27 Oct Ten benefits of owning a treadmill

When it comes to fitness, arguably the best investment you can make for your home is to own a treadmill.
Sixty million people can’t be wrong, can they? That’s how many people own treadmills according to several review sites and the number keeps growing each year.
Here are 10 of the top benefits to owning a treadmill
* Walking is the most natural form of exercise and can benefit people of all ages. Regular walking burns calories and tones muscles
* A treadmill allows for more variation on your workouts because you can vastly change the speeds, incline or decline and easily get intervals in.
* Treadmills offer great versatility for anyone from a rehab patient to elite athlete trying to push themselves in high-impact running.
* Treadmills are the top selling home exercise machine so that in itself demonstrates that lots and lots people believe in them.
* If you own a treadmill you can decide where, when and how you want to work out. Set up the treadmill in front of a TV and watch your favorite show, place a book or magazine on its rack or play the home stereo while you walk or run.
* By working out in the privacy of your own home, you don’t have to worry about walking outside and having people in the neighborhood staring as they drive by. Some people feel more comfortable at home than exercising in a health club gym, either.
* Treadmills are safer than outdoors because you don’t have to worry about stepping in a hole outside, inclement weather, etc.
* You can also get an outstanding workout on a treadmill. Walk, run or mix in both for as long or short a workout as you want. Walking is excellent for your circulation, and boosts metabolism. Running also boosts metabolism and suppresses your appetite as well. Combined with healthy eating, how much cardio activity you do and other factors like age and weight, you could lose 2-4 pounds a week after starting a treadmill walking program.
* Treadmills are easy to program and keep track of your workout. You can control the time, speed, incline of the walk or run and also log how many calories you’ve burned.
* For intermediate fitness programs you can start working in interval training – going harder for several minutes at a time, backing off the pace and then quickening the walk or run on a repeated cycle.

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com