Life Fitness 95T Inspire Review

Setting up a home gym can be an expensive undertaking. It’s only when you start looking at the price tags on the equipment you want for your home gym that you’ll realize how much even small commercial gyms spend on their facilities.

Of course, you don’t need commercial-grade equipment for a home gym, and there is a comprehensive selection of home-use bikes, steppers, treadmills, and rowers available. However, while home-use equipment is cheaper, it’s usually easy to see why; it’s much lower quality.

The difference between home-use and commercial treadmills is especially noticeable. Commercial treadmills are faster, bigger, more robust, and more sophisticated. In short, they’re a pleasure to use. Some home-use treadmills are much less so… The good news is that you can buy recommissioned commercial gym equipment at home-use prices.

Backed by good warranties and with all major wearable parts replaced, the recommissioned kit comes in at a fraction of the cost of commercial equipment and compares very favorably to home-use products.

In this article, we review the Life Fitness 95T Inspire treadmill, which is now discontinued. But, don’t let that put you off; this is a superb product that, although reconditioned, would be the crowning glory of any home gym.

Life Fitness 95T Inspire Review

Key Features

The Life Fitness 95T Inspire is a commercial treadmill recommissioned for home use. As such, it’s got many features not found on most home-use treadmills. If you want a gym-quality workout in the comfort of your own home, you’ll probably LOVE the Life Fitness 95T Inspire treadmill. The key features of this treadmill include:

• 7” touchscreen display and performance monitor
• 41 preprogrammed workouts
• High-power motor
• 0-15% power incline
• Top speed of 15mph
• Large, cushioned running deck
• Heartrate monitor grips
• Built-in wireless Bluetooth heart rate receiver
• Media ledge for tablet, book, mp3 player, etc.

Dimensions and Specifications

As you’d expect from a commercial treadmill, the Life Fitness 95T Inspire treadmill is a little on the large side. This means you’ve got plenty of space to walk or run, so you won’t feel hemmed in, and you won’t need to shorten your stride. However, on the downside, you should check that your workout area is big enough to accommodate such a bulky machine.

The dimensions of The Life Fitness 95T Inspire treadmill are:

• Length – 80 inches
• Width – 37 inches
• Height – 80.25 inches
• Deck height – 10 inches
• Running surface – 22 inches x 60 inches
• Weight – 442lbs/200kg
• User weight capacity – 400lbs

Treadmill Design

The Life Fitness 95T Inspire is a very conventional treadmill. It’s designed to be easy to use and cater to all levels of users, from absolute beginner walkers to advanced runners. Its easy-to-use, large, full-color screen provides lots of motivating feedback as you exercise and can also display video and playlists.

The cushioned running deck uses the same springs as Corvette cars and ensures that impact is kept to a minimum, delivering a comfortable and safe workout.

The large, powerful motor will take you all the way up to 15mph, which is significantly faster than almost every other home and light-commercial treadmill currently available. As well as being fast, the powerful motor means that this treadmill doesn’t have to work all that hard to drive the belt, so it should provide many years of reliable service.

There is no escaping the fact that this is a commercial treadmill – it’s not exactly light or compact. But, if you’ve got the space for one and want to walk or run in comfort, this could be the treadmill you’ve been waiting for.

Computer Features

The Life Fitness 95T Inspire’s computer is packed with features. During your workout, it will measure and display the following metrics:

• Speed
• Incline
• Heart rate
• Pace
• Elapsed time
• Time remaining
• Time in heart rate zone,
• Time of day
• Distance
• Height gained
• Distance remaining
• Calories
• Calories per hour
• Watts
• METS
• Custom messages
• Workout profile

In addition, this treadmill has lots (and lots!) of preprogrammed workouts to follow, including:

• Quick start
• Manual
• Random
• Hill
• Cardio
• Fat burn
• Heart rate hill
• Heart rate interval
• Extreme heart rate
• Around the world
• Cascades
• Foothills
• Kilimanjaro
• Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine PFT
• Fit test
• Gerkin protocol
• Physical Efficiency Battery (PEB)
• Custom workouts (x8)
• Create your own workouts (x2)
• 5k sport training
• 10k sport training,
• Speed training
• Speed interval training
• Time goal
• Calorie goal
• Distance goal
• Distance climbed goal
• Time in zone goal
• Pace goal

Ease of Use

While the Life Fitness 95T Inspire is a sophisticated, heavy-duty treadmill, it’s also very straightforward to use.

That makes a lot of sense because it was designed for a commercial setting, where users may not have access to instruction manuals or hands-on guidance.

To use this treadmill, just step onto the expansive, long-running deck and hit the quick-start button.

Increase the speed and walk or run at whatever pace you find comfortable. Adjust the incline to go up or downhill as required. Simple! Alternatively, you can choose one of the 41 pre-loaded workouts. Each one can be customized according to your fitness levels and how long you have for your workout.

The large screen shows you how you are progressing through your workout, displaying useful metrics, such as your heart rate, speed, calories, and lap time. If you’ve had enough, just hit the emergency stop button located on the front of the console, and the treadmill will smoothly but quickly come to a halt.

The Life Fitness 95T Inspire treadmill is very intuitive to use; it’s got a lot of features, but they’re straightforward to access. We’ve seen smaller, lower-quality treadmills that are MUCH more complicated to use.

Drawbacks

The Life Fitness 95T Inspire treadmill is a pleasure to use and represents good value for money. It’s an excellent treadmill for anyone who wants a commercial gym workout at home. However, there are a couple of drawbacks to consider before you place your order:

Certified used – this treadmill is pre-used. It’s been refurbished by Life Fitness to a very high standard and is almost indistinguishable from a new product. However, it isn’t new, and some people may find that off-putting.

Big and heavy – the Life Fitness 95T Inspire is something of heavyweight, so make sure you’ve got space to install and use it. Weighing in at over 400lbs, you won’t want to move this treadmill far or often.

Unlike some home-use models, this treadmill from Life doesn’t stand upright for more compact storage.

Warranty – the Life Fitness 95T Inspire has an acceptable warranty, but it’s not great. The good news is that you can buy an extended warranty relatively cheaply.

Price – despite being refurbished, buying a Life Fitness 95T Inspire treadmill is still quite a big undertaking. That said, at less than half the price of a brand-new commercial treadmill, it’s still something of a bargain.

Assembly

Life Fitness 95T Inspire treadmills require minimal assembly. All you really need to do is attach the handrails and console. This is a straightforward process but, because of the size/weight of the components, it is something best done by two people, although it can be done by one. Users report that treadmill assembly takes no more than an hour.

Warranty

The Life Fitness 95T Inspire comes with an acceptable 12-month warranty. You can buy an extended warranty at a reasonable price to protect your purchase for longer. The standard warranty is for one year and covers all parts and labor. The extended warranty adds three more years to the normal coverage period.

Bottom Line

The Life Fitness 95T Inspire is a commercial quality treadmill repurposed for home use. For all intents and purposes, it’s a new treadmill, despite being certified used. As a commercial product, this treadmill is a fantastic performer that’s made to last. Its powerful motor will deliver high-intensity workouts for even the fittest user.

The onboard computer is state of the art, and with over 40 different programs to choose from, your workouts never need to be boring. However, it’s important to understand that this treadmill was not made for home use; it’s big and heavy. That said, if you’ve got the space for one, a Life Fitness 95T Inspire will take pride of place in your home gym.

Despite being refurbished, the Life Fitness 95T Inspire is still quite expensive. Still, at less than half the price of a new commercial treadmill, it’s a bargain and much more enjoyable to use than most treadmills designed specifically for home use.