However, the bad thing about it is that there’s really no way for you to determine this accurately. The store may let you run on a treadmill but probably only for 30 minutes or less, and that’s just too short to make an accurate assessment. Worse if you’re buying the treadmill on the Internet. Then there’s really no way for you to know how cushioned the treadmill is. That is why it is important that you don’t buy products that do not have money-back guarantees. The product description can only tell you so much, but once you get the package at home and test it out, you find out that the cushioning isn’t enough and there isn’t a lot to support each foot-strike.

The other fact about treadmills that is difficult to ascertain (if you’re buying online, that is) is its foldability. Having a treadmill that folds up and out of the way is great. It’s space-saving, perfect if there’s already too little space in your house. And don’t even think “backyard” because that’s never going to work (Hello? Treadmill?). So unless you have ample space in your basement or your garage, you need a treadmill that can be folded and takes as little space as possible.

Don’t Sniff at the Other Specs

Sure, a treadmill is mainly for running. Why spend an extra Benjamin or so for something so wacky as a drink holder on a treadmill? You have an end table. Use it. But the thing is that while you can make do without all those unnecessary frills in a treadmill (e.g. walkman holder, drink holder, arm rest, etc.), don’t outright place all other equally “unnecessary” specs out of the picture. Because it might turn out that they aren’t as unnecessary as you think.

Take the heart rate monitoring feature, for instance. You don’t need it that much. However, if you really want to fine tune your performance, then you will want to run with a program that measures your heart rate. The same HRM may be used indoors or outdoors. Some treadmills may even display your heart rate on the main display so you can keep a constant eye on it as you run. It’s a minor convenience to be sure, but you will soon find that it isn’t as over-the-top as you believe.

So how does it work? It varies from one treadmill model to another. But basically, the treadmill will pickup the signal from your Polar monitor or from a chest strap provided. Other treadmills monitor the heart rate of the runner through their hand grips (not very practical though. Who wants to run while gripping fixed handrails?). Still other treadmills have added a slick new feature in their heart rate monitor by making it so that the belt’s speed adjusts to a predefined heart rate range.

Another nifty feature of a treadmill that you should probably consider is programmable workouts. It’s not an absolute must, but if you have a set of favorite hill, interval, or repetition workouts, you can do them now on your treadmill through the programmable workout feature and save them for use on a regular basis.

Don’t Go For Shakes and Shudders

The answer is pretty much obvious. Hey, if you wanted to run on a surface that shakes and shudders, you could always do that…on a skateboard on top of a high-rise building, you screaming like crazy. Jokes aside, you don’t want to run on a treadmill that shakes and shudders with every step. Make sure that the frame of the treadmill is steady and is even supported.