Considering switching from electric to manual treadmill

PokeyBug

I've been walking on my ginormous electric treadmill for over a decade (Smooth Fitness). It's been awesome, minimal upkeep, etc. It may last another 10 years, for all I know, but I already feel I've gotten more than my money's worth. I'm considering switching to a manual treadmill for a couple of reasons.

I would love to have a machine light enough to easily move around when I need that space in my dining room. (For holiday dinners with the family, the only place I can maneuver it to is the garage entryway, which is kind of a PITA. It blocks us from entering through the garage for at least 2 days and I can't use it during that time.) I also wonder if switching to a manual treadmill would require a little more effort from me to keep it moving? Or would it?

I weight <150, with a goal weight of 125-130#, and I don't plan to ever run on it; I have a knee/femur injury that limits my pace to 4 mph and under. But I'm wondering if there's anything I should consider before making the switch? All of the gyms in my area have electric treadmills, so I can't really test a manual treadmill anywhere, except maybe in a sporting goods shop. And I'm sure they won't let me test it for an hour, lol. What's the longest amount of time can I expect a sporting goods shop to allow me to test a treadmill? Will it be enough time for me to see whether it's going to work for me?

scruff_farrier

So, I've actually used a manual treadmill....once...for about 5 mins.....I hated every second of it. It is very possible that we got a really cheap crappy one. But it was very hard to keep it moving. It was just so hard to make the belt move and when you did get it moving it was hard to keep it going at your speed. Just felt off, and not natural at all. My opinion is that there is a vaild reason why gyms don't have these. I would think if you found one at a sports store you could try it out for 5-10 minutes, you will know in that time frame if it will work for you or not. They do make light weight foldable electric ones too you might look into if you think it's time to retire yours.

kourtamunoz

I actually just used one of these at my gym and it kicked my butt. I didn’t have issues keeping it moving. I’ll check the brand when I go back and let you know.

PokeyBug

kourtamunoz wrote: »

I actually just used one of these at my gym and it kicked my butt. I didn’t have issues keeping it moving. I’ll check the brand when I go back and let you know.

Call me kooky, but that's what I'm kind of looking for -- something that will kick my butt.

scruff_farrier wrote: »

I would think if you found one at a sports store you could try it out for 5-10 minutes, you will know in that time frame if it will work for you or not. They do make light weight foldable electric ones too you might look into if you think it's time to retire yours.

Thanks, that really helps, too. I do know of a local store with a display model I could try. I just didn't know how long it would take for me to see whether it's for me or not. My treadmill doesn't seem near quitting on me, but I've really grown to resent the space it takes up in the dining room.

Rose18l

Manual treadmills will put more stress on the joints so make sure you test extensively before deciding, especially for the bad knee. I feel that my knee suffers more on manual treadmills than automatic. Also the cheaper manual treadmills are most often a lot less durable than their automatic counterparts.

PokeyBug

Thanks for the advice, Rose. Sorry I've been busy, but my knee is certainly something to consider in all this. Now, I have to figure out how I can find one to test for a full workout. (Recently, I've been walking for an hour straight at around 5K per hour.) Maybe one of my friends has one and I just don't know it... I'll have to ask around.