Exercise Equipment Recommendations?

LilacDreamer

My husband and I are interested in purchasing a treadmill for our home.

We live in an 800 square foot condo, and we are also on a budget. Some of the prices i've seen so far are absolutely outrageous.

I was wondering if anyone knew of a decent treadmill for less than $400-600 range?

Key features:
The ability to fold up: We don't really have the room to keep it out at all times
Computerized functions; a few programs might be nice, but we're not picky and we're certainly not expecting gym quality.


An elliptical might be okay too, but we don't have much experience with them.

rsmithy89

Elliptical trainers are good. If you want the cheapest option, go for a stationary bike. You can get that for a few hundred dollars, you can watch TV whilst on it and it doesnt take up much space.

SwindonJogger

try the treadmill forum at runnersworld.com, they have real experts on there when it comes to treadmills.

Personally i would look for a 2nd hand concept2 rower, that would be the best home equipment that will be reliable and could be found 2nd hand within your budget. And will give you a kick butt workout.
My own opinion is that proper home fitness equipment that you will enjoy using comes at a high cost. I wouldn't consider anything other than a treadmill from life fitness, precor, spirit, landice, true or cybex. Most of the rest are junk that will rattle and shake.
$600 won't buy you a decent treadmill.

LilacDreamer

Elliptical trainers are good. If you want the cheapest option, go for a stationary bike. You can get that for a few hundred dollars, you can watch TV whilst on it and it doesnt take up much space.

we had a bike a couple of years ago. it ended up being a huge waste of $ and we threw it out. the resistance on it blew.

and to the other person who mentioned getting something "second hand" i would be fine with that except i'm afraid it would break the minute we got it here (ie: buying a "lemon" that someone just wanted to get rid of)

I'm also deathly afraid of getting bed bugs from peoples used items, and you never know what you're going to find them in. I had an allergic reaction to some bites last summer, and i can't deal with that again.

STrooper

Are you looking for something new? You might have some difficulty in this price range.

In November, I got a treadmill through HSN (Pro-Form 600 LT). It is on their site for $699 and is listed as their ProForm Step Up Personal Trainer.

It took about two hours to assemble ( I could have done it in less but why hurry. Get it right the first time). It has a iFit card reader in it which is great for varied workouts. I didn't need Jillian Michaels to motivate me, but it is a nice touch if you like such things. It also has a good number of built in programs for variety. Plug in for iPod compatible MP3 player is a nice touch. Fan is a little noisy but its nice to be able to turn that on about 10 minutes into the workout.

Folding is easy.

One word of warning. Most of these freight companies only deliver to the front door (first step) or lobby. These machines are heavy and you need to have some way of getting it to it's ultimate location. In my case they put it in the garage. My neighbor and I carried it upstairs. This weighs more than 200 pounds (More than I do now...LOL).

I've been very happy with mine. Had one minor glitch and Pro-Form addressed it quickly.

polegirl23

Hi, I don't know if this applies to you as I'm from the UK but I got my treadmill and cross-trainer from a website called 'freecycle'. they are ex-gym equipment from a local leisure centre who were upgrading their machines, all I had to do was go and collect them!

Do you have something similar where you are?? Might be worth investigating!!

LilacDreamer

Are you looking for something new? You might have some difficulty in this price range.

In November, I got a treadmill through HSN (Pro-Form 600 LT). It is on their site for $699 and is listed as their ProForm Step Up Personal Trainer.

It took about two hours to assemble ( I could have done it in less but why hurry. Get it right the first time). It has a iFit card reader in it which is great for varied workouts. I didn't need Jillian Michaels to motivate me, but it is a nice touch if you like such things. It also has a good number of built in programs for variety. Plug in for iPod compatible MP3 player is a nice touch. Fan is a little noisy but its nice to be able to turn that on about 10 minutes into the workout.

Folding is easy.

One word of warning. Most of these freight companies only deliver to the front door (first step) or lobby. These machines are heavy and you need to have some way of getting it to it's ultimate location. In my case they put it in the garage. My neighbor and I carried it upstairs. This weighs more than 200 pounds (More than I do now...LOL).

I've been very happy with mine. Had one minor glitch and Pro-Form addressed it quickly.

i think i saw that on the HSN website. I like that HSN has their "flex pays"

We live on the ground floor, so carrying it wouldnt (or shouldn't be a problem). is it easy to store? We'd probably try to store it in our main closet (it's really big and L-shaped)

I want something that will feel like im getting a good work out. We could do $699...i just dont want to feel like its a huge waste of $ (like i felt with the stationery bike we had, or the manual treadmill that never moved)


ultimately unimportant: Is it compatible with any mp3 player...or only Ipods? (i have a sansa).

STrooper

First, it is easy to store. Just lift the belt section and the locking bar underneath the belt "clicks" and locks (simple pull knob). You can just leave it in place in the "locked and upright position."

Once losked in the storage postion, you can tilt and roll it (even on carpet).

You need at least 3 feet in width and 3 feet in depth to store. It's about 5 feet tall when in the storage position. If you have a large closet, it may be workable to roll in and out. I think having it convenient makes it more likely that you'll use it. I was already in a walking routine when I got mine, so this really helpsout on days where the weather is really ugly or when I get home and I don't particularly want to walk the streets and paths in the dark.

Any MP3 player will work. I have a SONY MP3 player that's plugged in. One note: you cannot have both the iFit and the audio to have both music and the iFit workout going at the same time. Even though you have it turned on and plugged in, the iFit workout has priority on the built in sound system. I'm typically watching something on TV when I'm doing an iFit workout, so that isn't a problem.

A couple of other things. The programs that are built in have both walking and running programs (you can tell by the maximum speed when you go through the selections). The calorie burn programs give you an approximate time. The belt keeps running until you reach the total calorie output. But it does ramp up and down to achieve the calorie burn.

The iFit card that comes with it is not for beginners even though it is a Level 1 card. You really have to be comfortable walking at least 3.2 mph on an incline of 2-4% or the initial 20 minute workouts will leave you gasping. The iFit program is based upon 8 weeks at 3 times per week. I know the first two weeks are 20 minute workouts (I think the third week bumps up to 30 minutes and then it's 30 minutes all the way to week 8). I've cycled through the card a couple of times.

The treadmill also came with two free downloads of other levels of workout but the card reader is a bit picky about SD card type and I haven't had success in getting another SD card to read properly. But that is an iFit issue not the necessarily the treadmill's.

I use my treadmill nearly everyday if for nothing other than to get my morning started with a 20-30 minute workout. In conjunction with monitoring food intake, the treadmill has been a good investment in taking off those last few pounds and keeping my fitness improving.

STrooper

One more thing. There is a "requirement" for a single outlet surge protector to protect the electronics. The wording of the warranty indicates that the electronics are not covered if you fail to protect the treadmill with this type of surge protector. Multi-outlet protectors are not acceptable under the terms of the warranty. I purchased a single outlet indicating (light and sound) surge protector for less than $10 from Lowe's.