Best Walking Pads in the UK in 2022 | Ultimate Buyer’s Guide & Comparison
In the early two-thousands, the Walking Pad becomes the brainchild of a group of professionals, sports scientists, and product designers based in the heart of Chicago.
Since then, the Walking Pad has slowly seeped into cultural awareness. In 2019, the WalkingPad brand won the hotly contested Reddot Design Award for innovation.
What Is a Walking Pad?
Now, hundreds of thousands of customers have opted for walking pads over traditional treadmills. Though they originally gained popularity in China, they've now gained acclaim amongst international markets.
In contrast with treadmills, Walking Pads are very foldable, smooth pads that can be easily moved in and out of limited size spaces. Most don't come with a bulky central console and are instead controlled with either foot movement or remote buttons.
WalkingPad Foldable Treadmill
With a simple foldable design, the A1 Walking Pad can be folded halfway or smoothly slipped under furniture for efficient packing. Perfect for studio apartments or tiny homes, it provides a simple way to get in daily exercise in small spaces.
On top of being sleek and packable, it is simple to get used to right away. In plus and play mode, the walking pad can be controlled through on, off, start, and acceleration modes operated by the user's footsteps.
WalkSlim 630 is the most lightweight item on our list, with just 28 kg of weight. Double folding frame: when folded the WalkSlim 630 is only 82.2cm x 54.7cm x 12.9cm.
Two WalkingPads Compared | How walking pads differ
A budget version, WalkSlim 470 for under £400 with a 350W motor, has a clever folding design with built-in wheels allowing you to slot it under a bed or store it upright in a cupboard. Compact: it has the smallest belt area 36 x 100 cm.
For comparison, the more expensive double-folded WalkSlim 630 WalkingPad has a 745W motor, shock absorption system, and its walking/running area is larger: 41,5cm x 120cm.
How to use the WalkingPad?
In fact, the speed is totally controlled by your footsteps. The high-precision sensors that live in the bed of the treadmill help you control it with fast, medium, or slow speeds.
To decelerate, simply step near the tail of the device. For acceleration, step up to the front of the walking pad. Stepping in the middle of the walking pad keeps it at a uniform velocity.
Moreover, users appreciate the noise-free, comfortable experience the A1 provides every time. The wear-resistant and anti-slip walking belt keep the multilayer surface virtually free of noise, allowing you to job comfortably at home or in the office.
The security protection system helps lend even greater peace of mind. The overload, child-lock, and auto standby systems help you to rest assured when using the A1. You can even set speed limits in order to avoid accidents.
After the workout, pair the walking pad with the WalkingPad iOS or Android App that lets you quantify all the data related to your walk.
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WALKINGPAD: Check the current price
Testing & Customers Reviews
Here are the reviews from YouTube bloggers, who tested walkingpads and have found them effective and worth buying.
Jerry Ward, CEO at Bios3Training: "I wanted to put a treadmill in the house for quite a while. We have an elliptical and it's good for like your knees and your back. Just the angle that the elliptical is on is bad with my knee and my hip the one that I have the injuries in. And fitting a treadmill in that room with the elliptical just... They're not gonna fit. It's not enough room in there. I think a lot of you right now if you want a treadmill and can't either afford one or you don't have the room for, this is actually made for like high-rise apartments and stuff that you can't actually get a treadmill up to those floors and stuff, check this thing out.
It's got wheels on it so you can wheel it pretty much anywhere. It can slide underneath your bed or your couch or TV stand. How does it feel when you walk on? It's really norm. It's just a treadmill except it's a small version that will fit in your house and pretty much good anywhere. It doesn't have all of the stability stuff and the computer stuff and you're not gonna be able to program it but you just want to walk and you want to be able to watch TV. It weighs about 60 pounds roughly so if you wanted to you could actually pick it up and put it in a closet. It's an amazing product."
Vitality4LifeTV: Danny, 75 years old: "I'm 75 years of age and I try to do the best I can to keep myself fit as I go onwards and upwards into my old age. I've been using the Walk Slim now for about six months probably walking on it four to five days a week anything from 10 minutes to 30 minutes. Initially, when I first got under the load I stumbled a little bit you know but the second time the third time it just got easier and easier. I've had a hip replacement and I've had a kidney out. And I think it's very very good for anyone that's sort of putting some emphasis on getting themselves back together after they've been through some major operation. I think it's top-shelf stuff. Much better than the bigger ones. Much easier to handle. Much easier to put away. And it's very very simple to operate. Just four buttons. You turn it on and away it goes. I'm very very impressed with it and I highly recommend it."
Bec, Customer Service & Sales: "I work from 9:00 to 5:00 in an office customer service and sales. I felt terrible at the end of each day. I just felt tired and sluggish and mentally drained. People in America they were using their treadmills at their desks and I thought it looks silly. Like how could you possibly do some work and type and concentrate? But I find WalkSlim amazing. I introduced it a few months ago and since then I can't actually not use it because it helps me think better and clearer. I have more energy. What I've heard is 10,000 steps a day is beneficial to be healthy. When I was sitting down all day I think I was doing maximum 2,000 steps. So after the treadmill I can do around 12,000 steps a day. I'm feeling so much better about it.
I probably use the treadmill every day. Some days I'm feeling a bit tired so it's only half the day. But I always come to work and start off because if I come to work and sit down then I do not feel like it towards the end of afternoon. So starting off moving and then I'm good to go for the rest of the day. So using a stand-up desk and the treadmill combined I can get my exercise done at work. It's fantastic because I used to be so tired at the end of the day, sitting down for eight hours. After work I did not feel like it. So even after using the treadmill most of the day I actually feel like exercising after work. Now I feel that I'm much more energized and alert."
Expert Opinion: Mary McDermott, Professor of Medicine and Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University
Mary McDermott, MD is Professor of Medicine and Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University. Her research focuses on comprehensive care of adults, peripheral vascular disease, and preventive medicine. She is a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and Chair of the Peripheral Vascular Disease Council of the American Heart Association.
“Improving functional performance in people with peripheral artery disease is a major challenge and we have very few medical therapies that are effective. What I am going to do today is talk to you about what the data show regarding home-based exercise... Supervised treadmill exercise works but very few patients participate. I recently did a survey and found that out of over a thousand PAD patients less than 1% was participating in a supervised treadmill exercise program at Northwestern. So it is very underused. What has worked with regard to supervised treadmill exercise may inform how we might help our patients to adhere to a home-based exercise program. This is a 2012 meta-analysis of 25 randomized trials of supervised exercise versus control on over a 1,000 patients with claudication. You won't be surprised to see that maximal treadmill walking distance in this meta-analysis increased by 180 meters and pain-free walking distance by 128 meters — significantly greater improvement in treadmill walking performance”.
