So I got a treadmill recently and wanted to break down why. To be more specific, I got a non-motorized curved treadmill and that was intentional. 

I would not consider myself a runner, nor would I say that I am a sprinter either. But I do enjoy the act of sprinting and live in a part of the country that does not allow for year-round sprinting or running. So getting a treadmill was necessary if I wanted to be able to run in the winter. Considering I am not a great runner, I felt as though getting a curved treadmill was important for engineering mechanics. 

Buying a treadmill for your home is difficult because treadmills take power. High-end treadmills require higher wattages of power. This requires higher wattage outlets, which brings additional charges from hiring an electrician to run your treadmill. A non-motorized option is best. But what you typically find with non-motorized is that you get what you pay for. To be blunt, traditional non-motorized treadmills are huge pieces of garbage. 

But this again comes back to being a non-runner. If I were to get a below-average grade tool, my chances of using it would be limited. There is the sunk cost effect of getting a higher-tiered treadmill that empowers you to want to run. Not to mention that eventually, the novelty will wear off and you will feel compelled to knock out a quick workout and skip a good movement prep. This a common mistake I see at home trainees make. 

You have to understand that at-home equipment is always available to you. You take it for granted and make it a lesser priority. I am not saying that you can buy work ethic and dedication. You can not do that, you have to earn that. But I am saying with higher caliber equipment, and equipment that there is no easier option, you don’t take the omnipresence of equipment for granted. 

We know that curve treadmills force running with good mechanics (Hatchett, 2018). We know that running on a curved treadmill is harder (Edwards, 2017). We know that psychologically running on a curved treadmill is more demanding of attention (Schoemakers, 2020). Selecting tools that provide high value and demand your attention and respect will probably have a higher success rate at home. 

Can you cross-train and do bike and rower at home and then pick up running in the spring? Probably yeah, but I can tell you as a person that to put a ton of time in on the bike and rower this last winter, the transition to running the treadmill was really difficult. My general fitness is good, but my specific fitness for running is poor. The ultimate expression of human locomotion is sprinting, there is no substitute for that. 

Edwards, RB, Tofari, PJ, Cormack, SJ, and DG Whyte (2017). “Nonmotorized Treadmill Running Is Associated with Higher Cardiometabolic Demands Compared with Overground and Motorized Treadmill Running,” Frontiers in Physiology. 8, 914.

Hatchett, A, et al. (2018) “The Effect of a Curved Nonmotorized Treadmill on Running Gait Length, Imbalance and Stride Angle,” Sports: 6, 58; doi:10.3390/sports6030058.

 Schoenmakers, PJM, Crisell, JJ and KE Reed (2020). “Physiological and Perceptual Demands of Running on a Curved Nonmotorized Treadmill Compared With Running on a Motorized Treadmill Set at Different Grades,” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 34(5), 1197–1200.