Labor Day Fitness Sale Tips
Labor Day sales traditionally feature grills and other summer-specific items, but they’re also great for indoor leisure products such as pool tables and fitness equipment. Fortunately for fitness sale shoppers the lowest prices on treadmills, ellipticals and other hefty items are online. There’s no need to fight the crowds or lug heavy equipment home yourself. Buying directly from the manufacturer’s lets you avoid the middlemen markups too, plus most brands in our reviews provide the perk of free delivery and have 30-day return policies.
When do sales begin? Labor Day sale prices are usually effective before the three-day weekend. Check the manufacturers’ websites a week or so beforehand to see if specials are already underway.
Here are some tips to help you efficiently choose the best fitness machine for your budget and exercise needs.
1) Know your workout space.
Measure your workout area before you shop the Labor Day fitness sales. When you read the product description for a treadmill or other trainer you’ll see the machine’s length, width and height. When figuring whether you have enough floor space, allow at least several inches of room on the sides of the machine and at least eight inches at the back. Specific clearance amounts for safety are usually printed in the product manuals, which are available as free PDFs online.
If floor space is small then a foldable fitness machine could be your best choice. Check the Labor Day fitness sales for folding treadmills, folding ellipticals and row machines that can be stored upright.
2) Know your force requirements.
Usually the maximum strength of a fitness machine contributes to its overall price. This means that beginners can generally buy “good enough” fitness machines for less. Intermediate and advanced athletes generally need to spend more to get challenging workouts. One of the exceptions to this rule is the air bike; the most popular air bike has unlimited resistance but normally costs less than $1,000.
A good example of this rule is horsepower for treadmills. For walking and jogging we recommend choosing a model with at least 2.5 CHP (continuous horsepower), but for running we recommend opting for a treadmill with at least 3.0 CHP. The higher the horsepower, the more intensely a person can train without pushing the treadmill to its limits and seriously speeding up its need for maintenance.
Another example is flywheel weight on exercise bikes and elliptical trainers. The heavier the flywheel, the more inertia it can build and the smoother a ride it can support. Smooth operation not only adds to comfort but also makes exercise sessions more effective by reducing fatigue. The cheapest fitness machines offered in Labor Day sales this year have flywheels as light as 12.5 pounds. Machines with very light resistance can quickly be outgrown though, and we suggest choosing a model with at least 18 pounds for comfort and value. If you’re an advanced athlete or weigh more than 200 pounds, then opting for an exercise bike or elliptical with an even heavier drive is recommended.
3) Consider your likeliness to use workout programs.
Workout programs for fitness machines control the resistance, speed and/or incline for training. They also control the duration of the workout. Each machine can be used in manual mode too.
The number and quality of preset workouts contributes to the overall cost of the fitness machine, so it’s important to consider whether you’d take advantage of these programs or shouldn’t bother paying for them. In our reviews of treadmills and other cardio trainers the machines with better programming generally have a big advantage. The programs take the guesswork out of training, which makes success more likely. They can also make exercise more engaging. This is especially true of fitness machines that support virtual reality workouts and traditional video workouts.
Early Labor Day Fitness Discounts
Labor Day fitness sales sometimes start before the long weekend, especially online. Check manufacturers’ websites as early as mid-May for holiday fitness discounts.