And once you are committed to your treadmill exercise, know you want one and will use it, and know your budget, can you then start looking at doing your treadmill comparison? No.

What’s next? Look at treadmill features, and look at your needs. Do you need latest greatest treadmill that allows you to converse online with space shuttle occupants while you workout, or is this not quite necessary?

(I don’t think that treadmill exists that does this yet, but I won’t rule it out.)

The most basic treadmill is a manual treadmill. That’s a treadmill which you need to power yourself. No motor. They aren’t expensive and are quite sufficient for many people. They certainly aren’t as good as a fine motorised model, but for some people they are perfectly adequate. It all comes down to your needs.

And have a look at what you NEED and what you WANT. There is a big difference. What you need is important. If you feel you need to be able to increase incline to adjust difficulty of workout without getting off then that is fine. If you want to have a model that stores all workout information and sets different workout parameters for 200 users just in case your sister comes over and wants a go, then that may not be all that necessary.

Why is this important? Because extra features add to price. And often features that people WANT add a lot more to price just because people want them, and so treadmill merchants can charge a lot extra for them with those features.

So, work out your budget, your needs, your likely pattern of use, and features you feel are important to you, before you start to compare treadmills. Then do your treadmill comparison based on these factors. Work out which treadmills suit your requirements, then do your treadmill comparison on only these treadmills.

If you can narrow your list of treadmills that fit your profile before you start to compare treadmills to each other then it makes your job much easier.

Of course, all this takes some work and time.

What about someone who just wants a cheap treadmill? There’s a few options. Firstly work out exactly what features you need and which ones you don’t. If you are prepared to accept a lower level of features and buy most basic models you can get some great treadmills for well under $1000. There are well known brands such as Proform which offer very good models for these prices without all features of upmarket models, but which work well.

If you are looking for really cheap treadmills then why not consider a manual treadmill? Undoubtedly they are not best treadmills, you have to power them yourself and there are disadvantages to this. On upside, there is no motor to break down!

Other sources of discount treadmills, or just plain cheap treadmills, also exist. Why not consider a refurbished treadmill, or a remanufactured treadmill? These are second hand treadmills which have been stripped down to a certain degree and rebuilt. There are some things to know about before buying one of these, and we can’t go into all that here, however remanufactured treadmills are well worth considering.

These can also be sourced on internet.

Alternatively there are second hand treadmills. These are, of course, just used treadmills that someone is trying to sell. There can be traps for unwary with second hand or used treadmills. So if you are intending to go this way then do your homework and know exactly what to look for before you start looking. Buyer beware!

Another source of very cheap treadmills can be your local gym. Gyms have large numbrs of treadmills and get rid of them from time to time to make way for new ones. Again though, all warnings about second hand treadmills apply to these too.

So, if you are looking for discount treadmills, there are some things to think about. First decide on your basic needs. What features do you need (not want) and what don’t you need. Research lower end of market for treadmills which offer features you need, and no more.

Decide if you want new or second hand. New discount treadmills require some time following market, researching prices, and using your head. It takes time.

Used discount treadmills offer other choices. Are you sufficiently experience to buy second hand with attendant risks? Would you prefer a machine that has been refurbished, with a warranty? There is still lots to think about.

So, if you are in market for discount treadmills, get your pen and paper out, and start writing. Work out exactly what it is you are after!