A treadmill is a fitness equipment that is easy to use as an indoor exercise to burn calories or cardio exercises. A treadmill can also be used as a fitness equipment to lose belly fat so you can lose some weight.
The treadmills themselves come in a variety of sizes and types. In the market, there are generally two types of treadmills, which are manual treadmills and electric treadmills. Therefore, before you buy a treadmill for home exercise needs, make sure you understand the two types of treadmills first. The following is the differences between manual and electric treadmills.
First, you should know that the treadmill has a concept like running, walking, brisk walking or jogging. Using this equipment, all that activities can be done indoor. To make it easier to understand, the differences between these two types of treadmills will be discussed based on certain categories.
Manual Treadmill
1. Equipment’s Visualization
In the two pictures above, you can clearly see the visual difference between the two types of treadmills. The manual treadmill looks simpler but lofty with its large shape and slightly curved base. Meanwhile, the electric treadmill looks luxurious with various buttons and displays that make it look sophisticated and modern.
Based on appearance, electric treadmill is better because it looks more modern with a variety of features. The appearance of manual treadmills is quite simple and old, so they are rarely got chosen. Meanwhile, electric treadmills with a luxurious appearance make it quite attractive, especially in gyms.
2. Equipment Motion Mechanism
The most basic difference between the two treadmills lies in their propulsion. Basically, a manual treadmill is not driven by a machine or motor, but is driven by our feet.
When the feet move, the manual treadmill belt will move too. The speed of the manual treadmill belt is in accordance with the speed of your feet. The faster your feet run, the faster the manual treadmill belt will move and vice versa.
While on an electric treadmill it is driven by a machine or motor and the speed can be adjusted. On this treadmill the speed of the feet follows the speed of the treadmill belt.
There are various buttons on an electric treadmill, through which you can set the belt speed, incline, and heart rate meter. Even on a more modern electric treadmill, you can watch or listen to music while running.
3. Tool Maintenance
Equipment maintenance is very important so that the treadmill can be used for a long time. Luckily, treadmills have the advantage of being easy and cheap to maintain.
This is because in a manual treadmill there are no motors or machines that need special attention. It is enough to regularly clean this manual treadmill so it doesn’t get dirty, especially after you use it.
Maintenance of an electric treadmill is quite difficult where the machine in this treadmill really needs to be cleaned carefully because this machine is the main part of electric treadmill. There is special treatment for this treadmill motor such as cleaning from dirt, lubricating it, and checking it regularly.
If you skip this maintenance process, the machine can be damaged and to repair it requires more costs or you even have to buy a new one.
4. Price of Equipment
This also needs to be considered before buying a treadmill, which is to adjust the budget you have to buy this exercise equipment. When talking about price, manual treadmills are cheaper than electric treadmills. This price is in accordance with the specifications, advantages and disadvantages of each treadmill.
5. Practicality of the Equipment
Manual treadmills rely on leg movements of the user so that they require more energy at the beginning of a workout or when the exercise has taken place. The speed will also depend on the user, so it requires the user to use his own strength to make the treadmill move faster or slower.
Unlike electric treadmill, the user only needs to press a button on the monitor to adjust the speed, incline or heart rate of the user.
This is an advantage because the user just need to follow the speed of the electric treadmill belt. For the calorie burning process, of course electric treadmills are more effective and optimal than manual treadmills.
Treadmill is a fitness equipment that is easy to use and practical. But the users need to be smart in choosing what type of treadmill suits their needs.