ProForm Treadmills and Ellipticals from ICON Health

If you want to purchase a budget yet reasonably good treadmill, you should consider ProForm treadmills. Proform treadmills are a subsidiary of ICON Health and Fitness, one of the largest fitness equipment manufacturers around the world.

Quite possibly, Proform is the best known name in home treadmills since they have been around for years. And these treadmills usually range from $500-1000, which makes them a very popular budget buy.

Icon Health and Fitness which produce Proform exercise treadmills are the biggest manufacturer of fitness equipment in the world.

Featured ProForm Treadmills Models

• ProForm 780 Crosswalk Treadmill

ProForm Treadmills Advantages

ProForm Treadmills attract more purchasers than any other brand. ProForm not only does make a wide range of treadmills they also make a wide range of other fitness equipment including exercise bikes, ellipticals, strength equipment, vibration and ab machines together with a host of other fitness accessories.

Obviously one of the main strengths of these treadmills is their affordability since they start around $599 and up. Many treadmill buyers these days are on a budget and Proform offers one of the largest selections of starter treadmills to choose from. The Proform Power series of treadmills was recently introduced which is a series of treadmills built to a higher standard of construction.

These models have strong motors, longer belts, and feel more substantial than past Proform models.

Considering how inexpensive most of ProForm treadmills are you get some good value. Being the largest fitness equipment company, you benefit from economy of scale. ProForm reminds me of Hyundai cars. They are not the quality of a Lexus, but they offer an excellent value to someone wanting a loaded automobile at a value price.

I’ve talked to a former competitor who is amazed at how ProForm/Icon can offer so much for so little. In general, they’ll have treadmills with larger motors, longer decks, more workout programs and innovative features.

These are a great options if you’re looking for a bit more substance to your treadmill without spending thousands more.

Proform also produces the Crosswalk (XWalk) series of treadmills. These are the only treadmills with arm bars that help you work your upper body (kind of like the arm bars found on ellipticals). So you can get a treadmill that does “double duty” and works both your legs and arms.

Proform Home Treadmills

Proform home treadmills offer a lot of fun “extras” like iFit compatibility (where you can download interactive workout programs from the Internet or get them off a readable card), iPod docks with built in speakers, workout fans and handweights.
While these added extras don’t replace the core features of a good value treadmill, they do get many people excited about working out and actually using their treadmill.

ProForm Treadmill’s Weakness

If anyone has the resources to build a better budget treadmill for less, it’s ICON/Proform. However a budget treadmill is still a budget treadmill.

Any treadmill under $800 is not recommended for runners and/or frequent use. It just won’t give you the kind of cushioning and construction quality to last under heavy or prolonged use. If you’re planning on running on your treadmill or using it frequently, you may want to spend a bit more and go with a brand like Sole.

Proform makes a wide range of treadmills that are quite affordable if you’re on a budget. Plus they come with some great ‘bells and whistles’ like iFit compatibility, iPod ports and Crosswalk arms that can make your workout more enjoyable.

Keep in mind that these are still starter treadmills and they won’t give the feel or construction quality of a commercial machine.

However if you’re looking for some of the best value budget treadmills on the market, Proform is worth checking out.

The biggest fallback of Proform treadmills is that most of them only have short three month warranties. At the same time, there have been some complaints regarding the durability of their machines.

Always remember that you get what you pay for. And this applies to everything including treadmills. If you’re a seasoned runner who wants a quality treadmill with long warranties, then I strongly urge you to buy treadmills worth at least $1,500.