How to Choose the Right Treadmill

With New Years resolutions fading fast, it’s time to pep up your exercise routine and find something that works in the long term! One common mistake that new exercisers make is to do ‘too much too soon’ and set themselves impossible goals – for example, deciding to become a regular outdoor runner and clock up many miles a week! The difficultly of course is sticking to those goals – and heading outdoors when its cold, dark and gloomy is a hard prospect indeed. One great way to stay motivated – and enjoy exercise in the comfort of your own home – is to invest in a treadmill.

There’s a huge range of treadmills available to suit all budgets and requirements. Some are manually powered – through the speed of your walk or run, and others are computerised and will simulate all different types of terrain. Additionally, most treadmills will measure your run or walk distance, estimate calorie burn – and some will even take your heartrate to calculate whether you are working within your optimum heart rate. Good brands include Proform, particularly for budget brands, Smooth treadmills for mid-range models and Nordic. Consider things such as number of users, regularity of use, amount of available space in the home (there are folding models available) and budget. You may wish to visit a specialist provider to find out which treadmill will suit you before investing in one – a knowledgeable sales assistant will be invaluable in helping you to reach your decision.

It’s important to wear the right clothing when using your treadmill running machine – supportive trainers and cool, comfortable sports kit. To get a good workout, aim for at least 20 minutes at a pace that keeps you breathing heavily, but still able to hold a comfortable conversation. This might mean walking to begin with, and then progressing to running. Over time you can vary your workout for better results – either by upping the incline, speed, duration or by doing interval training with different paces. You should aim to train for at least three sessions a week – building up to around five sessions weekly.

Remember too that exercise needs to be taken in conjunction with other lifestyle changes in order to achieve the best results. For this reason, you should also look at making positive changes within your diet, stress levels, sleep and cutting out unhealthy habits such as smoking, excessive drinking and use of sunbeds for example. Speak to your doctor to get advice before starting any exercise regime, and consider also consulting a nutritionist to identify which diet will help you to get the best from your new exercise regime.