spring absorbing system, air cushion absorbing system and suspension absorbing system in order of cost. Most treadmills on the market today use a combination of shock absorption systems.
3.What to pay attention to when buying a treadmill
3.1 Running belt size
The size of the running belt is very important, determining the running space. But the actual common treadmill running belt on the market is mostly between 120-150CM in length and 40-60cm in width. Different brands of different running belt is often only a few centimetres difference, the size difference is not too big. Therefore, we don't need to pay too much attention to the size of the running belt, but only need to adjust the preference for the running belt according to personal needs.
If you just like jogging or easy walking, a shorter running belt length is not a problem, but for high intensity fast running and long distance running, you should try to choose a longer running belt.
If you are thin, it's okay to choose a narrower running belt width, because treadmills on the market tend to fit most people, and the running belt won't be very short. But for people who are wide and fat, you should choose a wider running belt as much as possible.
3.2 Motor Power
Motor power is divided into peak power (HP) and continuous power output (CHP). General brands are aware that these two points are very important to treadmill buyers, basically in the details page have obvious labels.
Continuous output power is the motor power that the motor continues to output under the highest tolerance, which is the real motor power of a treadmill.
Continuous output power is divided into five grades: 1.0HP, 1.5HP, 2.0HP, 2.5HP and 3.0HP and 3.0 above.
Regularly speaking, 1.5HP is able to cope with the majority of the population. After all, 180 pounds upwards, they need more than a treadmill but other fitness equipment.
Going for high sustained output motors without weight is disrespectful to the wallet. Moreover, when a treadmill he is in the same price range motor sustained output power on the outstanding, generally is two possibilities, one is really inside the roll, the second is really in other places to save. We must choose the sustained motor output power that can cover the weight of your whole family, not the bigger the better.
3.3 Vibration damping systems
Vibration damping is mainly a damping system. The most common damping systems are spring damping system, silicone damping system, coil spring damping system and air cushion damping system in order of cost.
Among them, the air cushion damping system can automatically adjust the air pressure according to the user's weight and exercise intensity, which can both dampen vibration and reduce noise. However, due to its high cost, it basically appears in the middle and high-end treadmill.
General we need to look at the treadmill on the use of which kinds or which kind of shock absorption system, but the general brand after a complex combination of arrangements, we are difficult to intuitively feel in the end to achieve the realization of the shock absorption. However, we can eliminate those treadmills with too few shock absorbing systems by setting their shock absorbing systems.
3.4 Maximum Load Capacity
Many people will say that the maximum weight capacity is the weight that the treadmill can carry. No, when we exercise on the treadmill, there will be a certain impact force on the treadmill, so we often have to pay attention to the maximum load capacity must be greater than their own weight.
Thanks to the continuous output of the motor, which corresponds to the weight table, this is a point that requires the attention of the user is greatly reduced. But it is also a treadmill statistic that we should pay attention to.
3.5 Noise Control Level
Treadmills inevitably produce noise when in use due to the presence of the motor. It is easy to cause nuisance without careful selection. Currently there are three common ways to reduce treadmill noise.
- The first is to build a soundproof shell for the motor to reduce the noise by wrapping it in a plastic shell.
- The second is the running belt to absorb noise and vibration, the thicker the running belt to absorb the better.
- The third is to reduce noise and vibration by setting up air cushion damping system.
When we buy, we can mainly look at these three aspects, if these three aspects are done well, then the noise of the treadmill is not very big.
3.6 Slope Adjustment
Slope adjustment is also known as ‘climbing mode’, ‘climbing mode’ is divided into two kinds, namely, electric adjustment and automatic adjustment.
Electric adjustment can easily adjust the angle, not to mention the automatic adjustment. However, automatic adjustment basically appears in the very high-end treadmill, most of the common treadmill or electric adjustment.
The angle of adjusting the slope is generally 0-15 degrees, and some high-end brands will have a negative degree of adjustment. But the price is relatively high. In fact, for ordinary treadmill users, this kind of imitation of uphill and downhill demand is not very high. In contrast, the level of noise control is more important.
3.7 Running belt surface non-slip treatment
Running belts usually require anti-slip treatment. Special coatings and anti-slip patterns are common ways of applying anti-slip treatment to the surface of the running belt. There are a lot of businesses on the market if you do not do running belt surface anti-slip treatment, do not advertise this point, we need to look at their own, to ask the customer service.
3.8 Space requirements
When buying a treadmill, we need to consider the family space and use needs. Treadmill size, weight, portability, ease of storage are all factors to consider. If the house space is small, it is recommended to choose a treadmill that is portable and easy to store.
3.9 Maintenance
As a fitness equipment that requires maintenance, the main maintenance of treadmill is the lubricant addition. Generally speaking, the slide rail of the treadmill needs to be lubricated once every three months, and the frequency of lubrication may be higher if the treadmill is used more frequently. Some treadmills use lubricant in the running belt, which eliminates the need for users to add lubricant. This is very friendly to users. When we buy, we can look at the business for the lubrication of this matter mentioned or not, if not mentioned, the probability is that you need to manually add oil. Generally mention this point will be free of refuelling as a selling point of publicity.
