Get Fast Results: The Best Compact Treadmill is The Bowflex Series 7

bowflex series 7 compact treadmill

by Gail Lawson

Which compact treadmill is best? That’s not an easy question to answer. Every machine is different, and this is a purchase that you would expect to last for many years without constant problems. After a lot of reading and investigation, I’ve decided to do a full review for the Bowflex Series 7 Treadmill to share my results on what I believe is the best home treadmill.  If you would rather skip my (hopefully) informative review, you can get complete information here. If you would like to know why this is the best compact treadmill for your home, please read on…

If you want fast results, it’s best to start out right with a treadmill that is of good quality, has the right features, and is reasonably priced.

The best way to judge quality before you actually purchase is to see what other people are buying, and read user reviews. This information can sometimes be difficult to find. Some review sites on the web are not impartial or trustworthy, so I like to review what real people are saying in fitness forums and on retail sites like amazon.com where I found a treadmill that is highly rated and has many satisfied buyers.

The Bowflex Series 7 Treadmill is a very highly rated  folding or compact treadmill. If you have limited space or if you don’t have a dedicated exercise room, it’s a great option to fold the unit up and out of the way when not in use.

This treadmill is a mid-priced model and offers a lot of features for the money. Electric treadmills generally range from about $400 to over $4,000 for some home models, and the consensus among reviewers is that anything below about $900 must sacrifice quality, power, and may not provide satisfactory performance or a long life.

Features:

This treadmill has the power to give many years of service. It’s rated at a continuous 3.0 horsepower, so it will accommodate a user that is up to 300 pounds. However, if you are not 300 pounds, don’t think you can skimp by getting a low-powered unit. One way manufacturers cut corners is to use low-powered motors that can easily fail with even moderate use. This is why the commercial units are very powerful, and can run for hours every day without constant expensive maintenance.

The walking/running deck is 20” x 60”, which is larger than most units in this price class. This deck is large enough for even tall runners to use a comfortable stride. The deck is also cushioned to provide a soft landing and a firm lift-off. This is a great feature whether you plan to walk or to run, as it can help reduce impact and stress on your joints.

The Bowflex Series 7  Compact Treadmill has an adjustable incline of up to 12%, making it possible to change the intensity of an easy routine to a challenging one without increasing the speed. From personal experience, I can tell you that a leisurely walk at a 12% incline can quickly turn out to be a vigorous workout that will get your heart pumping and get your metabolism burning calories. Start out at 0% and gradually increase the incline as your fitness improves.

There are 15 built-in programs that can vary the speed and incline automatically to provide a good workout so your don’t get bored, and each program is designed for a specific kind of workout. Some parts of the routine are intense, and some are more relaxed. The speed is adjustable from ½ mile per hour to a fast 11 miles per hour. This variation of intensity is what many leading fitness and weight-loss programs are built around. Of course, you can just walk, jog, or run without using a programmed workout if you wish.

The backlit LCD computer display is bright and provides easy access to all the fitness programs, speed and incline controls, distance traveled, calories burned, and readouts for the heart rate monitor so you can track your pulse as you exercise. This unit offers both hand-grip and wireless telemetry from a chest-strap for heart rate readouts. A nice added bonus is the built-in three-speed fan to keep you cool and two cup holders for easy access to your favorite beverage.

The Bowflex Series 7 Treadmill offers a solid warranty too. The motor is warranted for 10 years, the frame 15 years, and other parts have a 2 year warranty with 1 year on all  electronics and labor.

The Reviews:

The reviews for this machine are overwhelmingly good, both on amazon.com and in the leading consumer rating magazine Consumer Reports. They gave it their “Highest Rating”, and I believe it would have also been listed as their “best-buy”, except they paid far more for it than the heavily-discounted amazon.com price.  At this writing it has over 200 user reviews on Amazon and those reviews have earned it 4½ stars out of 5 stars, which is about as good as it gets. Of course there are a few negatives, but that is to be expected with any popular product.

One characteristic that people keep mentioning is the weight of the machine. This compact treadmill is heavy at 298 lbs, but I view this as a positive. A machine that is nearly 300 pounds is not likely to bounce around and vibrate while in use like some of the cheaper machines do. It may be a problem moving it from room to room, but if you place the machine where it will be used, the extra weight is an asset and speaks to its solid construction. It is also a good idea to put it on a mat to protect your floor coverings and to be sure it won’t slide on a slippery floor.

There is some minor setup and assembly required when the unit is delivered, but most people did not have any real problem with this. Some reported adjustments were also necessary to center the belt, but easy directions are included so you can take care of these little things yourself. One sore spot seems to be with the fan. For a few people it arrived damaged and Bowflex had to send a replacement, and for a few others it worked but they indicate that it does not move much air, and is really good only for a breeze on your face. If a fan is really important to you as you exercise, you should probably plan to use a regular fan or a ceiling fan for your exercise area.

Just about all users report this unit is solid and has a quality feel to it, much like the expensive commercial machines. It folds up and down with little effort and it is reasonably quiet while running. One experienced user also mentions that the belt does not slip at all due to the power of the motor.

Conclusion:

It is easy to be put-off by a few bad reviews, or be sold by a few good ones. Most of the units I have reviewed have few real user reviews, but the Bowflex Series 7  Compact Treadmill  is an exception with hundreds of good user reviews. As I stated above, I believe most units priced below $900.00 lack the power and the quality to perform over the long term. If you are looking for a treadmill that is built to last a long time and are also looking for a great price, free shipping, and no sales tax, check out this best-rated compact treadmill here.

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The Real Benefits Of Treadmill Exercise

by Gail Lawson

Using a treadmill opens up so many opportunities to lose weight and get fit. This versatile machine can be used by all to great advantage, from overweight couch potatoes to fitness enthusiasts that want to maintain their edge. A small investment of time, a few times a week is all that is required to see real improvement in your physical health, mental health, and body.

Here are a few ways you will benefit:

Cardio Training – By simply walking to raise your heart rate, you make your heart stronger and increase your ability to distribute nutrients carried by your blood. As you exercise, your heartbeat increases to supply oxygen enriched blood to the brain, lungs, and all the other organs and muscle groups of your body. By adjusting the speed of your treadmill, you can easily elevate your heart-rate to what is referred to as an aerobic state, which is calculated as 65% to 80% of your maximum heart-rate. This is the optimum level to strengthen your heart muscle and increase stamina and endurance. As your heart gets stronger, it pumps more blood with each beat and this ultimately leads to a lower resting heart-rate with lower blood pressure and better cardiac health.

Lungs and Breathing – As you complete your aerobic exercise on your treadmill, you breathe faster as your lungs must supply additional oxygen to your body. Your breathing soon becomes deeper and your lungs become more efficient at capturing oxygen as you inhale. In time, you can breathe more slowly to provide an adequate level of oxygen to the heart, making it far less likely that you will find yourself breathing hard or getting winded from normal daily activities like climbing stairs or working in your yard.

Weight Loss – Ok, now your heart is beating faster and moving more blood. Your Lungs are sucking in more oxygen than ever. This is all happening because you are burning more calories as you move, so your muscles need more and more energy to keep going. But this gets better over time, because as you exercise your muscles grow stronger and larger, and accordingly need even more fuel to make them operate.

The real bonus here is that these large muscles consume more energy whether you are exercising or not, so you are burning more calories all the time, 24 hours a day. This is the real secret to losing weight and keeping it off. Simply work these muscles enough to keep them large and hungry for calories, and you can solve your weight problem permanently.

There are many other benefits to aerobic exercise that a treadmill makes so easy. Some studies report a reduction in depression, a significant reduction in the risk of diabetes, along with lowering risks associated with colon cancer and prostrate problems to name only a few.

Bottom Line – A treadmill make it easy to lose weight, improve your health and maintain your fitness. For many users it has made life better and more enjoyable, and that is the real benefit of treadmill exercise.

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Lose Weight With A Compact Treadmill

by Gail Lawson

Everyone knows that regular exercise is important to good health. Even moderate exercise will help you lose all those unwanted pounds, and a compact treadmill is one of the best tools available to lose that weight quickly and easily.

It’s no wonder sales of these versatile machines rise each year, as so many people have had success meeting their fitness goals. Walking, jogging and running have been used by people of all shapes and sizes to lose pounds and stay in shape. This may be the easiest exercise that can consistently produce great results for your diet.

Losing weight may be your goal, but it is important to proceed at a safe comfortable pace. Most treadmills have variable speed settings that range from 0 to about 12 miles per hour so you can walk at a comfortable slow pace or aggressively run for a massive calorie-burning workout. You can also use pre-programmed workout routines that vary the intensity of a workout so you start out at a pace that is slow enough to be comfortable, then progress to a faster pace that will help to build muscle tone and get your heart pounding to boost your metabolism. As you progress and gradually get in better shape, you can increase the intensity of your walking workout simply by increasing the speed, or even mixing it up with some jogging and some running built into your routine.

Aside from the great results you can get by using a compact treadmill, it is one of the safest ways to get exercise. Walking is about as simple as it gets, yet it remains as one of the best possible exercises for young and old alike. The reason it is so effective is that the simple walking motion works so many large muscle groups throughout your body. Think about how you move when you walk. Your feet and ankles pushing you along, your calf and thigh leg muscles moving, your buttock and abdominal muscles holding you upright in balance, and your arm and shoulder muscles flexing as you swing your arms with each step. All this movement adds up to a substantial calorie burn that is sure to quickly reduce your weight and boost your metabolism for hours after you have completed your walk.

Your joints will thank you too. Many people have joint pain and may develop stiffness and aching with age. Walking is a very low impact exercise that promotes movement without the joint-jarring impacts that come from running. If you want to run and can do so safely and without pain or discomfort, that is a great choice. For the rest of us that are not in great shape or are carrying some excess pounds, walking is the way to go.

No matter how much you weigh or what level of fitness you want to achieve, walking exercise is a time-tested and low-impact way to get to and maintain your perfect weight. And there is no better way to walk safely and consistently than to use a compact treadmill to conveniently get the exercise you need to start dropping those pounds.

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Welcome to Compact Treadmill Fitness .com!

by admin

We have big plans for this site and we are glad you found us!

Our focus is on how to select and use a compact treadmill. If you are interested in losing weight or if your goal is to maintain health and fitness, you can do so in the privacy of your home or office. For all the latest information, stay tuned…

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