Anyone used iFit for Treadmill?

Alvin Hom

I live in So Cal so rarely need a treadmill but family dynamics have changed so I'm home a lot with the kids and an ailing senior. I'm looking at 2 choices:

 1) Buy a new treadmill ($1500 +) with iFit which allows predefined routes and google map graphics while you run. It will change the inclines according to the route. Sounds snazzy!

 2) Buy a great "regular" treadmill for great price. (Under $500)

 Has anyone used iFit? Is it worth the extra money? I have bought a standard trainer and then the Kickr and definitely enjoy the Kickr way more. Does the same apply for iFit enabled treadmills?

John Withrow

I bought a decent Norditrac Treadmill a few yrs ago and paid up to have the fancy screen and yr long iFit subscription. I thought iFit was cool for the 3 times in the first month that I used it. I have NEVER used it since. In fact, when I moved to MN, I didn't even mount the big screen (that I paid an extra couple hundred bucks for) to the treadmill when I set it up. It's been there for two years now and the monitor is still sitting in my utility room closet instead.

So for my buck, have a TV in the room that you can see from the treadmill and invent your own intervals/inclines/etc. as you workout.

Al Truscott

Posted By John Withrow on 13 Jan 2017 12:15 AM
...

So for my buck, have a TV in the room that you can see from the treadmill and invent your own intervals/inclines/etc. as you workout.

+1, extrapolating from my experience with CompuTrainer. I bought 3 course videos, tried all the pre-programmed stuff, and ended up using the machine to pre-program my own, and EN's, bike workouts.

iFit sounds fun, but not necessarily focused on a specific, targeted training plan.

AnnSloan

I have it same thing as John - first year used it a little bit. Then never used it until recently. The cool interface requires subscription - 150 per year.

The cool things - you can map a run and it automatically adjusts to the terrain. The screen looks like mapquest so it's not like you are running through the streets. It's pretty easy to create the maps. It does freak me out when all of the sudden the incline goes.
Cons: it's basic technology not fancy and pretty much hasn't changed in 4 years. You need to schedule the work out to see it on the tm.
After 4 years I have signed up for it again as I wanted the option for lake placid run. Just to mix it up. Also I am waking a mike a day and using the app to pick my routes.
Always comes down to where you want to spend the money :-) I like gadgets and different things.
Good luck deciding

Gabe Peterson

I've never used iFit, so I can't comment on it's value, although it sounds cool.

I have a dumb treadmill in my pain cave with a flat screen TV mounted in front of it. The Sufferfest running videos are money. Do 2-3 of these workouts per week with a long run outdoors on the weekend, and you'll have awesome run fitness. These were key to me making a breakthrough in my running in 2015. There is also a You Tube channel called Treadmill TV that has a bunch of great trail runs for when you want something more chill.

For a quality treadmill, $500 is a crazy good price. You could buy the dumb treadmill, a flat screen TV, and the Sufferfest run workouts for much less than the cost of the iFit treadmill

Alvin Hom

@Gabe, yeah I was thinking about all your Sufferfest treadmill runs I see on strava. After some thought I think I will go the "dumb" treadmill route. The sub $500 price I would be getting is a from a fellow EN member (Dino) "friends and family" price for his used TM which he never uses.

Jeff Kane

That's what makes this team great!! Teammates helping teammates!!

Gabe Peterson

Alvin, good call!  With the money you're saving, you could even throw in a Stryd running power meter.  It is the most accurate foot pod I've used straight out of the box.  Took weeks to get my Gamin foot pod dialed in.  Unless Dino had the treadmill speed professionally calibrated, it is unlikely to be accurate for speed -- a foot pod is must.