General and Customizations of the Treadmill Segment

When we visualize treadmills, mostly there is a single picture which gets fixed on to our minds: a rubber belt which moves around rollers along with the held-on (poles or pipes for support or balancing). It is as if there is only one type of treadmill used exclusively. Coming to fitness freaks, their idea of types of treadmills is the in-thingy: motorized treadmills. But, giving due importance to commercial aspects and requirements, there are many different types of categorization of treadmills. Some popular types of treadmills are discussed as follows:

Manual Treadmills

Prior to the current phase where motorized treadmills seem the first choice of a majority of users, the manual treadmills (which come with the concept - you just need to start and run at your desired pace) ruled the treadmill segment. This type operates without any battery or electricity, just the combination of a belt and rollers along with the balancing, and some even have certain kinds of safety arrangements. Most manual treadmills do not come with the facility of changing the inclination level as per the requirement. These treadmills come at reasonable prices and as these are slightly on the lighter side, these are often promoted as ‘home use’ type of treadmills.

Motor Based Treadmills

These types of treadmills operate via electricity or batteries. Most of these have arrangements to suit both the situations, viz with electricity running and also when there is no power (battery power takes over). There is an arrangement where the rollers can get moving as per the user’s pace. Also, motorized treadmills have a lot of controls wherein you can:

  • Set the pace
  • Workout timings
  • Add-ons functioning

In addition, most motorized treadmills come with arrangements to change the inclination to suit the workout sessions. Common add-ons which come with these motorized treadmills include heart rate/beat monitor, exercise routines etc.

Commercial Treadmills

A higher version of the motorized treadmill segment is the commercial treadmill. These treadmills provide more horsepower via a larger motor capacity. These bulky commercial treadmills are mostly used in gymnasiums. In terms of results, these treadmills provide the best of results in terms of cardiovascular exercises, weight loss routines etc.

Foldable Treadmills

Combining customization and utility aspects, the treadmill segment has been revolutionized with the foldable type of treadmill which saves a lot of floor area and space. Mostly targeted towards the home based fitness segment, these foldable treadmills can be folded to almost 1/3rd of the size they command when operational; post folding, these can be stored as per the requirements/convenience.

Elliptical Combo Type of Treadmill

With moveable arm handles along with a tread belt powered by motor, this customized elliptical combo type of treadmill manages to move to the next level of fitness that is - providing a workout for the whole body. It may be on the higher side of the price ladder, but this treadmill is known for its effectiveness.

Treadles

This type of customized treadmill combines the stepper mechanism and the general treadmill as the tracks rise and even fall as per the users’ feet pressure (when a user places his or her feet over them). These types of treadmills provide an excellent workout which is ideally not expected from a normal treadmill workout. Many high-end gyms all over the world boost of treadles exercising equipment in their vicinity.

All the types of treadmills cover different types of requirements, and the popularity largely depends on 2 things: first being the comfort level that the treadmill provides, second being the effectiveness. All in all, if all the factors are combined and matched on a scale, the regular motor based treadmills get ranked higher than all other types of treadmills put together.