Included with the treadmill is a 30-Day iFIT trial membership, offering hundreds of instructor-led running, hiking, walking, and strength workouts that auto-adjust your speed and incline levels based on instructor cues. Within minutes of receiving the fully assembled treadmill, it was ready to use—all we had to do was unfold it, plug it in, and attach smaller accessories (like the safety key and phone holder).

How it folds: We found it easy to fold the treadmill’s running belt upright to a 45-degree angle by lifting the belt and locking it in place. If you're looking for a treadmill loaded with features that are easy to understand and use, we recommend this treadmill from NordicTrack. During testing, several users (of varying body types and weights) logged miles on this treadmill—it remained stable and sturdy regardless of speed or incline.We also love that you can tilt and pivot the display if you want to take your workout off the belt using the treadmill's interactive training platform, iFIT. If you don’t want to use the XTERRA+ app, you can also follow along to one of the treadmill's 12 pre-programmed workouts, or connect to third-party apps like Zwift and Kinomap. She participated in our real-world folding treadmill test, logging many miles on the Horizon Fitness 7. It’s also important to look for any additional features that you might want—like third-party app integration, Bluetooth compatibility, and more.

The more advanced models are often compatible with any training application you can download to your smartphone. But if footprint really is an issue, consider looking into our list of the best treadmill desks, which might work better for you—especially in an office space.This treadmill helped to motivate us to run and maintain endurance levels during cold winter months. The quick dial controls let you adjust the speed and incline without breaking your stride by spinning a dial on the end of an arm positioned in front of the control panel.

The lubricant used is usually a silicone spray, but to be on the safe side you should check what the manufacturer recommends. When running on a treadmill, it’s important that metrics (like speed, distance, and time) are easy to view and track mid-run. The large quadriceps muscle on the front of the thigh, which is actually a collection of four muscles (the vastus lateralis, rectus femoris, vastus medialis and vastus intermedialis). That’s because foldability has very little to do with a treadmill’s ability to deliver a good workout.We appreciate how simple it is to connect to popular training apps (like Peloton, Zwift, Nike Run Club, and more), and prop up your own device on the convenient holder to stream shows from your favorite platforms. Thankfully, the best folding treadmills offer an easy way around this common problem as they take up less space than traditional treadmills and still provide an effective way to add cardio to your routine, regardless of the weather outside, says John Honerkamp, RRCA, a USATF-certified running coach.

After downloading the XTERRA+ app—which offers dozens of workout programs—it was easy to add multiple user profiles and user-specific fitness goals. We love Nordictrack’s Commercial 2450 Folding Treadmill for its stunning display, sleek design, durability, and iFit integration. The treadmill has an extra long belt that made us confident we wouldn't fall off the back during workouts.If you’re looking to get a high heart rate and lactate, intervals are good, in which case you don’t need to run for very long on the treadmill. The control panel is easy to understand and includes a media shelf with a non-slip covering, so your phone or tablet stay safe. The treadmill also has an infrared heart rate sensor that you can place your finger on to track your heart rate—although we found this hard to do at any pace faster than a slow walk. You can also view helpful metrics like distance, pace, calories burned, and more, straight from the treadmill's display—this helped us with goal setting and accountability throughout testing. Before you start to use a treadmill, you should think about what type of running workout you’ll be doing.