Many people looking to lose a little weight or improve their fitness decide that a treadmill is a good choice of equipment for them. With a treadmill you can burn calories, improve muscle tone and improve cardiovascular fitness. When you go shopping for a treadmill you find there a two types of treadmill to choose from, motorized and manual treadmills. Manual treadmills often look like a good starting point but they may not be as good as they seem. Let’s check out the pros and cons to see how they shape up.
Pros Of Manual Treadmills
The main reason people consider these treadmills is the price. Whereas a motorized treadmill can cost anything from $400 through to $2000, manual models can cost as little as $130 and rarely more than $180. If you are just starting out and don’t know if you can commit long term, an inexpensive manual treadmill is definitely the way to go.
Most houses don’t have room for a gym, generally space is at a premium. Manual treadmills, because they lack a motor, tend to be smaller and more lightweight than motorized models. Frames don’t have to be as heavy duty and allied to a lack of a motor make these treadmills easy to move around, easy to store and convenient in a busy modern home.
Lets face it, any machine that can help you get fitter is a good thing and a manual treadmill can help improve fitness. You won’t have any excuse not to use the machine, with a manual treadmill you can exercise no matter how cold or wet it is outdoors.
Cons of Manual Treadmills
While price, size and convenience are compelling reasons to buy a manual treadmill they also have some negative issues to be aware of.
Working a manual treadmill requires the user to put down the belt power by friction. You walk, the belt moves. Unfortunately this is quite hard work, harder than normal walking and as a result you can put extra stress on ankle, knee and hip joints getting the belt rolling. If you have weak joints beware this machine could create further damage.
Normal walking and running incorporates an upright posture with arms swinging for balance. This works your core muscles as well as your legs. Due to the drive system on these treadmills the user will often have to hold hand rails to get the treadmill working. This results in the user being hunched over and walking with poor posture. Whilst not exceptionally bad, this type of posture is more likely to lead to lower back injuries. If you have a history of bad backs, avoid these treadmills.
That’s a quick overview of manual treadmills. Cheap, convenient and easy to store, you can get a reasonable walking workout off these machines. Be careful though, if you have joint or lower back problems these machines might exacerbate the problem. Find out more about treadmills at http://treadmilltommy.com/
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