I’ve seen my husband walking on the treadmill while holding on to the side bars for balance. I was always told not to do that and I told him that he shouldn’t do it either. I didn’t really have a good reason except that it would decrease the efforts of his workout. But now I have a better answer.

eDiets.com published this article this morning in their newletter: Getting the Most Out of the Treadmill

So, stop holding on to the treadmill side bars and and just let go!

Had I been running this morning, I would have gotten hurt.  About thirty minutes into my 3.3 mph walk, the power flickered off and on.  With no warning, my treadmill stopped.  Apply the laws of motion and I’m sure you can visualize what happened to me.  I call that a rapid reminder that I should have a surge protector for my treadmill.

Having a treadmill surge protector may have prevented my treadmill from stopping. (I called ProForm and they said that a surge protector will prevent some surges from stopping your machine, but not all.) 

Another very important point: A treadmill can be seriously damaged by electrical power surges.  Not only would that put me without my most loved piece of exercise equipment while it was being fixed, it would cost a lot too have it repaired.  (A lot more than a surge protector would have cost.)

I consider what happened this morning as a warning.  Learn from my warning and get a surge protector for your treadmill if you don’t already have one.  (One is included in this
Treadmill Accessory Kit.)  Always plug your treadmill power cord into a surge protector and plug the surge protector into a grounded outlet.

Better safe than sorry!