The Smooth 4.25 Treadmill Review – Top pick for those with limited space

Ohiyo!

Today we received a great question from a loyal reader in the midst of an exercise dilemma. Sherry wants to know what a top rated or best buy treadmill can be found for someone with a small amount of space to dedicate to it. Let’s see what she has to say…take it away, Sherry!

Dear Sensei,

I was wondering if you could help me. It’s quite overwhelming to see all the different treadmills and I wondered if you could give me your advice. Size is a problem, but I want the best out there. We have limited space in our house. I’m in my mid-50’s and out of shape and am relying on the treadmill to get into some kind of good health and shape. My 18 yr. old daughter is also using it as well as my husband.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon. Many thanks! -Sherry

Sherry:

Thanks for your note. Yours is a question that pops up a lot and really isn’t covered all that often by the various review “experts.” Since your question is a bit against the grain when it comes to what most people are looking for (this also goes for those shorter buyers who are looking for treadmills or ellipticals which will work for them), which is a larger sized unit with a huge running area.

What you need is a smaller unit which will still stand up to use and abuse by a number of family members. Luckily, this year Smooth Fitness has released a treadmill which may be a great answer to your fitness needs. The Smooth 4.25 Treadmill is their budget priced unit for those who don’t have the space for a bigger treadmill. It also happens to be a very sturdy and very solidly built treadmill that will stand up to the abuse of a 3 person household looking to get back in shape.

The first thing to mention about the top rated Smooth 4.25 treadmill is that it ships full assembled. That’s right, no more having to mess with putting together a treadmill before you have to use it. The Smooth 4.25 comes ready to plug in and use right out of the box. This, when factored with the free shipping Smooth offers, may be one of the best reasons to get the Smooth 4.25 for a lot of people. Having watched my wife’s Uncle Chris try to put together a Proform Elliptical at his house let me experience first hand what the average person goes through when putting together a piece of fitness equipment. For some people this will entail a lot of frustration and more than a little cursing. My Uncle Chris it was a HUGE amout of frustration and a DISTURBING amount of cursing.

The next thing to mention is the size. The Smooth 4.25 treadmill folds up to 11″ x 29″ x 60,” which is small enough to fit in most closets and under most beds – heck, it will even fit in the back of a lot of SUVs or larger cars. The only downside to such a small folded size is that the running area of the 4.26 comes in at about 16″x50,” however if you’re a smaller person or only in need of a walking or jogging treadmill then that isn’t a downside at all.

Where the Smooth 4.25 goes above and beyond the call of duty is in its frame. Made from welded 11 gauge steel, the 4.25 is made of a sturdier metal than most $1500 treadmills and easily outperforms higher end treadmills by lower-end manufacturers such as Spirit, Proform or Epic. Smooth has done an excellent job in making sure the 4.25 treadmill gives one of the most solid workouts available in a treadmill priced at under $1000.

Last, the Smooth 4.25 also still comes with a lot of great features: a large, cool-running 2.0 horsepower motor, 8mph top speed, 7 programs and heart rate monitoring round out what is an excellent buy at about $799. The Smooth 4.25 is a very strong contender for our 2008/2009 treadmill best buy awards later in the year.

For being a top-notch treadmill for shorter people or those lacking in workout space, the Treadmill Sensei gives the excellent Smooth 4.25 Treadmill 4.5 out of 5 golden buddahs. The Smooth 4.25 receives 4.5 gold buddahs from the Treadmill Sensei for being a very sturdy treadmill priced at under $800.

-The Treadmill Sensei
http://www.treadmillsensei.com