How to Choose the Best Treadmill for Your Lifestyle

When choosing a treadmill (or any piece of exercise equipment for that matter), there is a lot to consider. Many people tend to look at the price first, but you don't want to be a slave to a price.

When you're buying a car or house, you don't just look at the price; you consider durability and functionality (car) and location, schools, neighborhoods, etc. (house). You'll want to put the same effort in choosing your treadmill - it's just as important a decision. After all, your health is important to you, right?

Of course, first you'll need to think about several things before choosing a treadmill such as size, manual or motorized, how much use will it need to withstand, and maintenance issues.

If space is an issue, you may want to choose a model that folds for storage. There are several models that fold for storage these days.

If your treadmill is going to get lots of use from you and your whole family, obviously you'll want to invest more for a sturdier model. This means a heavier motor and more cushioning. Be sure to pay attention to construction also, which may be shoddy in the cheapest models.

Be sure to choose a treadmill with an adequate walking track (at least 48 inches long and 17 inches wide). And if you're going to be running, you'll need a longer track. And for comfort, select a treadmill that has a deck thickness of at least 3/4-inch or 1-inch if you plan to run as well as walk.

If you're choosing a motorized treadmill, you'll definitely want to consider motor power. Generally, the larger and heavier the motor is, the cooler it will run and the longer it will last. But don't get burned - you should choose a reputable brand when considering motor power also. Reputable brands tend to use better quality parts than cheaper models that may have heavier motors. So be careful.

And you don't want to buy a treadmill that is going to cost a fortune to fix if something goes wrong - so check out the owner's manual before buying to make sure that parts are easily replaced and not too expensive.

Okay, after you've evaluated what you want and need in your treadmill, you can consider cost. Treadmills can start at about $400 (el cheapo models) and run up to around $4,000 (top of the line luxury). Basically, you'll have to weigh the quality and features you require against what you're willing to spend to arrive at a treadmill purchase that you're satisfied with and will enjoy for a time to come.

For more information and reviews on treadmills, you should visit our Treadmill Information site. You'll discover what it takes to lose weight and keep it off for good with access to a treasure trove of weight loss tips, articles, ebooks and more.

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Brain Health - Could Lifestyle Enhancing Gadgets Be Damaging Our Brain's Health As We Age?

Maintaining brain health is a hot topic particularly as we age. Today, more than ever before we want and expect to be able to enjoy every facet of our longer lives. We want to stave off the ravages of aging in our brains and bodies - but we are also looking for lifestyle and ease. It is human nature after all.

Don't you just love all the gadgets we can get to enhance our lifestyle? Make our lives easier and fuller?

Talking books - so we don't have to read.
Calculators - so we can do complicated math.
GPS navigation systems - so we don't have to navigate or remember where to turn.

But could these lifestyle enhancing gadgets actually be setting us up for brain health problems in the future?

Take a look at the GPS as an example. Back in the late 90's there was a study at the University College London where they scanned the brains of 16 London Cabbies.

London Cab drivers have to pass "The Knowledge" before they get their license. The cabbies have to be able to remember vast numbers of roads and routes in their heads. Information is accessed on the fly and in the process utilizes high level spatial memory skills.

The research showed that the cabbies had a larger than average hippocampus area of the brain. In birds and animals, the hippocampus had been shown to be involved in navigation. The conclusion drawn by the researchers was that the cabbies' hippocampus had grown larger because they were continually memorizing and planning out routes in their heads.

The big question is: Could the use of items such as calculators and car navigational GPS systems actually make us all more prone to memory loss and brain function degradation as we age?

GPS is a useful aid but it is making us rely upon a computer, rather than using and exercising our own incredible inbuilt computer. Calculators and computers make it easy for us to avoid doing mental arithmetic. Have you experienced that feeling of fear when you realized your calculator batteries had gone flat? It is a stark reminder that our brain does lose function and speed and we know it!

We are probably a bit more aware of what calculators do to our mental arithmetic skills and speed, but will the GPS creep up on us?

Perhaps if we do choose to use a GPS to make our navigation of unfamiliar places easier, we should also make sure we compensate by having a regular program of brain training exercises.

Maybe the marketers could jump on the bandwagon with a cross promotion! All GPS could come with Brain Training Programs! Or maybe in the future we might see health warnings like this: "Warning: GPS systems could seriously damage your brain health".

Getting back to those cabbies - I seem to remember that cabbies did well in quiz shows too! Perhaps the introduction of GPS will bring an end to that and give the rest of us a chance!

In the meantime - try some structured brain training to maintain your brain health as you age....

Hope Wynns is a freelance writer who contributes to the Brain Training Blog at http://www.naturalbrainpower.com Hope has an interest in personally keeping her brain fit and active and is constantly researching practical ways to do that whilst fitting in with a hectic lifestyle.