You’ve been agonizing over your decision as to what type of cardio equipment to purchase for your home gym, and you’ve settled on a treadmill. Smart choice. Of course, you want one of the best treadmills out there. But “best” is subjective, and you can’t help but wonder — manual vs. electric treadmill?
It’s more than a question of being environmentally conscious (manual) versus your wallet (electric) — although those are huge factors, of course. Here, we’ll break it all down for you to help you find the best treadmill for your home gym and fitness journey.
Manual Vs Electric Treadmill: The Overview
If you’re wondering which is the best treadmill option for each set of criteria, we won’t keep you in suspense! Here are the winners of each category, which we’ll explain in greater detail below.
- Price: Electric
- High-Intensity Interval Training: Manual
- For the Planet: Manual
- Convenience: Electric
- Ease of Use: Manual
- Health Benefits: Tie; Tie-Breaker Won by Manual
What Is a Manual Treadmill?
A manual treadmill is a non-motorized treadmill that is entirely user-propelled. No electricity to speak of here — you’ll be lowering your carbon footprint for sure.
[Read More: The Best Tried and Tested Treadmills for Beginners]
The movement of the treadmill belt doesn’t begin until your feet start moving, and it also stops the instant you do. (You’ll want to practice your balance and confidence.) While this means that you can’t rely on the treadmill to move the belt for you, it also means that you can start and stop at will. Think of the massive implications for effective sprint workouts (as opposed to waiting for the electric treadmill to speed up and slow down for what seems like all eternity).
Types of Manual Treadmills
There are several different manufacturers of manual treadmills, like Trueform and Assault Fitness. However, when you strip away the logos and brands, the majority of manual treadmills fall into two categories: Flat and curved.
Flat Manual Treadmills
Most flat-belt manual treadmills are relatively small and are set at a permanent incline because, without the curve or incline, they wouldn’t be able to generate the traction and force to move the treadmill belt with just your feet. This sort of device is almost always a walking treadmill, as it is usually a compact, portable model with a fairly short walking surface.
Curved Manual Treadmills
Most of the manual treadmills you’re likely to encounter — especially in a gym setting — will have a curved belt.
[Read More: The Best Curved Treadmills on the Market]
This curvature allows your feet to assume a natural walking or running gait while creating the traction that can keep the belt moving throughout your cardio workout. Most of these models are also known to possess tremendous durability and are reinforced to endure the pounding of your feet.
Manual Treadmill Pros
Using your body to move what’s around you is pretty much all you do in the gym and on the playing field. So, it should come as no surprise that there are clear advantages to having the movement of your treadmill’s belt initiated by your own two feet.
More Muscle Engagement
At least one study has demonstrated that even walking on a flat-belt manual treadmill produced elevated muscle engagement at the moment of impact in the hip and knee regions in comparison to overground walking. (1) This means that manual incline treadmills have an advantage over ordinary, flat-ground walking when it comes to the activation of certain muscles of the lower body.
Potentially More Safety
One of the most frequent causes of treadmill-related injuries and mishaps is an inability to keep pace with the moving belt, or a slip that results in the traditional treadmill trainee falling onto a moving surface. Manual treadmills reduce much of this injury potential because the belt stops moving the instant your feet do.
[Read More: Treadmill Safety Tips: Ways to Avoid Common Treadmill Injuries]
That said, this one could also be a con, depending on how coordinated you are. Still, even if you do take a tumble on a manual treadmill, the belt won’t still be moving at nine miles per hour — a serious plus, even and maybe especially for the clumsy athletes among us.
Manual Treadmill Cons
Are there downsides to manual treadmills? Sort of. Yes, you may be achieving more efficient muscle engagement when you’re walking or running on a manual treadmill model. However, other vital elements of your workout may fall short of your expectations.
Lack of Consistency
If your goal is to walk or run at a certain pace and maintain it consistently, a manual treadmill leaves you at the mercy of your own potential to generate that pace. This means if you lack focus, or your mind is prone to wander, your speed can drop significantly as a result — or you can go a lot faster (and burn out sooner) than you intended to in a run.
Lack of Guidance
Competitive runners cite the capability of electric treadmills to maintain a consistent speed as a way to teach their bodies what it feels like to sustain a certain goal pace. Because of the set-it-and-forget-it capability of electric treadmills, you can focus on holding your goal pace without closely monitoring the treadmill’s screen.
[Read More: The Best Treadmills with Screens]
With a manual treadmill, you might have more difficulty learning these rhythms.
What Is an Electric Treadmill?
An electric treadmill — also referred to as a motorized treadmill — is a piece of cardio equipment that moves under its own (electric) power and forces you to match its speed. This is the type of treadmill that you are most likely to encounter in gyms, and also the model of treadmill that you will most frequently find for sale online and in sporting goods stores.
Types of Electric Treadmills
Electric treadmills fall into a wide range of categories, so finding one to match the specific requirements of your workout or your household shouldn’t be an issue.
Standard/Commercial Treadmill
The type of treadmill you are most likely to encounter in a gym has a flat running surface, handrails, speed settings, and incline settings. These features allow for major customization of your workouts. A fully decked-out treadmill in this category is also likely to have advanced features, like Bluetooth connectivity and heart rate monitors.
Foldable Treadmill
Most folding treadmills are less bulky than the standard version and possess fewer features than commercial treadmills as a result. Their running surface opens for use and then folds upright to reduce its space. This makes it a favorable treadmill model for home use, especially for people with small living spaces.
Under-the-Desk Treadmill
These flat under-desk treadmills — often called walking bads — are drastically scaled down for portability, providing a small, flat walking surface, and the ability to be slipped beneath desks, couches, beds, and other furniture. Many have no handrails and rely on remote controls to manipulate the speed of the walking surface.
Rehabilitation Treadmill
As their name implies, these treadmills are intended for purposes of safety and rehabilitation. They have extendable, adjustable handrails, as well as a walking surface that is able to be elongated.
Electric Treadmill Pros
There are reasons why the predominant treadmill model is one where the belt moves under electric power and compels your legs to keep up. There are clear mental and physical advantages to having your speed predetermined by your cardio machine.
Provides Precise Pacing
Electric treadmills enable you to set your training speed and then focus on the feel of your body, knowing precisely how fast the belt is moving. This means you get to spend less time distracted by exactly how fast you’re running.
Less Intimidating to Start
Sometimes you might need a little bit of encouragement to get yourself moving. Your electric treadmill can be set to move at a slow speed to prompt some productive movement out of you and get warmed up without feeling like you have to do all of the work yourself.
Adjustable Incline
Having the option to adjust the incline of an electric treadmill is one of the capabilities that allows you to build strength in your lower body as if you were training on a hill of infinite length.
[Read More: The Best Incline Treadmills on the Market]
On top of that, your electric treadmill is likely to come with built-in workouts based on rapid speed and incline adjustments that truly capitalize on the functionality of this kind of treadmill.
Electric Treadmill Cons
While having the belt moving for you may be a helpful way to track your workout — especially if you use pre-set workout programs — this isn’t always the best approach to training.
Different Muscle Engagement
The mechanics of running on an electric treadmill are not the same as the pattern of outdoor running, as outdoor running places greater demands on the knee extensor muscles. (2) In short, there is a difference between propelling yourself forward along a surface and maintaining your body in place while a belt automatically moves beneath your feet.
Increased Potential to Fall Onto a Moving Surface
Even if you have the safety strap clipped to your body — which can honestly be quite distracting — the surface of an electric treadmill can be a dangerous place if you trip and fall.
Over a 17-year period, thousands of treadmill trainees visited hospitals with injuries resulting from stumbles taken on fast-moving treadmill belts. (3) On the performance side, if you’re preoccupied with injury concerns, your ability to confidently sprint on a treadmill may be severely compromised.
Manual Vs. Electric Treadmill: Who Wins?
It goes without saying that the ultimate winner is going to be you for opting to invest in a solid machine — so don’t allow this decision to stress you out. Instead, focus on the biggest priorities that you want to shape your decision.
Price
Once you eliminate the stripped-down, bare-bones models of electric treadmills and manual treadmills, the average manual treadmill is significantly more expensive than an electric treadmill. A “cheap,” serviceable treadmill in the manual category will still easily cost in the neighborhood of $2,000. On the other hand, the best budget treadmills that are electric are available for $1,500 or less.
The Winner: Electric Treadmill
High-Intensity Interval Training
Electric treadmills are far more likely to allow incline adjustments than manual treadmills. That bodes well for HIIT (high-intensity interval training) workouts, but the responsiveness of manual treadmills makes them hard to beat for sprint sessions.
The benefit of having the running belt stop and start the moment you do is what makes the difference between a true sprint session and a fast jogging session waiting for an electric treadmill to adjust to your desired speeds.
The Winner: Manual Treadmill
For the Planet
Presuming similar production practices, there is a far lower environmental toll to owning a manual treadmill, which won’t raise your electricity bill or take a toll on energy. The only power source behind a manual treadmill is your own drive and determination, neither of which comes close to using up the power required to fuel an electric motor.
The Winner: Manual Treadmill
Convenience
In a home environment, the average electric treadmill with all of the essential features is far more likely to be foldable. This means the amount of space it occupies in your home gym in comparison to an ordinary manual treadmill is greatly reduced. In terms of availability in commercial gyms, there’s no comparison, as electric treadmills have manual treadmills overwhelmingly outnumbered.
The Winner: Electric Treadmill
Ease of Use
On the one hand, electric treadmills can require you to push a series of buttons with different arrows to adjust the speed and incline. This is to say nothing of the more detailed workout programming required to set the treadmill up for interval training, or Tabata sessions. With a manual treadmill, you simply step on and start moving at the pace and effort level you desire.
The Winner: Manual Treadmill
Health Benefits
To be clear, many of the health benefits conferred by a treadmill are a simple matter of how you use it, and the length of time you’re willing to spend on it. All things being equal, a manual treadmill requires greater engagement of most of your leg muscles. However, the automated propulsion of an electric treadmill may encourage you to remain on it for longer. So, this one is a tie — to a certain extent, a working treadmill is a working treadmill.
Because this is the health category, we’ll break this tie by giving it to manual treadmills, simply for the health of the planet.
The Winner: Tie; Tie-Breaker Won by Manual
Frequently Asked Questions
Which treadmill is better, manual or electric?
Whether or not a manual or electric treadmill is better is largely a matter of personal preference. However, if you prefer HIIT workouts and want to ensure your muscles stay completely engaged in your workout, you might prefer a manual treadmill to an electric treadmill.
What are the disadvantages of manual treadmills?
Manual treadmills require you to move at your own pace. While there are clear advantages to this, it can be difficult to push yourself to match a specific goal pace you are attempting to maintain. The majority of manual treadmills lack inclines and adjustability, along with the ability to fold for spatial convenience.
Are manual treadmills worth it?
Whether or not manual treadmills are worth their expense is a matter of your personal budget and whether or not the treadmill provides you with the benefits you require.
How much harder is a manual treadmill to run?
Studies have suggested that manual treadmill running may place greater demands on your quadriceps, while electric treadmill running may place greater demands on your hamstrings. (4) Beyond that, running on a manual treadmill may place higher cardiometabolic demands on runners than electric treadmills. (5)
Editor’s Note: The content on BarBend is meant to be informative in nature, but it should not be taken as medical advice. When starting a new training regimen and/or diet, it is always a good idea to consult with a trusted medical professional. We are not a medical resource. The opinions and articles on this site are not intended for use as diagnosis, prevention, and/or treatment of health problems. They are not substitutes for consulting a qualified medical professional.
References
- Kostraba B, Wu YN, Kao PC, Stark C, Yen SC, Roh J. Muscle activation pattern during self-propelled treadmill walking. J Phys Ther Sci. 2018 Aug;30(8):1069-1072.
- Yao J, Guo N, Xiao Y, Li Z, Li Y, Pu F, Fan Y. Lower limb joint motion and muscle force in treadmill and over-ground exercise. Biomed Eng Online. 2019 Aug 22;18(1):89.
- Catapano JS, Chapman AJ, Farber SH, Horner LP, Morgan C, Brigeman S, Hendricks BK, Lu M, Fraser DR. Treadmill associated head injuries on the rise: an 18 year review of U.S. emergency room visits. Brain Inj. 2018;32(6):800-803.
- Franks KA, Brown LE, Coburn JW, Kersey RD, Bottaro M. Effects of Motorized vs Non-Motorized Treadmill Training on Hamstring/Quadriceps Strength Ratios. J Sports Sci Med. 2012 Mar 1;11(1):71-6.
- Edwards RB, Tofari PJ, Cormack SJ, Whyte DG. Non-motorized Treadmill Running Is Associated with Higher Cardiometabolic Demands Compared with Overground and Motorized Treadmill Running. Front Physiol. 2017 Nov 14;8:914.
Featured Image: Ljupco Smokovski / Shutterstock
