Curved Treadmill: Is it better than a traditional treadmill?
A list of advantages of using a curved (non-motorized) treadmill.
11/18/20220 min read
When it comes to commercial grade, high quality treadmills, there are generally 2 different types: Motorized and Non-motorized treadmills.
Motorized treadmills are traditional treadmills that require electricity to work and are most often flat. You will find these treadmills at almost every gym out there. Non-motorized treadmills are becoming more popular and mostly do no require electricity to work. They are mostly curved by design to allow users to generate spin by themselves and run on them without electricity moving the motors.
Below, we will go through some of the advantages of using a curved treadmill and how you can use this equipment to help you with your training and improve your sports performance.
Advantages
Non-Motorized=No Electricity
The fact that curved treadmills do not use electricity is a huge plus. You can basically put this treadmill anywhere and it will run. You don't need to depend on anything but your own movement to operate the treadmill. Especially for a small space home setup, or garage gym setup, you might want to move the treadmill around. It's super convenient to use.
Curved Design Promotes Running Form
The curve design of the non-motorized treadmill makes it almost impossible to run properly with bad form. That's why a lot of people find it difficult to start running on a curved treadmill. Oftentimes, they explain that they feel they will fall if they speed up or that the treadmill is slippery. This indicates that their running forms still need some work. Getting used to running on a curved treadmill will change your running posture to a more upright position which is ideal for running at high speed. For a normal motorized treadmill, the running surface is flat and the motor is doing the work for you, so it is more advantageous to train on a curved treadmill.
More Effort is Produced on the Curved Treadmill
If everything stays equal, you will work about 30% harder on a curved treadmill compared to a standard motorized treadmill. This means you will burn more calories, and engage more muscles. Regularly training on a curved treadmill will allow you to get stronger compared to training on a motorized one.
Speed & Top-Speed Training
A motorized treadmill doesn't allow you flexibility when it comes to variable speed training. Most commercial treadmills will have a limit on how fast they can go, mostly around the 20-30km range. However, the speed cannot change constantly. With a curved treadmill, speed is determined by our stride and our own effort. The faster we run, the faster the treadmill goes. So, a curved treadmill is a perfect tool for training at top speed, while developing good running technique.
Fewer Features = More Focused
A lot of the curved treadmills you can find on the market are very simple, especially the LCD monitor. They usually have a few metrics like time, speed, distance, and calories. In our opinion, these features are important for us when training and running on the treadmill. If there are a lot of features, we would be more distracted (which can be dangerous) when running on a curved treadmill. A motorized, flat treadmill will usually have more entertainment features, which usually distract the users from the actual training.
Ready to get one for your home gym/garage gym setup?
Now that you know the advantages of using a curved treadmill as opposed to using a motorized treadmill, it's time to order one so you can train and workout at home.
Our Fitlabs Lab Runner is an entry-level curved treadmill that offers simple features and aluminum frame construction that's a perfect addition to your home gym/garage gym setup. You can check it out below:
