Table of Contents
- Assault Fitness AirRunner Treadmill
- Key Features and Specification
- Review of Assault Fitness AirRunner Treadmill
- Frame
- Deck
- Motor
- Console/Controls
- Belt
- Bluetooth/ANT+
- Functionality
- Curved Frame
- Incline / Decline range
- Noise Level
- Storage / Folding
- Durability
- The Pros
- The Cons
- Should you buy an Assault fitness airrunner treadmill?
- What is a curved motorless treadmill?
- Why buy a motorless treadmill?
- Benefits of a motorless treadmill
- 1) Improved running form
- 2) Greater speed control
- 3) Better walking enjoy
- 4) High-calorie burn
- Unboxing and assembly
- what’s it like to run on an Assault Fitness AirRunner?
- Test pictures of an early AirRunner prototype
- The AirRunner console is straightforward to study while strolling
- AirRunner and barefoot running
- AirRunner console
- Who needs a console when you’ve were given sweet tunes?
- AirRunner vs. TrueForm vs. Woodway vs. Xebex and so forth
- Trueform Runner
- Woodway Curve
- Xebex Runner
- Bottom Line
- About Author
- Mariar Fernandez
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Assault Fitness AirRunner Treadmill
The Assault Fitness AirRunner Treadmill was released through Assault Fitness in 2017 and is a maximum-rated treadmill these days. It’s a non-motorized (manual) treadmill imparting advanced sturdiness and a considerably exceptional construction than the ordinary motorized treadmill. It’s now not precisely one of the maximum less expensive machines but gives a notable fee for the rate.
Key Features and Specification
• Assembled dimensions: 69.9L x 32.8W x 64H inches (177.5 x 83.3 x 162.6 cm)
• Belt dimensions: 62.2L x 17.1W (158 x 43.4 cm)
• Assembled weight: 280 lbs (127 kg)
• User weight restriction: 350 lbs (158.7 kg)
• Incline: N/A
• Motor: N/A
• Performance reveal: three c programming language packages, three target packages, four heart fee programs, one comp program, Bluetooth
• Warranty: Frame 5 years / Parts 3 years
Review of Assault Fitness AirRunner Treadmill
Frame
The Assault Fitness AirRunner Treadmill has a metal body with powder-covered uprights. Rubberized slats combine to create the seat belt, which sits on a hundred low-friction ball bearings that line the deck’s surface. The bearings permit the slat belt to flow smoothly over the curved body’s floor. The frame is strong with adjustable leveling ft on the base to ensure it sits level for your floor. There are two wheels at the front of the deck, and a metallic handlebar at the base of the deck lets you lift the Assault Fitness AirRunner Treadmill and roll as needed. This Assault Fitness AirRunner Treadmill is a comparatively mild gadget, it weighs 280lbs — which sounds titanic, but in comparison to different guide treads, it’s not horrific. It will help up to 350lbs, so it’s miles nevertheless a stable manual treadmill.
Deck
Construction: The frame is resolute with black powder-lined aspects and uprights. It does require some minor meetings. The deck comes reconstructed; you just want to attach the uprights and the front handlebar (with console). We love that Assault fitness airrunner treadmill has made this a one-person or woman process! The uprights are pre-drilled and notched so that you can set the upright into the notch on the aspect of the body, and it will sit down there (semi-comfy) at the same time as you attach the other facet. This Assault Fitness AirRunner Treadmill makes it, so you don’t have one character maintain the upright even if everyone screws it into the frame. The pre-drilled holes and notched system may be very reachable. The uprights and handlebars are firm but not exquisite heavy, so once more, that is very viable by one character.
Cushioning/Feel: The cushioning in a support belt treadmill is within the slats themselves. While the rubberized slat components do soak up a chunk of effect surprise, we observed less cushioning at the AirRunner than on extra pricey machines. This Assault Fitness AirRunner Treadmill can be because the slats are narrower (simplest 17.1″ extensive), so there’s less floor region to absorb shock, but cushioning isn’t always the signature characteristic at the AirRunner.
Length/Width: The Assault fitness airrunner treadmill jogging belt is 17.1” wide and 62.2” long. You have plenty of ahead stride and kickback period, but the width is a bit narrow. If you are a massive runner with a wide foot span, the AirRunner won’t provide enough room for the facet. While walking, if you hit your foot on one of the aspect rails instead of the slat belt, it could be dangerous.
Indoor Training Value: One large gain of the AirRunner can educate interior all 12 months-round. Since the Assault fitness airrunner treadmill intently mimics going for walks outside, it is a beautiful education alternative for runners who want to live conditioned via the off-season.
Many treadmills offer a clean run; however, they no longer decorate or facilitate proper walking from inside the same way a curved guide treadmill does. This Assault Fitness AirRunner Treadmill gives extra advantages to your indoor education.
Motor
There is no motor on the Assault fitness airrunner treadmill, considering that it’s far a guide tread. The belt actions in conjunction with your foot cadence, so the faster you run, the faster the belt movements. This Assault Fitness AirRunner Treadmill lets in for fantastically responsive education because you don’t have to watch for the machine to slow down or capture as much as you. It also gives it much similar to running outdoors.
In the non-motorized design, you no longer need to location the treadmill using an electrical outlet for power. The AirRunner may be placed everywhere in your house or gym. Since it no longer depends on electricity to strength, it could use it in any facility. If you have a storage health club but no extra power source, the Assault fitness airrunner treadmill is an outstanding alternative.
There’s no tripping over or shifting cords or cables when rolling the Assault fitness airrunner treadmill.
Console/Controls
The console is an LCD with manipulating buttons on the correct side. It is firmly connected to the horizontal handlebar and runs on 4 A.A. batteries.
For a manual treadmill, that is undoubtedly a quite magnificent console. You can run several packages, and the Rest/Work lighting fixtures are very beneficial.
The console has more than one package for intervals, target packages, and heart fee programs. Likewise, there is a yellow light for rest and inexperienced mild for paintings to help you effortlessly realize how to pace your durations.
The display is not exquisite huge; however, the numbers are virtual. Time elapsed, calories, distance, pace, watts, tempo, and coronary heart fee.
An input and start/prevent buttons sit down at the console base.
Belt
The Assault fitness airrunner treadmill has a slat belt layout; because of this, it’s miles constructed of character rubberized slats placed horizontally forward the deck. Each slat is a composite element with a textured tread, so your heel doesn’t slip at the same time as running. The treads place close enough collectively to ensure a constant surface underfoot.
Slat belts look exclusive than conventional tread belts, which characteristic an unmarried piece of material that wraps around a tread deck. Since the slat belts are a v-form design, they are nearly indestructible with the pinnacle’s flat side. The Assault fitness airrunner treadmill belt market to last as long as 150,000 miles. A little bit of lubricant may wish sometimes, but the slats will not wear out. This Assault Fitness AirRunner Treadmill makes these belts a good deal greater long-lasting.
The slats take a seat on one hundred bearings that line the deck’s sides. The belt likewise supports twelve walking belt manual pulleys that facilitate smooth movement. The Assault fitness airrunner treadmill does not have a flywheel, so all movement is runner controlled. This Assault Fitness AirRunner Treadmill does make it barely tougher to run on (other manual treads do produce a flywheel), but the belt never appears like it’s miles getting beforehand of you or pulling you along. On the Assault fitness airrunner treadmill, you’re in control during your habitual.
Seat belts help non-motorized running lots better than a conventional sliding belt. The weight of the slats connected with the belt’s resistance makes it extra challenging to run on a guide, slot machine that’s one of the essential motives runners burns so many greater calories with this design. However, the slats’ development and the technique they rotate over the deck create a hearty going for walk surface. This Assault Fitness AirRunner Treadmill is long-lasting and supportive.
Bluetooth/ANT+
The console is Bluetooth and ANT+ enabled to pair with any Bluetooth or Garmin tool. This Assault Fitness AirRunner Treadmill lets runners save their private app’s metrics for future reference and comparison.
Functionality
There are numerous advantages to jogging on a curved treadmill:
Curved Frame
The curved design supports proper foot strike. The exceptional foot strike pattern is a midfoot strike with a roll thru the foot’s ball and a strong toe-off. Many runners develop a heel strike sample, which could motive hip and knee ache with extended going for walks. Due to its curved design, the Assault fitness airrunner treadmill naturally pushes runners far away from the device’s front and towards the center. From this perspective, it is more intuitive to run with a midfoot strike as you’re the front foot reaches the foot ward, connects midfoot with the curved belt, and pushes it lower back, freeing touch at the point the backend starts evolved to curl up. This Assault Fitness AirRunner Treadmill is one of the most important motives why conditioned athletes and seasoned runners used curved treadmills.
A curved treadmill burns energy quicker. Running on a curved, guide treadmill burns 30% more energy than walking at an equal speed on a flat treadmill. This Assault Fitness AirRunner Treadmill is enormous because it’s miles greater tough. Rather than a tread belt that moves robotically under you, a curved slat belt treadmill is simplest powered with the aid of your cadence. This Assault Fitness AirRunner Treadmill calls for tons more paintings with the runner’s aid to transport the belt.
Curved treadmills are excellent for High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). You’ll increase your coronary heart charge quicker, hold it up, grow your need for oxygen, and help torch more energy than everyday cardio exercising.
A curved treadmill engages extra muscle corporations. Curved treadmills pressure your legs to offer all of the motor strength, which engages the whole lot out of your glutes to your hamstrings.
A curved treadmill is much less harmful on joints. The Assault fitness airrunner treadmill’s rubber surface absorbs your joints’ effect and connective tissue as you run. This Assault Fitness AirRunner Treadmill enables you to overuse injuries. While the cushioning on the Assault fitness airrunner treadmill isn’t as gentle as on the NordicTrack incline trainers or Wood way Curved Tread, it’s miles, in reality, higher than schooling outdoors on pavement or pavement.
Incline / Decline range
There is no incline or decay on the Assault fitness airrunner treadmill. It has a hard and fast, curved body.
Noise Level
Noise degree on the Assault fitness airrunner treadmill is commensurate with going for walks on other slat belt treads. There is a chunk of impact noise as your foot hits the tread; however, there is no motor, so that you don’t have a history of motor noise while running.
Storage / Folding
The Assault fitness airrunner treadmill does not fold. However, it has wheels and a lift bar to tilt and roll it when necessary.
Durability
Assault Fitness claims the Assault fitness airrunner treadmill tread belt will last as long as a hundred and 50,000 miles. Most customers file favorable studies with the Assault fitness airrunner treadmill. Some reviews of the belt sporting out or getting noisy earlier than the 150,000-mile mark. However, Assault Fitness offers a 5-yrs. Frame, 2-yr elements, and 1-year exertions guarantee. It is also extensively less pricey than comparable manual curved treads via nearly half, so we discover the AirRunner to be an excellent fee.
The Pros
• Heavy-responsibility construction – can help customers up to 350 lbs;
• Superior balance;
• Transport wheels at the front base;
• Lifting manage at the rear base;
• Energy-saving, surroundings-pleasant health machine;
• Durable slat belt rated for a hundred and 50,000 miles of use;
• Bearing tracks (50 ball bearings on every side) for an easy belt motion and superior belt balance;
• Curved running surface for an herbal motion and reduced walking effect;
• Multi-feature console – it tracks time, distance, pace, velocity, calories, pulse, and watts;
• 11 exercising programs to be had – 3 c program language period, three targets, four coronary heart price, and one comp;
• Bluetooth connectivity for wireless heart charge reading;
• Device holder incorporated into the console;
• Batteries for the console blankets;
• Little meeting required;
• All the meeting equipment is blanketed;
• Little renovation required;
• Excellent guarantee and customer support.
The Cons
• No backlight on the console;
• Heart rate chest strap isn’t included.
Should you buy an Assault fitness airrunner treadmill?
In case you need the fast answer, I’ll say it upfront – I love my Assault fitness airrunner treadmill.
Yes, it’s costly and takes up a great chew of floor area in my domestic health club. But, I use it nearly every day, and it has merely made me a better runner.
It’s extra powerful than a regular motorized treadmill, and the enjoyment is towards strolling outdoor without having to cope with things like allergic reactions, site visitors, and inclement weather.
The Assault fitness airrunner treadmill is constructed like a tank and is one of the few portions of equipment I’ve tested that I have no primary gripes. I can say the handiest nitpicky factor, approximately its miles, that I wish it had options for holding a cellphone and a bottle of water.
If you could get past the decal surprise and when you have room for it, the Assault fitness airrunner treadmill is undoubtedly really worth having in your private home gym. Be sure to test the prices on both Amazon and Rogue, and I’ve visible sales on both web sites at specific instances.
What is a curved motorless treadmill?
A curved motorless treadmill like the Assault fitness airrunner treadmill has no electric motor to force the belt. All of the belt motion is pushed by your toes’ friction, putting the treadmill and pulling the treads towards you.
This Assault Fitness AirRunner Treadmill is why the walking deck is curved – as your foot moves the tread on the Curve, the pulling movement of your foot combines with gravity to ‘pull’ the tread toward and behind you.
The belt is set up on low friction bearings, so the treads circulate quickly so long as you keep offering force through movement.
Why buy a motorless treadmill?
I first have become interested in motorless treadmills after seeing human beings rave about them on social media and analyzing claims that a curved manual treadmill should “make me a higher runner.”
I’ve been an awful runner with an awful gait all my life, and walking has in no way been enjoyable to enjoy for me.
But I do understand the super advantages that running has to offer, so the thought of a treadmill someway transforming me into a fleet-footed fox became interesting.
It is not intriguing sufficient for me to shop for one without getting to know them first, even though, in particular, shopping for a luxurious gadget flies within the face of my “ideal fitness at minimum value” ethos.
If I’m going to lay out the cash and sacrifice floor space to own one of these items, it must be worth it.
So I started gaining knowledge of the benefits of a motorless treadmill…
Benefits of a motorless treadmill
There hasn’t been much research accomplished on this subject matter yet. Still, I did find an observation carried out at the University of South Carolina on the outcomes of curved motorless treadmills (CMT)* on strolling mechanics, and the effects were encouraging. From the study:
The consequences display that jogging on a CMT resulted in widespread adjustments in gait traits (step duration, stride period, imbalance score, and stride perspective). These findings suggest that running on a CMT can notably impact running gait.
This Assault Fitness AirRunner Treadmill becomes sufficient to get I began searching out a bargain on a CMT. When a slightly used Assault fitness airrunner treadmill confirmed up on my local Craigslist, I jumped on the hazard to shop for it.
The term ‘Curved Manual Treadmill’ is also frequently used to explain those machines
1) Improved running form
The main marketed benefit of a curved motorless treadmill is the enhancing impact on walking shape, which I touched on above.
I’ll speak about my own experience with how the Assault fitness airrunner treadmill influenced my running mechanics later in this text. However, the quick version has helped me a better runner and now run on the Assault fitness airrunner treadmill almost every day.
2) Greater speed control
A motorless treadmill, just like the Assault AirRunner, gives a greater excellent tuned control over your pace.
Whereas a motorized treadmill calls for you to manually set the belt velocity and also you as a runner must adapt to the treadmill, a curved motorless treadmill adapts to you as your pace changes.
Run as speedy or as sluggish as you need without having to push any buttons, and the treadmill will accelerate or gradually down for this reason. It’s not excessive-tech sorcery, just treads shifting on low friction bearings. It works thoroughly and makes transitioning among excessive and occasional depth strolling very clean.
This Assault Fitness AirRunner Treadmill makes a curved motorless treadmill like the Assault fitness airrunner treadmill remarkable for HIIT schooling.
3) Better walking enjoy
Since a curved motorless treadmill adapts on your speed instead of the opposite way around, walking at the Assault fitness airrunner treadmill feels a good deal toward jogging out of doors than jogging on a motorized treadmill.
You would possibly ask, “Why no longer just run outdoor, you hoser?” which is a legitimate question about how lots a perfect fine curved manual treadmill can value.
Unfortunately, not absolutely everyone lives in climates or places favorable to running out of doors. I stay in Central Texas and the few times of year that aren’t brutally hot and humid are high allergic reaction season, which sucks for me as a hypersensitivity sufferer.
Some parents stay in high-density urban areas, in which traffic and pollutants may be troubles. Others stay in areas where the winters are brutal. I even have family within the midwest, and none of my spouse and children are venturing outdoor within the middle of wintry weather except they merely ought to, an awful lot much less going for a run.
Is the AirRunner going to replace the revel in of jogging outdoor completely?
The surroundings and the terrain in no way exchange while strolling on an AirRunner, so in contrast to walking outside, there’s no variation past changing your pace.
However, the enjoyment of strolling at the Assault fitness airrunner treadmill remains tons greater natural than running on a preferred motorized treadmill.
4) High-calorie burn
Since a curved guide treadmill like the Assault AirRunner has no motor, the only strength for shifting the belt comes from your sustained attempt. If you forestall moving, so does the belt!
I can attest that it does take a more significant effort to run at a hard and fast speed on my Assault AirRunner than running at an equal pace on a motorized treadmill in my office health club.
The revel in may be very exclusive, and I feel like I’ve used a whole lot of extra muscle tissue in my legs after finishing a run at the AirRunner versus the treadmill within the office gymnasium.
I’ve also measured my calorie burn while jogging a mile, and in standard, I burn around 200 calories after I run a mile at a 5mph tempo on the Air Runner as measured the use of a Polar coronary heart fee monitor.
Running 1 mile at a 5mph tempo burned 200 calories.
To place that range in perspective, the overall rule of thumb is that the average character burns one hundred calories in step with a mile while jogging.
This Assault Fitness AirRunner Treadmill means I burn double the standard quantity of calories while walking a mile on the Air Runner.
Unboxing and assembly
I sold my Assault AirRunner used off Craigslist, so I can’t at once compare the packaging it came in. However, I did need to take it aside to get it in my house to verify it’s relatively clean to bring together.
This promotional video produced via Assault Fitness summarizes the unboxing and meeting steps very well:
As you may see inside the video, the treadmill deck comes preassembled. Let me simply say, the deck is freakin’ heavy.
Most of the indexed 280lb weight of the AirRunner comes from the deck on my own, so you’ll need humans if you want to bring this type of terrible boy inner your own home and set it up in a bedroom as I did.
My candy wife helped me bring it within the residence once I took the rails off. We needed to tip the treadmill deck up on one give up to get it down the hall and through the bedroom door, which turned into very challenging due to the weight.
She didn’t realize what she became getting herself into through supporting me, so there was an excellent deal of wailing and gnashing of teeth as we struggled to muscle the AirRunner deck into the bedroom without killing ourselves in the method.
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Real international use
what’s it like to run on an Assault Fitness AirRunner?
It’s an entirely different revel in than strolling on a motorized treadmill. The first time I stepped on the AirRunner form felt like stepping on a rolling log.
The treadmill belt may be very responsive to tempo adjustments, and I kept feeling the treadmill belt speed up beneath me as I walked. It took a bit of exercise to achieve a clean, constant pace.
Test pictures of an early AirRunner prototype
Using a curved motorless treadmill is a wholly new enjoy for me, so a learning curve is expected. The Assault Air Runner is forcing me to be mindful of how I move, and it simplest took me a couple of minutes to get used to.
Incidentally, I consider this compelled mindfulness plays a large component in how a curved manual treadmill could make you a better runner. Allow me to be intricate.
In my experience, I’ve discovered it’s spotless for me to sector out while strolling on an ordinary treadmill because the motor is doing the majority of the paintings. All I must do is keep tempo with the velocity I set.
Even walking out of doors allows me to cheat because I can get away with a half-arsed jog that doesn’t interact much with my leg musculature.
In comparison, the AirRunner is implementing the steady clean coordination of my brain and limbs, forcing me to be privy to how I’m shifting to preserve a regular tempo.
The AirRunner console is straightforward to study while strolling
Plus, running on the curved deck is like strolling on a perpetual mild incline, which forces me to preserve a more excellent upright posture and engages extra of my leg muscular tissues.
As a result of these changes, I’ve found out to comprehend running, and I often run 5-7 miles each week at the AirRunner. I’ve run more miles on the AirRunner inside the few months I’ve owned it than I even have within the final ten years mixed.
AirRunner and barefoot running
Much ink has been spilled (and probably a few blood types) at the debate over heel strike vs. forefoot strike jogging styles.
I fall in with the forefoot hanging camp, and I decide upon a minimalist shoe (or bare ft) while strolling.
I’m glad to mention the Assault AirRunner is very pleasant to minimalist shoes and barefoot runners. When I run at the AirRunner, I’m either wearing Nike Flyknit shoes (which barely qualify as minimalist, don’t roast me) or a pair of thin athletic socks.
I additionally run barefoot, even though I usually wear socks to preserve my AirRunner treads smooth. The first time I went barefoot on the AirRunner, I become worried the treads might pinch the soles of my ft, but it’s never been a hassle.
If you occur to be considering a transition to minimalist or barefoot strolling, the AirRunner is a superb way to make that transition. The AirRunner treadmill deck has a small amount of supply that makes it greater forgiving for your toes than the problematic ground.
Just take it gradually and ease into it; your ft will want time to modify!
AirRunner console
The AirRunner console has a nicely designed intuitive interface. The display affords time, distance in miles or kilometers, speed, watts, and pace.
All this information is in reality proven and clean to peer at a look.
By the way, the “integrated cellphone/pill shelf” is pretty lot vain.
If you positioned your cellphone on the “shelf,” it blocks the view of the entire console.
Who needs a console when you’ve were given sweet tunes?
The lack of a garage for a phone or water bottle is my biggest gripe with the AirRunner.
It’s a petty issue; however, it sure would be exceptional to have.
AirRunner vs. TrueForm vs. Woodway vs. Xebex and so forth
The Assault AirRunner is just one in every unique manufacturer of curved guide treadmills available on the market. The fundamental precept in all of them is the same, but there are variations inside the consumer experience with each one.
I think it’s terrific that there are such a lot of options for motorless treadmills. However, after researching, I think the Assault AirRunner is the first-class preference for a domestic fitness center setting.
I’ll briefly summarize the variations between the AirRunner and other curved motorless treadmills I gleaned from diverse reviews of the opposite machines while discovering motorless treadmills.
Trueform Runner
The Trueform Runner is held up because the gold widespread for curved manual treadmills. According to a few critiques, a shorter strolling deck and higher belt resistance make it “more difficult” to run on than the AirRunner, specifically at low speeds.
The Trueform Runner display console is also no longer as sophisticated as the only one on the AirRunner.
On the plus facet, the Trueform has numerous alternatives for customization, including simulated turf and custom color alternatives.
Woodway Curve
The Woodway Curve has a very steep curve perspective, and a few humans say they feel unstable at high speeds.
I was given the influence from analyzing evaluations that the belt actions in no time, and there are a few debates as to whether or not the Curve uses a flywheel to maintain a consistent pace.
The Curve’s maximum recent variations look like they use a sophisticated contact screen display. Still, I’m no longer sure if that is a popular function or an additional add-on.
Xebex Runner
There may be minimal real-world comments available at the Xebex Runner presently.
From what I can gather although, the Xebex looks very similar to the AirRunner, and I’m speculating the person revel in is comparable as nicely.
The Xebex Runner has the gain of being one of the extra finances-friendly alternatives for a curved motorless treadmill, so I think it’s well worth searching.
Bottom Line
Assault Fitness is a tremendous fitness logo recognized for imparting notable equipment used by some of the maximum elite athletes on this planet- and I think their AirRunner suits well with the relaxation in their lineup.
What impresses me most about this guide treadmill is how heavy-duty the frame and belt are. I mean, this treadmill is designed to face up to the forces of a 350 lb consumer taking walks or going for walks for 150,000 miles.
The curved deck makes it less challenging to get the belt transferring while not applying the identical awkward constant incline design many cheaper manual treadmills use.
And the potential to instantly boost up or slow down makes the AirRunner a creative desire for Cross Fit athletes or other parents using c program language period or HIIT style workouts.
The largest downfall I see is that the strolling surface is handiest 17″ huge, which may also feel a bit slim at some point of use. The assurance can also be longer.
But if you’re seeking out one of the finest guide treadmills in the marketplace, the AirRunner is undoubtedly a smart purchase.
Like I said before, simply make sure you’re ok with pacing yourself on a treadmill before you purchase- it might be a shame to have such a pleasant treadmill sitting around accumulating dust.
P.S. – the AirRunner is on sale at Rogue on occasion; checking there might save yam touch cash.