I Purchased a Treadmill

No, I didn't buy it during the Corona Virus lock down we had in Melbourne, I bought it afterwards so I could go and see the treadmill I was interested in at the Lifespan showroom in Broadmeadows. I asked a friend if he wouldn't mind picking me up in his car and coming with me to have a look. Yes purchasing treadmills and other exercise equipment was a "thing" in lock down so that's definitely what piqued my interest, I didn't realise that they weren't as expensive as I thought they would be, but I waited and did lots of research in the meantime.

I was interested in the Lifespan Apex Treadmill, it just had some features I was interested in for example it had an app the Apex can link to for stats and some minor control, you don't need to use it but I'm a geek so I like apps that can provide something extra to the experience of using a device or product. The app is called Fitlink it logs all of your workouts, I'm not saying it has everything some would want or need but it does everything I want, here's a screenshot from the app stats it shows after every workout as you can see it does show a list of stats that some might be interested in.

Now, I'm in the Google Fit ecosystem and unfortunately the Fitlink app does not send its stats to the Google Fit app, bugger, so with a little more research I stumbled upon a company called Under Armour they make fitness clothing, in particular, the interest of mine was their footwear, footwear that connects to, you guessed it, an app, I'm mainly walking on the treadmill so I chose Under Armour's Walk with Map My Walk app, they also have running apps as well. The Under Armour app connects to Google Fit or syncs with it may be a better way to describe it, woohoo, mission completed! This app connects to the Under Armour Sonic 3 Running Shoes through some kind of chip in the shoes, no they don't need a battery as far as I can see lol.

So now the steps and distance I walk on the Lifespan Treadmill can be logged and sent to Google Fit, sure it's a bit of an arse about solution but certainly not difficult to configure, I did need some more runners to use on the Treadmill as I only had my trusty New Balance trainers which are fine of course but the UA Sonic 3's offer more comfort and cushioning for walking and running workouts. I usually take a USA size 8.5 in mens footwear, but hearing the UA footwear runs a little small I went with a  USA size nine and they fit like a glove, they are working exactly as they are meant to connecting to the app.

I am starting out slowly on the treadmill, because really I'm using it for rehab as I haven't really done much exercise for years and the fact that I have MS and my right leg in particular was most affected after an MS exacerbation, I've had the treadmill for about a month and a half and my walking is slowly improving as is my fitness level. There's heaps of different brands of treadmills out there that all offer slightly different options, but most make it fairly easy to choose the right one for yourself, buy what they suggest and do your research!