A treadmill is a device generally used for walking, running, or climbing while staying in the same place. Treadmills were introduced before the development of powered machines to harness the power of animals or humans to do work. Often a type of mill is operated by a person or animal treading the steps of a treadwheel to grind grain. In later times. Treadmills were used as punishment devices for people sentenced to hard labour in prisons. The terms treadmill and treadwheel were used interchangeably for the power and punishment mechanisms.
In this post, Pritish Kumar Halder takes a detailed look at Treadmills according to their use.
More recently, treadmills have instead been used as exercise machines for running or walking in one place. The frequency, purpose, and capacity of use can also be used to categorize treadmills. That’s why manufacturers try to add different combinations of features in treadmills, relevant to the buyers’ demands, be it either a low-impact cardio exercise, a brisk uphill walk, or a marathon training.
House Treadmills – also known as Home Treadmills
Keeping a good treadmill for home use benefits us in many ways. It is the best option that allows us to perform exercises according to our tight schedules. Moreover, we can stay fit without facing the hassle of traveling to the gym to fulfill our fitness goals. On top of it all, we can work out and lose weight in our home’s peaceful environment.
Houses don’t have spacious rooms as gyms have. However, this is not a problem at all because home treadmills are designed to suit the compact dimensions of normal-sized rooms. Usually, they have a six-feet long and three-feet wide chassis, which does not cover much space in a room.
They incorporate heavy-duty motors to sustain the load of obese individuals. Apart from that, inclined decks also result in people making extra effort and laying more pressure during the workout. Therefore, motors are powerful enough to keep the treadmill’s performance unaffected despite all these factors.
House Treadmills
If you think a house treadmill lacks the latest technology, it’s time you try one out. In fact, it owns a couple of modern programs like iFit compatibility, Wi-Fi connectivity, pre-programmed workouts with personal trainer options, and so on to be an important accessory of home gyms.
Club Treadmills – Commercial Treadmills
No fitness center or commercial gym environment is considered fully furnished if it does not have a high-quality treadmill. As a matter of fact, fitness centers are the place where a commercial treadmill is needed or used the most.
Due to heavy usage, club treadmills incorporate exceptionally heavy-duty motors and a strong build. This well-founded construction encourages heavyweight people to lose unwanted fat with ease. The motor power of these treadmills generally lies anywhere between three and four horsepower.
In gyms or professional health clubs the fitness equipment remains in commercial use constantly for long hours. Therefore, club treadmills are equipped with rugged, large, and silicon-made belts that don’t ask for frequent replacement or maintenance. Additionally, such a durable running belt can cover a distance of up to 15,000 miles.
There are various in-built programs found in gym treadmills, including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and app connectivity, and heart rate monitor for tracking heart rate, distance, speed, and lost calories. This helps in making workouts fun and motivating.
Along with the maximum speed of ten mph, commercial treadmills also provide the freedom of adjusting the angle of the running deck’s plane. This exercise equipment is a bit heavy on the pocket, yet opportunistic to the nth degree.
Anti-gravity Treadmill
Nearly every person wishes to look sleek and smart, but not all are able to work out on regular treadmills. There are many people who can’t use this equipment because of joint diseases, injuries, or excessive weight.
Nonetheless, technology has introduced anti-gravity treadmills for such people with a high maximum user weight. Such a treadmill has a profound modification in its design as well as working.
The construction revolves around a large plastic bag/casing, which forms a chamber when air is blown into it. There is a zipper on the top to keep it airtight. The exerciser passes his legs through a hole into the chamber and gets his waist-length lower portion covered by the bag.
Upon zipping it up, gravity drops down in the bag, leading to a drastic reduction in the overall body weight. It is the user who feels less weight, though there occurs no change in the actual body mass or load. This way, the unit supports up to 80% weight of the exerciser and assists him in walking or running easily.
Anti-gravity Treadmill
With the help of this technology, it becomes convenient and comfortable for heavyweight workout enthusiasts to arrange keep-fit sessions now and then. This treadmill also acts as a physiotherapy machine for patients of osteoporosis, arthritis, back pain, and spinal cord.
Desk Treadmill
This type of treadmill stands out in the crowd on account of its resourceful structure. The treadmill is no different from others, but above it is a tray-like desk at the height of the exerciser’s upper body.
This desk is wide enough to keep a laptop, computer system, books, mobile phone, and a few more little accessories. On the same desk, people can rest their waist as well and can alter the desk’s height accordingly. The desk is sufficiently stable to stay unshaken while the person runs or walks on the treadmill.
Desk Treadmill
It’s a wonderful exercising machine for office goers who find it hard to take some time out, even just for a walk. The belt’s speed, maximum of four mph, is also favorable for them to carry on typing, reading, and scrolling the screen, besides doing a workout.
On the whole, when you buy a treadmill like this, it makes sedentary lifestyles more active and fit for all office workers.
