A guide to buying an exercise treadmill

Using a treadmill is an excellent form of exercise which you can carry out from the comfort of your own house. Running machines are widely available in the UK, and are one of the most popular pieces of cardio equipment on the market. With hundreds of different brands competing to sell their treadmills, you're sure to find a great deal. First, you must work out on your budget, how often you will use your equipment for fitness and how much space is available in your house for a treadmill.

Determine your needs

Measure the space Think about how much space you have available in the house for a treadmill . For example, if you live in a one-bedroom bedsit with very little excess floor space, then you need a foldaway treadmill which you can put away, so that it doesn't take up too much floor space. If you own a large house with several unoccupied bedrooms or even a separate room which acts as a gym, then you are likely to have the space and resources to buy a stand up, fixed treadmill. Budgeting Consider how much money you have and are willing to spend on a treadmill. There are a wide range of fitness machines available, including the relatively cheap manual treadmills through to top of the range automatic treadmills and cross training equipment. Purpose Overarching all of this is the fact that if you plan to use your treadmill for high performance training, or you are preparing for a triathlon, marathon or iron man contest, you will need a treadmill of a particular quality and durability. In this case, even if your budget is low, you should buy a fixed, higher quality running machine.
Search for used treadmills on Ebay.co.uk, Gumtree.co.uk and the local newspapers to try and find a cut price deal.

Buy your treadmill

In person Arguably, the best way of buying a treadmill is in person, at an exercise or sport shop. Buying in person allows you to see your treadmills size in flesh, while you can also get a member of shop staff to show you how to correctly set up and programme your equipment, including any folding elements. Catalogue or online Buying products from a catalogue or online has the advantage of a far greater range of products as there are no High Streets stores where you can view hundreds of treadmills, for example.
The disadvantage is that there is no one to show you how to operate your equipment, you cannot directly appreciate the treadmill's size and you may have to pay a high excess for the delivery.