How Expensive Is A Treadmill, Really?
Treadmills for cheap: Is there any other phrase in the world of health that makes you roll your eyes? If the thought of getting one of these things for your home sounds like it'll never happen, think again. The simple fact is that the money you need for one may be right under your nose and you didn't even know it. How much do you spend on the gym each month? $50? $60? What if you put all of that toward getting a cheap treadmill instead?
Would that make a dent in the cost of the treadmill itself? Absolutely it would; you just have to know what type of treadmill to look for. If you think that they all cost $2000, you might not have seen the newer stuff on the block. Nowadays there are treadmills selling for $600, such as the ProForm 590 series. Yes, that's $600 USD, and yes, this is a good working treadmill. It's not quite as robust as the stuff you'll see at the gym, but because it's just you using it, there's no reason to get anything that's going to be that beefy. All you need is something to run on a few times a week, right? Perhaps if you're training for the next major marathon you'll need an expensive commercial treadmill, but for the rest of us the ProForm will work just fine.
But let's think about the math: Over the course of a year, paying $60/month for a gym membership, you'll spend $720. That treadmill we're looking at costs $600, which means that in the course of 10 months it'll pay for itself. And the best part of it? You'll own it for life. Naturally you'll have to spend a little bit of money here and there for maintenance, but that's going to be downright negligible over the course of several years compared to the cost of a gym membership. Give this some thought, everyone. You'll be surprised!