So the only activity during this lockdown is by walking from one room to another. I started the year 2020 with a new year resolution by joining the gym. What happened next, know the whole world.
Amazingly, I was able to get some excellent results after two months, but sadly, nationwide locked on happened in March. The Gyms were closed, and people could not step out of their homes except to buy essentials.
I started gaining weight quickly and was forced to find a solution to add some physical activity. The easiest and no brainer option is to get a treadmill. But the last time I checked with the local offline retailer, the treadmill prices were not in my budget.
I don’t mind paying a could of thousand rupees for a product, but it has to be used regularly. Treadmill at home is something we are not sure of. I’ve heard many stories where people bought gym equipment, and it was later used for hanging clothes, and I don’t want to purchase a Rs 90000 clothes hanger.
Price and Availability
Fortunately, I search for treadmills on Amazon, and I was surprised to find that there are treadmills listed on the website starting from Rs 15000 and go beyond Rs 50000.
A Rs 15000 treadmill is a manual treadmill, which means they don’t have any motor. So you have to walk on them and then force the running belt backwards so that you keep on running. I have tried it, and it’s not a good experience.
A motorized treadmill starts from Rs 25000, but since it is an entry point, the reviews are not good. These treadmills get a user rating of two and a half or three stars, and my personal rule of purchasing products on Amazon is it should have at least three and a 1/2 star.
The treadmills priced between Rs 30000 to 35000 have got a decent rating; some even have a 4-star rating. Some reviews talk about the low build quality, the running belt being too small, running speed being too low etc.
So I had to stretch my budget to Rs 35000, and I was able to get this Fitkit FT200 Series, which checks all the boxes for purchasing a product on Amazon. It has four and a half star rating, has a 2.25 HP motor, which is powerful than low priced treadmills listed on Amazon.
It had a weight capacity of 110 kgs, and to purchase it is mentioned on the listing itself that you need to consider the weight capacity at least 20 kg more than your actual weight. So since my weight is 80Kgs, any treadmill with a weight capacity of hundred kgs would be okayish for me.
The treadmill price that I ordered has a dynamic kind of pricing means it keeps on jumping between Rs 30000 to Rs 35000. So I paid somewhere between that. You can check out the product link to find the current pricing of this treadmill. But I remember I purchased it in a lightning deal, which happens now and then.
Fitkit is an Indian company and has got its products listed on Amazon, Flipkart and, Paytm Mall.
But since Amazon has the best delivery system and returns policy, at least better than the other two mentioned, I would suggest you prefer Amazon if you have to purchase this or any product.
On the listing, there are different models available for this treadmill. I ordered the one that came with the massager, which adds Rs 2000 extra to the total price.
Delivery and Installation
Since I bought it from Amazon, the delivery did not have any issue, two guys cme to deliver the product, and they had to take my help to bring this treadmill from their vehicle to my flat on the second floor since there is no elevator in my building.
The package’s total weight is 55 kgs, and if, like me, you live in a multi-storey building, make sure you talk to the delivery people and tell them about your situation.
About the installation of this treadmill, it is not too challenging. I was able to install it myself after watching a video on YouTube. However, it needed the help of another person. So you need two people to set this. Be aware of that, or wait for the installation guy who will visit the delivery location to install this treadmill and talked about the do’s and don’ts of the treadmill.
After delivering the product, you get the instructions about setting up an appointment with the installation guy. The installation guy was happy that I set it up myself, so he didn’t have to, although he checked everything whether it was done correctly or not. And after that, he told me some general things that people already know about treadmills.
One crucial thing he told me was the self-lubricating part. This treadmill is self-lubricating, which means you can open the treadmill and put a lubricating oil bottle inside, then press the lubrication button given on the treadmill on the interval of few days, depending on the usage of the treadmill.
For example, if you are using the treadmill for half an hour every day for seven days, you should press the lubrication button once a week. Two people use my treadmill in my household, and the average time is around half an hour every day, so we have to press the lubrication button once a week.
Built Quality and Features
The build quality of the treadmill is decent. It’s mostly made of plastic, the LCD to show data is blue, the buttons are okayish, it is like the ones you find on RGB remote buttons.
Pressing them also won’t give you great pleasure, but I am happy that they work. Anyway, I have to be on this treadmill just for 15 minutes every day and have to press the buttons five times in the entire session.
There is a start and stop button, lubrication button, speed presets (3,6,9), and inclination presets.
The treadmill’s front area also has got a button called mode, which gives you different running modes.
Consider it something like a personal trainer who tells you to speed the treadmill up or slow it down in between, add inclination, etc. This extra stress helps in burning more calories. But I haven’t seen anyone using these modes on a treadmill. So I can’t say how effective they are.
The running belt also offers decent quality, it is not as wide as I am used to running in the gym, but it is okay to run on.
The handles on the left and the right also have buttons apart from giving support while walking or running. On the left grip, you have the inclination button (+ and -), and on the right handle, you have the speed button (+ and -). Apart from that, the handles also have got heart rate monitoring sensor, so while running, if you place your hands on both the sensor on both the handles, you can monitor your pulse on display.
There is also a 3.5 mm audio slot where you can plug in your aux cable and play music from your mobile phone or MP3 device to the speakers installed on the treadmill. I wouldn’t advise you to do that because the speaker is on your smartphone would probably be better than the speakers on this treadmill.
The same goes for the fan. It’s just there for writing as an extra feature on the treadmill. There is no speed control, and it doesn’t make any difference when it is turned on or off. The good thing is if you are purchasing for your home workouts, you can place it smartly e where there is a fan available as well as probably your favourite speakers also.
Fitkit also offers a mobile app available for IOS and Android. The app gets connected to the treadmill via Bluetooth, and then you can keep track of the stats of your runs. In the app, you also have options to opt for a diet plan, which are paid. But as the owner of this treadmill, you get the plan as a complementary.
I haven’t explored the app and the diet plans offered by FitKit but, it is a good thing that the company is offering something like this, which can benefit a lot of people who want to lose weight and have purchased this treadmill.
Who Should Buy This Treadmill?
Initially, I was skeptical of buying this treadmill because professional-grade treadmills in the gyms, I was not sure whether these budget-friendly home treadmill would be suitable for me. But since the coronavirus pandemic isn’t going anytime soon, I am not going to join the gym, and this home gym is letting me walk 3 to 4 kilometres every day, which is bigger satisfying to know at the end of the day.
If you have ever joined a gym and ran on the treadmill found in the gym, you can get disappointed at the first look, but for people who have never been to a gym or have never used a treadmill before, this is more than enough for them.
My wife loves the treadmill and loves the ability to simply turn it on and start running without actually having to think about going out for a run in these situations.
It is a perfect fit for elderly people who just want to add physical activity and do not want to go out in the pollution or in this pandemic situation.
You Should Not Buy This Treadmill?
If you are someone who is looking to train themselves for a marathon, if you are a hardcore athlete, it’s not for you.
If you love running and you want to use it just for running, it is not for you. Although it does have 14 km per hour maximum speed, and I have tried that as well, it is not recommended to run at the highest speed.
My recommendation would be to use it for jogging. I start at 6 kilometres per hour; then I speed it up to 10 kilometres per hour, then I speed up to 12 kilometres per hour for a few seconds before us coming back to 6 kilometres per hour. And in 10 to 15 minutes, I am able to run 1.5Kms.
