Welcome to the Logan world of fitness. Well today I?m having a look at the Horizon Elite treadmill. Now as a general rule I hate treadmills because when you can do something for free, why pay for it right? Well this is true, but there are some things you can do on a treadmill that you can?t when your out running. Logan investigates.

This is a powerful engine, but the key component here is it?s a continuous motor. This basically means that the motor will hit the speed on the dial and stay at that speed. On peak motors, the speed really vary?s an awful lot, so you think your running at 10mph and the motor could be switching anywhere between 8 and 12 mph. Continuous motors are much more reliable.

An important element for an indoor treadmill. The ability to simulate running up hills is an excellent feature and a 12% incline is huge! One tip for everyone is if you are running at 0% incline I.e the deck is flat, you will be running at a quicker speed than you normally can outside, to achieve the same level of resistance as outside running you have to have the deck inclined to 2% (2 degree?s).

Wow, how un-exciting! These will basically show you the usual features such as heart rate, calories burnt, intensity, speed, level of incline etc. This model?s front panel is frighteningly like KIT out of knightrider!!!!!

The inbuilt programmes really are the major advantage of using a treadmill as opposed to outdoor running. You can choose between fitness tests, fat burning programmes as well as heart rate training. These provide you with all the programmes you will need to keep your training interesting and goal orientated.

A standard on nearly all exercise equipment now. Hold onto the metal monitors on the handles in front of you and let the machine do the rest. I must confess I?ve always found these hard to use, especially if your running quickly!!!!

This basically means if you already own a polar heart rate monitor (or any other brand for that matter) you will be able to synchronise it with your treadmill. Personally for the price your paying, I think they should throw one into the deal. I guess you still have the built in heart rate monitor as back-up.

The running surface I must say is large. Then again, I?ve never been on a running machine when the size of the running surface came into play. I also used to train rugby players who are considerably bigger than me and this was not a problem either. Essentially when you run on a running machine, your stride doesn?t come into play as much as running outside because the belt moves for you. Therefore your pretty much staying in one place at a time!

This is my biggest gripe with running machines. Horizon claim they have created a ?cushioned deck? to reduce the amount of impact on your legs. Well just so you the cushioned deck is actually pieces of strategically placed rubber on the inside of the track. Now whether or not these have any effect on reducing impact is really open to debate. In my opinion, these will not create a significant decrease in impact at all. Get a good pair of running shoes if your worried about this.

My other point regarding price is this. The main reason to buy a running machine as opposed to go outside and run must be because of the features built into the machine (programmes, heart rate monitors etc etc). In light of this your just as well paying the extra for a machine that is going to satisfy all of your running needs. This machine will certainly do that. Cheaper machines will not be as fast, as comfortable, have as many programmes and half the functionality, they will not incline and they will have peak motors (which are useless). Therefore, I would say, either spend the extra, or don?t bother and save your money and buy some trainers. There really would be no point unless your going to get a runner with everything to make it worthwhile.

So who are you buying your kit off?