Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Treadmills

I have to face it, the weather is going to turn bad and I am going to need to find someplace to do my walking. There are a number of choices:

  • Take a walking tour of the floor at work 20 times a day
  • Wander through the parkade in the building from the bottom level to the top level 7 times a day
  • Go to West Edmonton Mall and walk from one end to the other, and back, twice.
  • Walk through the barely shovelled sidewalks and gamble that I am going to be able to make the neighbourhood circle without twisting an ankle.

I don't particularly like any of those options. Oh, some work on certain days while some work better on others, but there is no "perfect" solution. Or is there?

What about a treadmill? I can stay at home, nice and warm, and walk to my hearts content. There are some things that I do need to take into account, however:

  • As I am still over 300 pounds I need a treadmill that can handle my weight. This eliminates many of the less expensive treadmills as they are designed for skinny waifs who don't need to lose weight.
  • I have a rather wide walk. Wide hips, chunky thighs rubbing together, whatever the cause I need a wider tread to walk on. It used to be that 18" was the standard. That's way too small. 20"? Better. So now I have eliminated another swath of treadmills.
  • I plan on using this on a daily basis (up to an hour per day) and I fully expect other people in the house to use it as well. That means a more powerful motor to handle the higher usage pattern and the fact that I am still over 300 pounds. 3 CHP (Continuous Horse Power) or higher is what I am targetting.

So there we go. I think a treadmill will work, but I'm not sure. I know that walking outside won't work for me in winter, but I'm not sure that I can find a treadmill that I want either. (A treadmill that won't cost a fortune.) Let's see what's out there.

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