Treadmills are some of the most used machines for physical fitness. It is an integral machine that is popularly put to use for cardiovascular workouts and exercises. Most people who visit a gym keep treadmill exercises within their fitness regimes. A treadmill span when coupled with other forms of workouts such as weights, aerobics and yoga offer wonderful results for overall physical fitness.
Treadmill workouts not just help you to burn your extra calories but also help you to improve your cardiac stamina, respiratory system, and even your psychological wellbeing. Treadmills can be used by people of all ages and even ones who have a medical history of various types. Treadmills are a type of workout machine that can be adjusted and customized as per the different needs of the different users. This is one of the basic facts that have contributed to the incline of its popularity.
Treadmills as a machine of the stress test in hospitals
Apart from being used as a machine for physical fitness, treadmills are also used in hospitals so that stress tests can be conducted for individuals. People appearing for this type of physical investigation often have to walk on the conveyor belt of the treadmill, so that their health can be assessed. These TMT are done to investigate about the cardio health of a person. Patients taking these tests have to walk on the treadmills till their optimal speed. It is at this stage that the rate of heartbeat, the pulse rate and the respiratory rates and the overall cardiorespiratory systems are assessed.
Patients taking this test are initially asked to sit or lie down in a state of rest so that their heartbeat rates and respiratory rates are recorded in their idle condition. While taking the test the individual must be undergoing optimal physical exercise while an ECG or Electro Cardiogram is performed on the patient. With the help of the electrodes placed on the individual’s chest the vital stats like the heartbeat rate, blood pressure and the electrical functioning of the heart is recorded.
At the beginning of the stage, the pace or the speed of the treadmill is set at a low range. Then with the passing of every step which is the completion of a span of three minutes the speed or the pace of the treadmill is increased. The entire episode often takes 90 minutes to get completed, where the actual time taken on the treadmill is near about 20 minutes.
Difference between the machines used at hospitals and the ones in the gym
As the name of the test suggests, it makes use of treadmills so that the cardiac health of a person can be assessed when the person is at the peak of physical exertion. This is one of the forms of physical investigations that help to find out about the detailed health of a human heart and even trace deep-lying problems, which would have been otherwise undetected. The machines or the treadmills used for TMT in hospitals happen to be of a similar quality as found in gyms. It can be said that the treadmills that are found in hospitals often happen to be of the latest models and designs and offer ace features and amenities for its users.
Users can adjust the speed of the treadmill to greater variations, the inclination and the angle of the conveyor belt used for walking or jogging can be adjusted and changed as required. This offers a better workout experience for the users.
The only difference that you can point out between the treadmills in gyms and hospitals is that in the latter case an ECG machine is installed at a nearby position so that the heartbeat rate and the blood pressure and blood flow of the individual can be recorded accurately. If any the difference in the treadmill machines of hospitals and gyms is that probably the quality found in the former places are of a better standard, although the basics remain the same in both the places.
Treadmills are machines used for cardio workouts that come in a large number of variations in terms of their designs, features and special amenities. Brands that bring these treadmills in the market are also quite numerous. The contemporary gyms and hospitals procure their machines from reputed brands, although the purpose of their use is completely different. The usage made of these machines in gyms is much more extensive and exhaustive as compared to the ones in the gym. However, the hospital machines must be of sound quality, reasonably variant in terms of adjustments and customizations required out of them and accommodative of complying with ECG machines.