Treadmills?

I got a deal on a used Nordic Track a couple years ago at a garage sale. We used it regularly until the motor died last winter. I priced a replacement & it wasn't cheap, plus I had to damn near disassemble the whole unit to change it. So I junked it and planned on picking up another used one this spring - but I never found a deal.

So now with winter here we really need to find another one. We don't want to get a cheap one that's just going to fall apart, but we don't want to spend thousands either.

So what are our options?

Buy some weights and a bench. Work out then go for a walk. Treadmill's a waste of time and money.

Craigslist is where we got ours. It was cheap and works great. If and when it dies, I'll go back to Craigslist and get another one.

In reply to Zomby Woof:

My wife has Reynads, so unfortunately going outside during winter for more than a couple minutes at a time isn't really a possibility for her(even properly/overdressed for it), and we're still a few years away from moving anyplace warmer. My tolerance of the cold continues drastically drop the older I get too.

Zomby Woof wrote: Buy some weights and a bench. Work out then go for a walk. Treadmill's a waste of time and money.

Nice blanket statement. Clearly your situation applies to everyone.

I bought a Panther years ago. I've put hundreds of miles on it and it has held up great. Has a better feel that most of the fitness club ones I've been on. Cost about 1500 IIRC.

Most of the military gyms I end up in use life fitness machines. I don't care much for the touch screen ones as they removed the programmable interval button in favor of 2,4,6 mph buttons. They're a little more expensive (compared to most) for the used models and you can get part for them as they're pretty common, or buy one for parts.

They all work the same when they are being used as a clothes rack.

Alternative: bicycle trainer? If you already have a bike, the sum will take up less space.

I loathe treadmills.

I'm like the OP in that I simply will not go outside after the temperature drops below 40 degrees.

Craigslist FTW. Bought a barely used $600 treadmill for $100 a year ago. There are a lot of them out there collecting dust that have been lightly used. Just wait for the right one to come along. One common theme I've seen is many have failures of the incline feature. I don't give a hoot about incline features; I just want one to walk on. There's always plenty to choose from so competition is fierce; I was the only guy that showed up to look at the one I bought after it had been listed for several days. You just have to be diligent.

I also lift weights but there are many good reasons to do cardio in addition.

We got ours for free because it didn't work. Turned out to be a non resettable fuse. Cost me $1.24 online. Always free/cheap treadmills, hot tubs, and pianos on CL for some reason.

Tom_Spangler wrote:

Zomby Woof wrote: Buy some weights and a bench. Work out then go for a walk. Treadmill's a waste of time and money.

Nice blanket statement. Clearly your situation applies to everyone.

Clearly it does.

http://www.t-nation.com/training/cardio-kills

Sorry Pete. Just work out. Walk later.

There's always after Christmas sales on exercise equipment I call the New Years resolution sales. After resolutions are broken many are just gonna collect dust. Plus one for CL as others have said. I preferred an elliptical to a treadmill but that's just me. The cheaper units are just that, cheap. The crank links (steel sleeves) broke on my ProForm elliptical, easy TIG weld fix and they'll never break again but still needs to be greased regularly or it's annoying. Oilite bushings or roller bearings woulda fixed it royal but wasn't goin' there. You get what you pay for I guess.

We're in a pretty rural area, and even though I've been searching craigslist pretty diligently the last year I've not found anything that was either a.) local, or b.) cheap/nice enough to drive my 1-ton van an hour each way(gas$$) to examine whether it's worth it to haul it home.

The other factor is I need to haul it up to our 2nd floor, so at this point I'd rather get something new with a good warranty that's likely to last years, rather than making this an annual process of scrounging something cheap/used, then going through the hassle of hauling it upstairs & the old one back down.

What about an elliptical? People seem to like those for cardio

I'm only vaguely familiar with those. SWMBO said "treadmill"...

Would you consider a recumbent cycle? I found that I can burn waaaay more calories in the same time as on a treadmill, plus it was better for my knees and easier on the feet. Found a formerly expensive recumbent Schwinn on CL for cheap and it's almost as nice as the ones in the gym.

Get the highest legitimate horsepower one you can find. If it starts at higher than zero incline its underpowered and relying on the hill and your weight to help move the belt. If you can, try it out and see if you can get the belt to slip. If you can, pass. Commercial treadmills are designed to run at least 12 hours a day with 300 lb people on them so surplus may be a good option.

Zomby Woof wrote:

Tom_Spangler wrote:

Zomby Woof wrote: Buy some weights and a bench. Work out then go for a walk. Treadmill's a waste of time and money.

Nice blanket statement. Clearly your situation applies to everyone.

Clearly it does. http://www.t-nation.com/training/cardio-kills Sorry Pete. Just work out. Walk later.

The article/study it references was about how excessive (both in terms of frequency and duration) cardio of the sort associated with training for marathons a and the like is problematic. I'm not aware of anyone who runs those sorts of races who doesn't already know that. And I also don't know any marathon runners who rely on treadmills for the majority of their training (though there probably are some out there if you look hard enough)

If you push almost anything to a far enough extreme it's not good for you. Shocker.

I tried an elliptical for awhile, but had to go back to a treadmill. With my splay feet the straight-ahead action wrenched up my foot after a number of sessions. Of course, everyone is different, but try it before you marry it.

In reply to Basil Exposition:

Ellipticals make my right leg fall asleep if I'm on them for long than 15 minutes. I don't know what the issue is there but it only happens on that machine. Definitely second the try before you buy if that's the route you want to go.

Zomby Woof wrote:

Tom_Spangler wrote:

Zomby Woof wrote: Buy some weights and a bench. Work out then go for a walk. Treadmill's a waste of time and money.

Nice blanket statement. Clearly your situation applies to everyone.

Clearly it does. http://www.t-nation.com/training/cardio-kills Sorry Pete. Just work out. Walk later.

I'm glad I didn't waste my time running.

That wasn't the article I meant to post. My mistake. If it's just used for walking they're ok. I wouldn't use one for anything else

That's ok. It's nice to know that my marathon running friends are doing as much damage as my White Castle visits.

I don't understand it: Three pounds of licorice Jujubes and a half hour on my treadmill, and I'm still gaining weight. What gives?

Curse you, bulk food section.....