Put me on a treadmill and strap me to a video screen...

May 20, 2008 11:53 AM

I'm looking for a treadmill for walking ONLY that is ideally compact and folds up at an affordable price.

I would be using my hands to use my laptop or play video games or what have you so if manual treadmills require your hands on the bars to brace yourself then those are out (anyone know?). Failing that, anyone know of what the best thing is in a folding electric treadmill that is only designed to support walking speeds?

posted by dino terror to Health & Fitness (7 answers total)

Not to be impolite but what do you weigh? Treadmills are rated in terms of the horsepower they offer as well as the amount of weight it will support. Granted walking is a lot easier on the equipment than running but there are still limits (especially at the low end of the spectrum).
posted by mmascolino at 12:16 PM on May 20, 2008

Response by poster: 170, 6'2"
posted by dino terror at 12:41 PM on May 20, 2008

What the heck?!
It sounds like you're looking for something to approximate this:

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/05/14/desk-treadmill.html

Where you walk at a slow speed, while still working and typing away.

What's the goal here? Weight loss? Cardiovascular fitness? Alleviate boredom?

I am thinking that you should go to a sporting goods store and try some out. Set them on the slowest speed and see how they feel. I think the speed is usually measured in 1/10ths of a MPH.

If you're looking for a fun way to geek out AND burn calories, I think you'd be better off with a Nintendo Wii.
posted by willmize at 12:45 PM on May 20, 2008

that is only designed to support walking speeds

Kinda curious: why the walking-speed-only requirement? If a product happened to support faster speeds (as well as walking speed) and otherwise covered your requirements, would that be a problem?
posted by korpios at 1:00 PM on May 20, 2008

With treadmills the old adage "you get what you pay for" holds very true. We bought our Vision Fitness model at least 5 years ago, and it's still going strong. I recall being directed away from fold up models at the time, because they aren't as sturdy as the non-folders. Another consideration is while your weight isn't excessive for a treadmill, your height tells me that the cheaper treadmills might very well be too short for your stride. I should point out that I'm your height, and quite a few pounds on the other side of 200.

All that said, you might want to check into purchasing a used treadmill from a private party. I noticed that Craigslist has quite a few in my area. This is a good time of year to buy used.
posted by SteveInMaine at 1:12 PM on May 20, 2008

Response by poster: I inevitably spend far too much time in front of the computer or TV and I feel like if I had a treadmill to use during these times I would feel healthier. I only want to walk because obviously running would be too much for laptop / video game use. I figure a treadmill that isn't designed to support running would be much cheaper and less sturdy and I could probably get one that folds up and can be rolled around between my room and my den. A manual treadmill would be really dang cheap but I may not be able to use it hands free. I dont want any bells and whistles besides being able to walk on a treadmill.
posted by dino terror at 6:22 PM on May 20, 2008

Response by poster: This is what I made by the way and it worked perfectly. Sorry about the delayed followup.
posted by dino terror at 5:05 PM on January 31, 2009