Treadmills

[BlackHatGuy]

Anyone use a Sole treadmill? My current treadmill is on its last legs, and I’m looking for a good treadmill in the $1500 range, have been looking at the Sole F80.

Any other suggestions from personal experience?

[David Thomas]

I find going up and down actual stairs to be much better preparation for hiking.  If I’m sore after a hike, it is because of the downhill, which treadmills don’t condition you for.  Also, I can set a treadmill for 15% grade and 4 mph and it is nothing like an actual 15% grade at 4 mph because I’m not lifting my body against gravity – my center of mass stays in just about the same place.

I pedal my road bike on a wind-trainer stand for the cardio and burning calories.  Time on a treadmill would work as well.  A friend built a desk into his treadmill so he can watch TED talks and free on-line courses on his tablet while walking on the treadmill.  He calls it his “iPlod”.

But I also spend 10 minutes of going up and down our stairs each morning and those are the most effective minutes I spend preparing for the hiking season.

[Anonymous]

You’d be much better off on a Step Mill, if you can find a gym that has them.  Probably too expensive to buy, and they are known to be high maintenance.  But there is no better machine out there for building strength and cardio in the same workout, IMO.  Try one, you’ll see what I mean.  This is not to advocate using a machine instead of hiking, but for those occasions where hiking is not an option, they are hard to beat.

[BlackHatGuy]

Thanks for the feedback so far gents, much appreciated.

I should add that I enjoy running/jogging on a treadmill – it’s not really for getting ready for hiking, but for overall fitness. I don’t enjoy running my local trail after dark, or in heavy rain, so the treadmill lets me jog to try and keep my fitness up in darker or wetter months.

[Author]

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