Treadmills.me

April 15, 2009

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and Exercises

Filed under: Fitness — Tags: , — mamta @ 1:01 am

It’s Wednesday and time for fitness notes again. Today we will see how the oft-talked Basal Metabolic Rate (or BMR) is affected by workouts. But before we begin, let us do a quick touch on what BMR is. BMR is the minimum amount of energy that a body requires at the state of rest and which is just sufficient for the functioning the vital organs such as heart, brain, liver, nervous system etc.

A person’s BMR is affected by a number of factors and exercise is only one of those factors. The other factors are age, weight, level of fitness, genetics, temperature, stress levels, previous meal, glands and body surface area etc. In this post, we will concern ourselves with exercises.  BMR is closely related to lean body mass. If you have less lean body mass, or are endowed with more fat mass, you have a lower BMR. Alternatively, increasing the lean muscle mass (not fat), increases BMR.

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April 13, 2009

Bodycraft 1120 Folding Treadmill Review

Filed under: Treadmill Reviews — Tags: , , , — mamta @ 1:42 am
Bodycraft 1120 Folding Treadmill

Bodycraft 1120 Folding Treadmill

It’s a Monday and let us set the right tempo for the week by starting with a review on a machine I think is good value – the Bodycraft 1120 Treadmill. To start with, it is a folding treadmill and so the inherent advantages of a folding treadmill are there along with a great price and good design.

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April 8, 2009

Top 8 Ways To Tackle Back Pain

Filed under: Fitness — Tags: , — mamta @ 1:01 am

Hi again. Backaches can be really nagging. They can start with pulling a ligament or muscle in any area of the back during any activity. I say any because, I have heard fairly active people pull and injure their back while bending to pick something at home. It could arise from out of treadmill activity (wrong posture, foot pronation or strained lower limb muscles etc) or from strength training (wrong techniques or over-training) or evening a stretch gone wrong. The pain just stays on and prevents them from living fully for weeks. In some cases, the pain returns on doing something strenuous. However, the good news is, you can do a lot if you ever experience this condition. Here are a few good tips:

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April 6, 2009

Nautilus Sport Series T5.16 LEX Treadmill

Filed under: Treadmill Reviews — Tags: , , — mamta @ 10:30 pm

nautilus-sport-series-t516-lex-treadmill

Today’s post covers one of the other better treadmills (non-folding) in the under USD 2000 category – the Nautilus Sport Series T5.16 LEX Treadmills. Nautilus steadily delivers state of the art, well-researched, tested and reliable sports equipment and the Nautilus Sport Series T5.16 LEX Treadmills is no exception. Treadmill specs are as under:

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April 1, 2009

What Cool-Downs Do For You

Filed under: Fitness — Tags: , — mamta @ 1:01 am

Hi again. Today we will cover the other end of the workout – Cool Downs. Cool downs are just as important as Warm-ups. I am sure you have often seen the occasional jogger/runner finishing their main run on a treadmill, only to turn it off and step down to head to some other gym equipment. This is potentially dangerous for the heart and in strength training routines, even to the muscles.

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March 30, 2009

Lifespan Fitness TR 3000 HRC Treadmill

Filed under: Treadmill Reviews — Tags: , , — mamta @ 8:01 am

lifespan-fitness-tr-3000-hrc-treadmill

After having covered the Sole F63 Treadmill in the last post, which I rated as one of the best folding treadmills in the Economy segment (under USD 1000), I would like to take flow a bit further and cover one of the best folding treadmills in the Mid-price range. There are two I have used to find particularly good, one of which we shall be looking at today – the Lifespan Fitness TR 3000 HRC Treadmill. Here are the specs:

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March 25, 2009

What Warm-Ups Do For You

Filed under: Fitness — Tags: — mamta @ 1:01 am

Every so often, I see gym-goers walk up to a treadmill, and start their jogging/running routine within a couple of minutes of arriving at the gym. I am always at a lack of understanding – is it the lack of time to fit in a safety measure or just ignorance? Either one way, they are headed for injury or worse. Warm-ups have a very specific purpose – they prepare the mind and body for what is coming further on in the workout session.

Let me start with what exactly is a warm up and which activities qualify as warm ups and which don’t. Warm is any low intensity, slow-paced activity that may (preferable) or may not resemble your intense and eventual activity but gets the muscles, tissues and organs ready for more intense workout. A warm up may start out slow but it can be increased in pace and intensity finally to match the main workout. In general, the more intense and complex your main workout, the longer your workout should be.

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March 23, 2009

Sole F63 Folding Treadmill

Filed under: Treadmill Reviews — Tags: , , , — mamta @ 10:27 pm

sole-f63-folding-treadmill

Hi. I am back to cover treadmills and today we will take a look at the Sole F63 Treadmill model. This is an economy treadmill as it is priced at under USD 1000. In this price range however, it is one of the best treadmills available today. First, let us go through the Sole F63 Treadmill’s particulars:

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March 18, 2009

Shin Splints – The Jogger’s / Runners Woe

Filed under: Fitness — Tags: , — mamta @ 1:01 am

Hi again. Yes, I will be covering that most pesky of troubles that has at one time or another plagued almost every jogger and runner. If you are a newbie, then chances are you will run into shin splints earlier than later. We start out enthusiastically, overdo things a little bit (read increasing our workout duration, intensity and frequency too quickly), and then start the shin pains that seem to linger on or disappear to return back repeatedly.

Shin splints are a common condition amongst runners/joggers or anyone doing star jumps and the like. When the shin is repeatedly made to bear the weight of downward force, the pounding causes the frontal tibia (shinbone) to experience stress. The medical term for shin splints is Medial Tibial Syndrome.

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March 16, 2009

Bowflex TC3000 Treadclimber

Filed under: Treadmill Reviews — Tags: , , — mamta @ 10:26 pm

bowflex-tc3000-treadclimber

Hi. Another beginning to a new week. I wanted to do a review on something different to bring in variety today and I have spotted a tread climber from the Bowflex stable. OK, let me give you a brief on what a treadclimber is. A treadclimber combines many small parts/devices to enable complex movements on a machine and is a cross between a treadmill, an elliptical and a stepper.

It allows both forward walk motion (as in a treadmill) and a step motion (as in a stepper). It thus has 2 platforms –which rise separately – one goes up as the other goes down.  Now, let’s get to the specifications of the Bowflex Tc3000 Treadclimber:

PARTICULARS

SPECIFICATIONS

Workouts

 

Load Taking Capacity

300 lbs or 136 Kg

Speed Range

0.7 mph – 4 mph

Resistance Levels

12 Levels

Product Dimensions

28.5’(W) x 46”(L) x 55.25”(H)

Display

Electronic – Speed, Distance, Time , Calories Burnt Per Minute, Total Calories and Total Steps

 

Other Features:

·         Water Bottle Holder and Magazine Holder

·         3-year warranty on Motor, 2 years on Parts and Electronics and a year on Hydraulics.

bowflex-tc3000-treadclimber-console

The Bowflex TC3000 Treadclimber gives a good workout to the calves, hamstrings, buns, quadriceps and the heart without killing your joints. It is the perfect machine for interval workouts allowing variability on both speed and resistance it offers. However, the resistance is varied in the Bowflex TC3000 Treadclimber in an awkward way – by turning knobs that activate hydraulic pistons and one has to get off the footboard to do this – so the continuity of the workout is disrupted.

I have rarely seen the Bowflex TC3000 Treadclimber in gyms but have often heard of people holding them at homes. Despite it’s Bowflex lineage and it’s ingenuity as a multi-use machine, the TC3000 Treadclimber, does not live up to expectations neither on price nor on warranty and does not gather good customer reviews in e-publications such as Epinions.com etc. Here are the common gripes I have come across through a single-time use and via product review journals etc:

1. The Bowflex TC3000 Treadclimber is a complex machine and has potential for it’s many intricately built parts to go wrong, yet Bowflex does not cover it sufficiently through warranty.

2. Users have found that the posture and walking on Bowflex TC3000 Treadclimber requires getting used to.

3. There are reports on it’s peddles often giving problems.

4. The customer service and support have not known to be very responsive in handling complaints.

5. Priced at USD 1899 (Best Price Amazon USD 1399), the customer expects less in terms of a equipment faultiness and more on warranty cover.

 

MY RATING OF THE BOWFLEX TC3000 TREADCLIMBER – 2.5 out of 5 stars

Purchase a Bowflex TC3000 Treadclimber:

Buy a Bowflex TC3000 Treadclimber at Amazon.com.

Buy a Bowflex TC3000 Treadclimber at eBay.com.

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