The Bowflex Treadclimber is becoming one of the most popular aerobic trainers on the market today. Is it right for you? Here's a detailed review of the Bowflex Treadclimber to help you decide:
What is the Bowflex Treadclimber? The Tread climber is a hybrid stair climber and treadmill; it has two separate, smaller treadmill belts (one for each foot) that you walk on. These individual belts function as two separate treadmills and also move up and down, meeting every step you take.
There is a learning curve to using the Treadclimber, most people master it quite quickly, start at a relatively slow speed and set the resistance level high so that the decks drop slowly.
How Does The Treadclimber Benefit You?
Because you have to lift your leg with every step, it is similar to climbing an incline. The advantage to this is that you burn more calories in the same timeframe as walking on a level treadmill.You can actually burn up to 3X the calories on a Treadclimber as compared to working out on a treadmill. This means more fat burning and faster weight loss. After 22 different trials, researchers found that TreadClimber users burned 348 calories in just 30 minutes at 3 mph. The same group burned only 135 calories in 30 minutes using a treadmill at the same speed. Walking on a Treadclimber has been compared to the feel of 'walking in sand' and, causes less impact on the joints. This may offer an alternative for runners or joggers who are concerned about increasing cardiovascular fitness without incurring over use injury.
The Treadclimber 5000 was given a 'Best Buy' rating by Consumer Guide.
Overall Conclusion: the Bowflex Treadclimber dose offer an efficient workout that will give you results in less time than other cardio. You need to have a little more coordination than for most other cardio equipment, but once you master the Treadclimer it is great for correcting muscle imbalance. It is not the equipment I would choose if you are looking for very high end fitness,( it is not designed for running), but as part of weight management regime it is excellent.
The most popular model is the TC 5000, probably because of the 'Best Buy' rating from Consumer Guide, longer warranty, advanced console and telemetry heart rate pick up.
