How to shop for a Treadmill

Written by Paul Reeve


Treadmills have becomerepparttar hottest home exercise choice. According torepparttar 115120 National Sporting Goods Association, treadmill sales have exceeded those of all other home exercise equipment.

It's easy to understand why. Next to good shoes, a treadmill may be a runner's best friend. Practically anything your training demands--hills, intervals, tempo, long distance--you can do on a treadmill. And you can log those miles while watching Seinfeld or keeping an eye on your kids, without worrying about heat, cold, wind, ice, cars, darkness, potholes, mean dogs or scary people.

Excited? Good. Now let's take your treadmill education another step and go treadmill shopping. Before we set out, though, a word of caution: Treadmills are expensive, and they're complex. A bad buying decision could leave you with one more inactive exercise hulk languishing in that musty corner of your basement. So tread carefully as we steer throughrepparttar 115121 maze of buying a 'mill.

First off, remember as with most things you get what you pay for. A $1,000 treadmill may serve you well, but a $3,000 machine is likely to perform better for a longer time.

The following are some more specifics to absorb before you buy.

How long should a home treadmill last? Retailers tell usrepparttar 115122 range is seven to 12 years, with 10 years about average. Of course, with proper care, some treadmills far exceedrepparttar 115123 average. With neglect, evenrepparttar 115124 expensive ones die young. Dust isrepparttar 115125 primary early killer of treadmills, Once a week, take a dry cloth and wipe up any dust betweenrepparttar 115126 belt and deck. Also keeprepparttar 115127 floor around your treadmill clean and free of dust.

What aboutrepparttar 115128 warranty?

Generally,repparttar 115129 longerrepparttar 115130 warranty,repparttar 115131 higherrepparttar 115132 treadmill's quality--and price. Ideally you should look for a warranty of three years for parts and one year for labor, with dealer-provided in-home service forrepparttar 115133 first year. Most problems, if they occur at all, will crop up inrepparttar 115134 first 90 days. Mostly it will be relatively minor stuff, such as adjustment or replacement of a component.

What'srepparttar 115135 difference between a "home" treadmill and a "club" model?

Manufacturers often separate treadmills into two categories: "home" or "residential," and "club" or "commercial." Good home treadmills are essentially smaller versions of club treadmills. The high-end home treadmill can easily withstand regular daily use and features extensive programming options, often more than are found inrepparttar 115136 club treadmills. Club treadmills come with a superior warranty and a bigger motor that can take round-the-clock beatings. They also carry significantly higher price tags.

What do horsepower ratings mean?

Horsepower (h.p.) is a measure of motor power, and runners will want a 1.5 h.p. or higher "continuous duty" rating for their home treadmill, say most retailers. While higher ratings (2.0 h.p. or higher are common) do indicate a more powerful treadmill, your overall aim should be a machine that efficiently integratesrepparttar 115137 workings ofrepparttar 115138 motor, belt and deck to give you a steady ride, which some 1.5 h.p. treadmills accomplish.

Good Food / Bad Food - What's Left to Eat?

Written by Kathryn Martyn, M.NLP


We've enteredrepparttar Twilight Zone when it comes torepparttar 115119 multitude of diets being promoted today. Starting withrepparttar 115120 Atkins Diet followed byrepparttar 115121 South Beach Diet, both higher in protein, lower in carbs, butrepparttar 115122 distinction should be on quality of carbs, not singling out one nutrient as "bad." If you are onrepparttar 115123 Atkins Diet or South Beach Diet simply adjust from eating low quality carbs like refined flour and highly refined sugar products (comes in a box, or ready-to-eat) to eating more whole food products like fresh vegetables and fruits, yes fruits.

Apples vs. Apple Jacks - You berepparttar 115124 Judge

I knowrepparttar 115125 traditional Atkins Diet (especially inrepparttar 115126 Induction phase) doesn't advocate much fruit (too high sugar, so they say) but think about that for one minute. My strong belief is that an apple is a good food, a bowl of Apple Jacks cereal may not be on an equal level. One is highly processed, sweetened by added white sugar and corn syrup, and one is natural, plucked from a tree and sweetened byrepparttar 115127 sun. Which would you choose? Don't shun fresh fruit forrepparttar 115128 sake of following your low carb diet torepparttar 115129 letter.

Eliminating healthy, wholesome foods is notrepparttar 115130 best way to learn to eat better, but severely cutting back onrepparttar 115131 frequency of eating highly processed foods is. I saw a site which called it GM or MM: God Made or Man Made. If you think of those terms when you go to choose your foods, it starts to make more sense. No one says you shouldn't eat chips, or whatever strikes your fancy, but make them a treat - and eatrepparttar 115132 GM foods more often.

Time forrepparttar 115133 Common Sense Diet

Common sense will answerrepparttar 115134 question about what to eat. If you are on Atkins, South Beach or any variation of low carb diet, avoid processed foods, not natural foods. Stop using "instant" breakfast, and cook whole rolled oats for instance. Sure you might have to get up 10 minutes earlier, oh well. You're worth it!

You can still stay on a higher protein food plan, but this one minor adjustment will allow you to continue with your eating plan for a lifetime, rather than a short-time. I'd go insane if I couldn't eat my daily apple, banana or other fruit. I love fruit. I think there's a very good reason humans desire sweet foods - Vitamin C, and other nutrients, including bioflavonoids.

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