If you are looking at treadmills for sale to compare treadmill models, prices, features and so on, why not first sit down with a pencil and paper. Work out a few things. Because without some basic information it isn’t easy to compare treadmills and get the right result for you. There is no point in spending time doing a treadmill comparison without knowing exactly what you want.

There are some basic things to work out. Some of them are pretty obvious but, guess what, so many people don’t do them never the less.

Firstly, work out your budget. It sounds trite, wouldn’t everyone do that? Well, no. There are plenty of people who spend some time trying to compare treadmills with each other and can’t really afford to buy what they want. Treadmills can range enormously in price. You can buy a basic model for less than $500, or you can spend many thousands. Work out what price bracket you fit into.

Part of this is to work out how important your treadmill is going to be in your life. Are you a fitness fanatic who is going to be on your treadmill 1 or 2 hours a day every day? Or are you just someone who has decided that it might be a good idea to do some exercise, and a treadmill seems like a good way to do it?

There are many who start out with all the best intentions, and then fall by the wayside once they find that exercise, even on a treadmill, isn’t necessarily all that easy to keep up. Plenty of used treadmills have been sold with very little use.

No point in trying to compare treadmills prices, models, features and so on if you are going to use it a couple of times and lose interest. If you feel that this might be you, then don’t even start a treadmill comparison until you have been down to the local gym and used their treadmills often enough to be absolutely sure that you will be committed to using your treadmill once you buy it.

The best treadmill in the world is no use in the cupboard (if you can fit it in).

And there’s no shame in starting with a cheaper basic model, getting used to it and after a year or two upgrading. That’s the best way to find out your exact needs in a treadmill. Then you can really compare treadmills knowing exactly what it is you are after.

And once you are committed to your treadmill exercise, know you want one and will use it, and know your budget, can you then start looking at doing your treadmill comparison? No.

What’s next? Look at treadmill features, and look at your needs. Do you need the latest greatest treadmill that allows you to converse online with space shuttle occupants while you workout, or is this not quite necessary?

(I don’t think that the treadmill exists that does this yet, but I won’t rule it out.)

The most basic treadmill is a manual treadmill. That’s a treadmill which you need to power yourself. No motor. They aren’t expensive and are quite sufficient for many people. They certainly aren’t as good as a fine motorised model, but for some people they are perfectly adequate. It all comes down to your needs.

And have a look at what you NEED and what you WANT. There is a big difference. What you need is important. If you feel you need to be able to increase the incline to adjust the difficulty of the workout without getting off then that is fine. If you want to have a model that stores all the workout information and sets different workout parameters for 200 users just in case your sister comes over and wants a go, then that may not be all that necessary.

Why is this important? Because extra features add to the price. And often the features that people WANT add a lot more to the price just because people want them, and so treadmill merchants can charge a lot extra for them with those features.

So, work out your budget, your needs, your likely pattern of use, and the features you feel are important to you, before you start to compare treadmills. Then do your treadmill comparison based on these factors. Work out which treadmills suit your requirements, then do your treadmill comparison on only these treadmills.

If you can narrow your list of treadmills that fit your profile before you start to compare treadmills to each other then it makes your job much easier.