Gym design - Woodway Curve review

What is a gym CONSULTANT’S role in choosing GYM equipment?

In any commercial gym project such as a hotel gym, resort gym or residential gym for example, there is typically either a gym consultant involved, like us, or some combination of an architect studio, a personal trainer and an equipment supplier such as Technogym or Lifefitness, to name but two.

In the latter example, when there is a sales rep from an equipment brand, that person is clearly only going to promote and sell products from their own line, meaning in this context that the Technogym sales rep will push their own SkillMill manual treadmill rather than the Woodway Curve, for obvious reasons.

To the credit of Technogym, they have created a solid alternative with that model and it certainly looks the part in any upscale gym.

So where does that leave the Woodway and why would a gym owner go to the trouble of mixing and matching multiple gym equipment brands, a purchasing strategy we advocate strongly for as independent gym designers specialising in gym equipment selection?

No one brand can be a specialist in everything, which is why we like to cherry-pick each and every item of gym equipment from manufacturers instead of going to one generalist brand who does a lot of things quite well.

We want the best from each product category, we also look for brands reducing their environmental impact - more on that below. In other words, a non-aligned, neutral gym consultant will create a bespoke gym equipment list to the exact specifications of a client, be that a hotel, residential developer or entrepreneur, taking the best items available from a range of different brands.

A sales rep from a giant equipment brand charged with equipping an entire gym with their products unavoidably has other interests at heart.

What is a manual treadmill?

As the name suggests, this genre of self-powered treadmill uses a curved running surface that requires a little extra effort on the part of the uer to get the belt moving and then a modicum of self-awareness to keep oneself positioned in the middle of the belt.

The reality is that from time to time one finds oneself at the front of the belt, almost touching the console, while at others it’s easy to drift towards the back of the belt if concentration wanders.

The flip side of this is that the user effectively controls the speed themselves, with their legs or rather stride pace, rather than adjusting a level or speed controls on the console.

This take some getting used to, literally 5 minutes, and once you work it out, there will be no stopping you as the sensation is much closer to running in real life - making this an ideal choice for a green gym concept such as ours.

Are manual treadmills eco-friendly?

Our answer here, as sustainable gym designers, is ‘yes, and no’. Firstly, the Curve uses no electricity, it is powered entirely by the kinetic energy of the belt that is in turn powered by the runner clearly.

So in one sense, this reduces a gym’s energy usage and aligns with a sustainability strategy, assuming that the energy supplied through the mains is not green energy already.

There are then questions around how much one treadmill really moves the needle in terms of overall energy expenditure but, for now at least, let’s look at the glass half-full option which gives credit to Woodway for removing the consumption of mains supply electricity with this piece of gym equipment.

What type of training are manual treadmills good for?

Having tried and tested these machines , and spent up to 90 minutes on them in the past, we can attest to the supreme comfort on the knees while running on the Woodway slat belt. It’s so much more comfortable than a standard treadmill and has just the right amount of bounce to it compared to the usual flat, heavy feel of a standard treadmill.

As gym consultants advising entrepreneurs, hotels and real estate developers on their gym equipment selection, we recommend these machines for short sprint sessions (intervals) as well as longer 30-minute plus sessions at a slower, endurance pace.

Our favourite is to grab a sandbag or med ball from the gym and carry that for 30-60 minutes while walking briskly on the Curve, changing carrying position every minute.

Who should buy a Woodway Curve?

We advise anyone looking for a more natural running experience in the gym to go for a manual treadmill such as this one. Equally for those with weak or injured knees, this is a game-changer, especially if there are no soft trails in the neighborhood and running would otherwise mean running on roads.

Finally, this is a great piece of gym equipment for fitness studios offering high intensity group classes and, or hotel gyms or other commercial gyms, why not mix in. afew Curves along with the standard treadmills to allow gym users to experience this innovative alternative?