Home treadmill, your thoughts please.
Discussion
O/H walks with crutches. She likes to toddle off round the block three or four times a day to keep active but is wary about feeling vulnerable or falling over in the dark or in poor weather.
I've suggested a treadmill which she hasn't ruled out but would one costing around £200 be a good buy; I'm currently looking at the Mobvoi Home SE or Mobvoi Home Pro.
I've suggested a treadmill which she hasn't ruled out but would one costing around £200 be a good buy; I'm currently looking at the Mobvoi Home SE or Mobvoi Home Pro.
How about a cross trainer? I can't jog/run outside, causes issues with a knee, but its no issue using my cross trainer. I've plonked it right in front of a TV in my gym room, stick a film or series on and you're away. I did have a treadmill but got rid as I was using the cross trainer so much more.
Elliptical trainers are the best all over body workout machine going, they are low impact and you can go super hard on them or super easy
Used mine for 35 yrs now, its a home edition Life fitness X9i , been faultless. Yes, not a cheap machine but it really is best to put as much money in as possible to get a good one. Quality one will encourage you to use it.
Used mine for 35 yrs now, its a home edition Life fitness X9i , been faultless. Yes, not a cheap machine but it really is best to put as much money in as possible to get a good one. Quality one will encourage you to use it.
throt said:
Elliptical trainers are the best all over body workout machine going, they are low impact and you can go super hard on them or super easy
Used mine for 35 yrs now, its a home edition Life fitness X9i , been faultless. Yes, not a cheap machine but it really is best to put as much money in as possible to get a good one. Quality one will encourage you to use it.
OP says budget is 200GBP and you suggest a 3k+ trainer (though actually for 35 years use that is amazing value). I'm sure it's nice, but not many people are going to drop that on one - mine is a Nordic, I think around £800 and quality is brill, but still outside OPs budget. It's actually my second Nordic, the first was a second hand unit that was only a few hundred, many years of service til I broke it, I liked it so much I bought new.Used mine for 35 yrs now, its a home edition Life fitness X9i , been faultless. Yes, not a cheap machine but it really is best to put as much money in as possible to get a good one. Quality one will encourage you to use it.
Only thing I would add OP as you mention partner on crutches, cross trainers are low impact but they do have a slightly odd range of movement so take time to get used to, not sure if it would impact your partners mobility issues.
I had a cheap £300 one off Amazon for a while - best part of a year.
It was fine, but when it threw it's belt, rather than repair it I used the opportunity to upgrade to one of the cheap "proper" ones. I've got a c. £800 Reebok branded thing now, and it is much better.
The most significant factor - and the biggest benefit to me of upgrading - is the size of the belt. The cheap ones are narrow, but also short. Any change in pace can see you coming up to the end of the belt if you're not careful. A full sized one doesn't suffer from this to the same extent.
Another factor to consider is weight - these things are seriously heavy. Fine if you won't be moving it, but you need to think about ability to raise the tread (even if it comes with lifters) for oiling.
It was fine, but when it threw it's belt, rather than repair it I used the opportunity to upgrade to one of the cheap "proper" ones. I've got a c. £800 Reebok branded thing now, and it is much better.
The most significant factor - and the biggest benefit to me of upgrading - is the size of the belt. The cheap ones are narrow, but also short. Any change in pace can see you coming up to the end of the belt if you're not careful. A full sized one doesn't suffer from this to the same extent.
Another factor to consider is weight - these things are seriously heavy. Fine if you won't be moving it, but you need to think about ability to raise the tread (even if it comes with lifters) for oiling.
I have a JTX Sprint 5, which is £900 new, so possibly gettable in budget second hand. I think it's brilliant, and would happily recommend the JTX brand. It's not premium, but it's good enough. Some info for you and other prospective buyers:
As above, it's very, very heavy.
Mine is folding. It's still a big unit.
It costs about £1/hour in electricity to use.
It connects to Zwift, which I find useful to alleviate boredom.
Mine is narrow and short - as mentioned above, this is a limiting factor, but it depends on your use case. I have short legs, so it's OK. I only really struggle when at max speed, which is 18kph.
The max speed is 18kph. This, as it turns out, isn't quick enough for me to do short intervals. Doesn't sound like this would be an issue for the OP, but in general, max speed is worth consideration.
Completely understand the reluctance to go out for a variety of reasons. Male privilege of feeling safe from attack, verbal abuse and the like means mine's a luxury, but given I used it as 6am today when it was raining and pitch dark, it makes a solid case for itself.
As above, it's very, very heavy.
Mine is folding. It's still a big unit.
It costs about £1/hour in electricity to use.
It connects to Zwift, which I find useful to alleviate boredom.
Mine is narrow and short - as mentioned above, this is a limiting factor, but it depends on your use case. I have short legs, so it's OK. I only really struggle when at max speed, which is 18kph.
The max speed is 18kph. This, as it turns out, isn't quick enough for me to do short intervals. Doesn't sound like this would be an issue for the OP, but in general, max speed is worth consideration.
Completely understand the reluctance to go out for a variety of reasons. Male privilege of feeling safe from attack, verbal abuse and the like means mine's a luxury, but given I used it as 6am today when it was raining and pitch dark, it makes a solid case for itself.
A friend of mine has a couple of treadmills at his home for the family, and has had various different ones over the years. They use them regularly. He said that anything costing less than £1000 ish will likely be crap.
He recently bought one of these at £1300, and suggested this is pretty much as cheap as you want to go, if you want something decent:
https://www.fitness-superstore.co.uk/sole-f63-fold...
He recently bought one of these at £1300, and suggested this is pretty much as cheap as you want to go, if you want something decent:
https://www.fitness-superstore.co.uk/sole-f63-fold...
paulguitar said:
Wacky Racer said:
That's one hell of an incline.
OP I’m assuming she’ll just be walking on it like outside? If so you don’t need a fancy expensive one with all the toys, those are good if running/inclines/built in interval training programs etc.
I paid £40 for a second hand elliptic. I'd far prefer that to a cheap treadmill
Something like this would be a reasonable gamble
https://www.argos.co.uk/product/6164933?clickPR=pl...
Something like this would be a reasonable gamble
https://www.argos.co.uk/product/6164933?clickPR=pl...
I'd be inclined to buy a cheap used one from Facebook Marketplace or Gumtree and use that for a while to see whether she actually likes using it. Many people don't, so there are plenty of hardly used examples around.
If she gets on with it, then you can look to upgrade with a better idea of what you are looking for.
If she gets on with it, then you can look to upgrade with a better idea of what you are looking for.
Riley Blue said:
Thanks for your thoughts but don't get carried away. This is purely so my O/H can keep her muscles working at a slow walking pace when conditions are risky outside.
One point of thought is whether she'd be using the crutches on the treadmill, in which case belt width is a real consideration, or if she'd be holding on the the arms at the side, or bar at the front. I only ask as I wondered if the arms are the side may end up removing some effort from her upper body (possibly detrimental) and equally, holding the front bar might create a lean forward that results in some sort of lower back issue.Anyway, food for thought.
If it's only for walking I assume the requirements are going to be a lot less than actually running on it?
You could consider a walking pad too? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Superun-High-tech-Equipme...
You could consider a walking pad too? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Superun-High-tech-Equipme...
boring post incoming
Do you have somewhere in mind around the house to keep it?
The missus looked at treadmills during lockdown. They arent exactly small, although some fold like the Reebok above which you'll pay extra for.
Bottom line is exercise equipment generally gets used if its easy to jump on. If yours is in the shed at the bottom of the garden, or in a damp garage next to a (chipped) 335d it might not get much use. We decided a folding treadmill would fit somewhere convenient in the house, unfortunately the price wasnt massively attractive so we didnt go for it
However, if you have the luxury of space buy one and crack on. Good luck to Ms Blue
Do you have somewhere in mind around the house to keep it?
The missus looked at treadmills during lockdown. They arent exactly small, although some fold like the Reebok above which you'll pay extra for.
Bottom line is exercise equipment generally gets used if its easy to jump on. If yours is in the shed at the bottom of the garden, or in a damp garage next to a (chipped) 335d it might not get much use. We decided a folding treadmill would fit somewhere convenient in the house, unfortunately the price wasnt massively attractive so we didnt go for it
However, if you have the luxury of space buy one and crack on. Good luck to Ms Blue
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