Success Stories
Success Stories
LEADING CHOICE FORTUFF TREADMILLS
There’s no project too big or too small that we can’t handle. As a premier provider of high-performance treadmills, we take the time to make a product that exceeds expectations. Since 1999, we’ve been able to serve a number of industries across the United States and the world. Take a look at some of our recent projects and discover the range of ways that we have worked with customers to meet their treadmill needs.
D-1 Power & Speed
Dave Nelson at D-1 Power & Speed in Newcastle, Nebraska needed a high-speed treadmill to incorporate into his athletes’ training regimen. He wanted to push his athletes beyond limits they did not think were possible. To achieve this goal, he purchased a Tuff Tread High-Speed Sport Treadmill. One of the athletes he trained on the Sport Treadmill was Sara Reifenrath who became the fastest 200M female athlete in Nebraska and her high school’s record holder in the 100, 200, and 400M.
29 Palms Marine Corp
The fitness center at the 29 Palms Marine Corp base is heavily used by their marines, sailors, DoD personnel, and families. The challenge for Michael Hill, Deputy Director of Marine Corps Community Services was finding a treadmill and company that could meet the following standards:
- Treadmills are both durable and reliable
- There is little or no maintenance required
- The customer service is impressive
- Service after the sale is excellent
Tuff Tread is now the preferred treadmill choice for this Marine base. They initially purchased two CardioFit model treadmills in January 2017 and sixteen more were added in 2019 along with two Tuff Tread High-Speed Elite models.
University of Michigan Robotics
The University of Michigan Robotics Institute chose Tuff Tread to design and build a custom robotic treadmill with a wide-elevated frame. One challenge, it had to “fit like a glove” in a 12’ X 14’ X 3’ pre-fab, concrete floor pit area, and be flush with the lab ground floor. Other necessary features for their custom treadmill included a max speed of 31 mph, a 20% hydraulic incline, a 1024 CPR encoder, and control via the researcher’s software program. This project exemplifies Tuff Tread’s unique ability to closely collaborate with a customer on a custom treadmill project and successfully meet their needs.
Nike & MediaMonks
NIKE in collaboration with MediaMonks planned a big marketing event that would be held in front of the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. They needed 3 custom-wide 5’ W X 9’ L treadmills with 16 mph top speed and 15% incline. The treadmills also needed to interface with the customer’s off-board interactive software program which was named “Game of Go”. Tuff Tread was challenged with designing, building, and shipping the 3 treadmills within 30 days. Tuff Tread worked diligently with the customer on all levels to help them achieve success with their marketing event. The “Game of Go“ marketing event was featured on the Jimmy Kimmel Show and during an NBA Los Angeles Laker game.
Hyperloop 200 MPH Treadmill
The Hyperloop Pod Competition is an annual competition. It is sponsored by SpaceX and students are challenged to design—and for some, build—a subscale prototype transport vehicle in order to demonstrate the technical feasibility of various aspects of the Hyperloop concept. Graduate students from Northeastern University in Boston entered the competition. They needed a treadmill that could exceed 200 mph. Tuff Tread was chosen to build the treadmill according to the desired specs of the Northeastern students. When the treadmill was operational, the students flew to Tuff Tread and were elated to see their treadmill reach a top speed of 203 mph.
Local Fire Departments
Tuff Tread has built a strong customer base with fire departments across the US and Canada. Our CardioFit model is located in every fire station in Houston, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Tucson, Lubbock, North Little Rock, and Anchorage. Why is Tuff Tread the #1 choice among fire departments? The durability of a Tuff Tread treadmill is unequaled on the market and saves fire departments substantial money in two areas: maintenance/repairs and longevity. Our Full Unrestricted Commercial Warranty and lower repairs/maintenance are unsurpassed on the market.
Testimonials
John Henderson
MS, ATC, CSCS,
Associate Director for Sports Medicine and Performance,
Duquesne University Athletics.When we put together our new Sports Performance area, we wanted to combine the best tools available in the private rehab and performance development facilities, with the best of the professional and collegiate strength and conditioning world. By adding three Tuff Tread High-Speed Treadmills with the traditional strength and conditioning equipment, we were able to accomplish that goal.
For me, there is no better tool for breaking down and coaching sprint mechanics and developing speed than with the Tuff Treads. Our team is able to run large groups of athletes through the program efficiently and safely without the treadmills burning up or breaking down. The strength coaches have achieved great results in speed development, and the athletic trainers are able to safely bring back athletes to agility and full speed using the harness system in an objectively measurable training system. No matter where an athlete is in their development, from injury to high performance, there is an application for the treadmills in an overall training program.
Michael Hill
After having the Tuff Tread High Performance Series for years, in January, 2017; we purchased 2 of your Tuff Tread 4600 series treads. Impressed with the durability and design, we purchased 16 more 4600 series treads from you in early 2019. We have been extremely satisfied and now consider Tuff Tread as our preferred choice for treadmills. One reason is durability. Your treadmills hold up to the constant, heavy usage by our Marines, Sailors, DoD personnel and families. Your treadmills require little or no maintenance, your customer service is impressive, and your service after the sale is excellent. The few times we have had questions or service issues, you have been immediately available by phone and in certain cases, have sent a factory technician to perform service. I would strongly recommend Tuff Tread to anyone. Especially to other military installations where high usage is prevalent and durability is important.
Coach Gerhart
Former NFL Player and High School Coach
I believe in high-speed training but do not want to open a franchise like XXXXXXX for $350,000. All I want to do is train students at my high school, and invite all the younger local athletes to use your performance program in the evenings at our new gym. These are my clients and the reason that I am passionate about buying three (3) of your high-speed treadmills with full gantries and harnesses.
In September, our new 5 million dollar stadium will be complete. The new 5000 sqft weight room will be state of the art and of course, I want three of your treadmills at the end of this weight room.
Richard Bucciarelli
PhD Candidate, R.Kin., CSCS,CSEP-CEP, USSF “A” Licence.
My name is Richard Bucciarelli and I am a sports scientist, university lecturer and researcher, and the owner of Speed Training, a company that provides sport-specific strength and conditioning training to athletes in Toronto, Canada. I was first introduced to the Tuff Tread back in the summer of 2010, when I was getting ready to open my first facility, the Soccer Fitness Training Centre, Canada’s first to utilize the Tuff Tread and its high speed and high incline treadmill running protocols.
I was immediately impressed with the quality of the treadmill, as well as its versatility, and the variety of exercises that could be performed using it, including high-speed/over-speed runs, incline runs, multi-directional runs, and self-propelled runs, among others. Of course, equally impressive to me were the specifications and capacity of the machine, including a maximum belt speed of 31 miles per hour and maximum incline of 40 percent – specifications which remain unmatched by any other high performance treadmill in the world.
We had such great results with athletes training on the Tuff Tread in our facility over the first three years that, in 2013, when I was persuaded to return back to school and begin my Master’s degree in exercise physiology, I decided to conduct my research using the treadmill in a 6-week training protocol and comparing the results to more conventional, ground-based training programs. Over the course of a series of studies, including research that was presented at some of the world’s top soccer-specific sports science conferences, and one of which was published in the book International Research on Science and Soccer II, I determined that speed and repeated sprint training on the Tuff Tread was equally effective at improving speed, and more effective at improving endurance and recovery, than conventional ground-based training. Among the improvements we saw from our research, using training protocols with just 6 weeks of 1-2 training sessions per week, were:
- 3-5% improvements in acceleration and running speed
- 5-7% improvements in vertical jump
- 13-15% improvement in endurance and recovery
I have continued to use the Tuff Tread in my PhD research, where I have shifted my focus to resisted, self-propelled running – another unique feature of the machine – which has also led to significant improvements in acceleration, explosive strength and power in athletes.
Today, at the Speed Training Lab and High Performance Centre, our brand-new 2000 square-foot facility which opened in the Fall of 2020, we continue to utilize the Tuff Tread with thousands of athletes, including top collegiate, professional, Olympic, and National Teams athletes from a variety of sports. They all achieve similar results to those we have seen in our own research, and training with the Tuff Tread has been an integral part in helping hundreds of them reach higher competitive levels in their sport.
I would strongly recommend the Tuff Tread to any coach working with high performance athletes wishing to improve their acceleration, speed, power, recovery, and overall athletic performance.
Herman Demmink III
RSCC*D, CSCS, USAW L-1, Pendlay L-2, Cross Fit Level 1
3D Performance Training LLC
I began training with high speed treadmills in the early 2000’s and it became a valuable tool in my development as an athlete. As I transitioned from playing to coaching and understood the science behind high-velocity sprint training I knew I wanted to offer this type of technology to my athlete’s programs. Not only can the treadmill offer the athlete the ability to experience high velocities in a safe environment it also allows the coach to offer quick verbal and tactile feedback.
Pete Bommarito
MS, CSCS, USAW, MATCS, MATJS
Owner/President, Bommarito Performance Systems
Owner/President, Bommarito University
Adjunct Professor, Nova Southeastern University
The Tuff Tread is an absolutely essential component of our Sports Performance programs for athletes of all ages, levels, and sports. One of the main benefits is the advanced overload placed on the Support System during our horizontal plyometric progressions. The unmotorized function with a high incline is ideal when progressing our A-Skips, Bounds, and cycles. In addition, it’s a phenomenal conditioning tool for power endurance on the “Sled Push” unmotorized and motorized high-speed functions. Further, the high-speed functions combined with the harness help provide a different perspective on advanced horizontal plyometric phases of overspeed development. We’ve even been implementing this into our general fitness group training intervals. And it has been a key component of our medical staff to stress, and measure the function of, the support system during and after treatments.
Jude Massillon
IAAF Level 5 and Nike Elite Trainer
Sports Performance Group
Excellence is always led by incredible effort. When the Tuff Tread Treadmill arrived in a triple pallet carefully constructed not to move and scratch free, I was already impressed. The treadmill is an unbelievable work of art carefully constructed with amazing performances in mind. I promise you whatever treadmill you’ve seen this is the better one. I’m on my way to work early excited at the opportunity to work with a company that understands the needs of elite athletes.
Donny Bigham
OneTimePowerlifting, LLC, Rock Hill, SC.
There is only ONE Performance Treadmill and that is the Tuff Tread! This tool is essential for EVERY Performance/Training Center in the World because of the following:
1.Speed & power development in two movement planes (Frontal & Sagittal) through motorized and non-motorized options.
2. Psychological benefits (neural stimulation) from over-speed training with harness.
3. 1-on-1 training with immediate feedback/corrections as the athlete is running with unlimited customized protocols.
4. Durability, the Tactical Athlete Performance Center trains 600 Warriors daily, therefore the Tread would run continuously daily (5 of 7 days a week) from 6:00 am to 5:00 pm and did not require any additional maintenance or upkeep to sustain that workload.
Anthony Uscila
I wanted to take a moment to describe our experience using the “Tuff high-speed treadmill” during my daughter’s last year in high school track. Before investing in this treadmill, we had experienced another high-speed treadmill that was similar, but not nearly as safe as I would want for an athlete, let alone my own daughter. I could easily see the potential with proper use, but unfortunately, I did not feel comfortable allowing her to “push” (meaning increasing treadmill speed) without some type of fail-safe. I have made other equipment purchases to assist with speed development and I knew this was going to be quite an investment, so I began searching the web for similar solutions.
I came across the company “Tuff Tread” and immediately contacted the owner. After over an hour on the phone with Mark, I was put in contact with Beau Chavez to discuss some performance-related questions I had. After these two exciting conversations, I knew I had to make the commitment to owning one for my daughter’s last year of track. Prior to its delivery in late November of 2017, my daughter had completed her previous junior year indoor season (2016-2017) with a personal record of 7.91 in the 60 meter (a ranking of 277th nationally), and 26.88 in the 200 meter (a ranking of 737th nationally). She would later go on that year to run outdoor PR’s of 12.09 100 meter, and 25.22 200 meter. With the delivery of the treadmill and set up onsite, we were literally training on it the next day. We used some modified protocols from Beau and ran her two days on the treadmill and one day on a 60 meter indoor straightway to make sure we were getting “land transfer” with our max speed development-which we were.
For those that electronically time with timing gates you can probably also appreciate her pre treadmill and post treadmill 10 meter fly times. As of November, her average 10-meter flys were around 1.15. After 3 months of an aggressive strength and running program (utilizing the treadmill for about 60-75% for all running drills), she was consistently running an average of 1.08 in her fly times and eventually ended the indoor season with new personal records of 7.51 in the 60 and 24.57 in the 200. These times also ranked her 10th in the 60 and 27th in the 200 NATIONALLY, and 1st in our state regardless of classification! Needless to say, we were ecstatic. Watching her run was just plain fun. She looked like a completely different runner. Her turnover (frequency) was amazing, and she ran with so much more power. I attribute most of her improvement and success to our ability to train her nervous system at high speeds, and most importantly in a safe manner due to the treadmill’s safety harness system. It was a big purchase for us and required a time-consuming commitment to the training and extra recovery protocols needed when training at such a high level, but watching her run and seeing her smile at the end of each race was absolutely priceless! Thank you Tuff Tread and thank you, Beau!!
Brian Dobson
Owner
Metroflex Gym
A Hardcore Training Facility
From May to October, the average gym temperature is 90-105 degrees. We are also in a warehouse with bay doors that allow in lots of dirt, cottonwood seeds, and trash. This has been enough to kill every brand of treadmill that we’ve used in the past. Many of the athletes using the machines are near or over 300 pounds, like 8 x Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman and Top-17 Bodybuiling Pro Branch Warren. We are very pleased with y’all’s Texas-made and Texas-proud line of treadmills.
Logan Morgan
The Tuff Tread treadmill is an extremely well-built machine that has become a crucial tool for sports performance development at our facility. The treadmill gives us an opportunity to develop increased speed and power output in our athletes without having to worry about the weather outside or having 60+ yards to sprint. This treadmill is vastly different from most in its speed, incline, and power that allows us to train athletes at a remarkably high level and gives us the unique ability to take athletes from standing to sprinting in less than a second. It is absolutely a must have at any high-level sports performance facility.
Keith E. Gordon
I built the Human Agility Laboratory around my custom treadmill. The research I do required a unique treadmill. Mark and Tuff Tread were eager and excited to help me design and build a device that matched my vision. I have been using my treadmill for a decade now and could not be any happier with its performance. It is the most solid piece of equipment in my laboratory. My treadmill runs as well today as when it was first installed. Thank you Tuff Tread!
Jeremy Hecker
Race Service Manager
Pioneer Midwest
Osseo, MN
We have a custom roller ski treadmill located in our ski shop in Osseo, MN. We have been utilizing the treadmill to offer a one-stop shop for anything and everything nordic ski racing. We wanted to add programming to our business model and adding the Tuff Tread treadmill was the best way to attract potential customers to the store. We offer both video technique, and lactate testing sessions that are one-on-one with our resident coach and service manager that has experience coaching everything from State champions to World Cup and Olympic level athletes. We have had numerous athletes hop on our treadmill and nearly everyone has been thrilled at the experience. We have had several athletes (Olympic champions, World Champions, NCAA champions, Youth Olympic Games Champions), including myself, that have had experience with many other treadmills and this is by far the best feeling for roller skiing. The tread is very durable and does not get slippery when the sweating starts. The tips also have a very good purchase on the tread, without leaving any noticeable imprints that would lead towards replacing the belt sooner than anticipated. Overall, I could not recommend any other treadmill to a customer that wants to use it for roller skiing.
Rick Tsai
This letter is long overdue. For years I’ve been meaning to write and tell you how much I have appreciated your company. Well I finally sat down and did it. I am a gym owner and I have owned your treadmills for over a decade. They still look and perform like brand new. For variety, in that period of time I have also had treadmills from three other treadmill companies. All of the other treadmills without exception have given me major headaches over the years. I have never ever…not even once had a major issue with my Tuff Tread Treadmills. They are Tanks!
The small issues that have come up like drive belts and deck belt replacement have been simple to perform especially because you can reach the company so easily and they are eager to help and go overboard in their assistance. And yes I will say it…I love not talking to some hard to reach customer service overseas. These treadmills are American made and have knowledgeable easy to reach staff here in America to help you with any of your concerns.
I’d like to revisit me being a gym owner and my experience with these treadmills.
These are hands-down my favorite treadmills that I choose to use in my own exercise program (even though I have other brands right next to them which I could use) and I tell new members that. I always show them the Tuff Treads first and advise they use them too. Most people like flash and bells and whistle‘s but I’m a no nonsense person and I want dependability and something that just performs well. I personally love the utilitarian aspect of these treadmills and they are a joy to run on. They also have that heavy well made quality feel that I love. Our other treads with their cheap plasticky parts don’t give me that same level of confidence in their durability, and unfortunately those other brands have proved my fears correct over the years.
Lastly let me say that sure, you spend a bit more money for these but if you’re looking at years of people using these and them standing up to the test of time and abuse, then don’t hesitate and go with Tuff Treads. These treads are indestructible!