ProForm Pro 2500 Treadmill Review (iFit Enabled)

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With an increased weight limit, more workout programs, and iFit enabled as standard, the ProForm Pro 2500 Treadmill has had some impressive upgrades over the earlier Pro 2000 model.

In this review, we take a closer look at the design features, customer reviews, workout programs, iFit features, and even the quality of assembly instructions, to help you decide if this deserves to be the next addition to your own home gym.

Design features

If you’ve already done some research into what to look for in a treadmill, you’ll know how important it is to find a machine that has a large running area.

When we say large, we’re talking about 60 inches or more in length, and 20 inches or more in width.

Fortunately, this is exactly what the ProForm Pro 2500 provides, which when you add in the free shipping and a price tag of under $1500, makes it extremely competitive.

As well as providing some additional space for your running workouts, the cushioned running deck is designed to adjust through a wide range of positions.

The power incline lets you quickly choose an angle from -3% up to 15% for your workouts, while ProForm’s EasyLift Assist lets you fold the running deck to a nearly vertical position for easy storage.

For anyone that’s used a lower priced or even manual treadmill before, having the cushioning system under the running deck could really help protect your knee joints and reduce muscle fatigue.

Not only does this reduce the risk of injury, it also means you’ll be able to run for longer, leading to faster gains in cardiovascular fitness and overall weight loss.

But as with any treadmill, it isn’t just a case of adding some incline settings to the running deck. You’ll also need a powerful motor, particularly when the ProForm Pro 2500 can support up to 375 lb of user weight at the 15% incline and full belt speed.

Although not as powerful as the Pro 4500, the 3.5 CHP (Continuous Horse Power) Mach Z Commercial motor is just one of the improvements over the earlier Pro 2000 model.

As well as the variety of incline and decline settings, it’s this extra power that supports the 12 mph maximum belt speed. This also leads to a faster change in pace when switching between speed settings, which can be great for anyone interested in some high intensity interval training (HIIT).

Display console design

Similar to some of the Sole Fitness treadmills, the ProForm models tend to provide quite a large display console, with the Pro 2500 being no exception.

This really isn’t a bad thing though, as it simply allows their designers to create the buttons larger, as well as include a set of built-in speakers and cooling fan.

As well as making their size larger, there’s also more room to include features that many machines simply don’t have the space for, such as quick select speed and incline functions.

Positioned on either side of the LCD screen, these quick select options let you switch between preset speed and incline levels. This prevents you having to hold down one of the up or down arrows until the treadbelt reaches your desired speed.

So that it’s easier to enter information and make selections during your workouts, the screen built into the console has been designed as touch sensitive.

This makes it quicker to scroll through one of several display modes, which are automatically assigned based on your current workout program.

Whichever one you choose, the screen will still keep you updated with the current inline setting, elapsed time, calories burned, distance, speed, heart rate, and even the vertical number of feet you have climbed.

Polar Chest strap compatible

Although it does make a very useful feature, it’s not always practical or effective to be holding onto the heart rate hand sensors for extended periods during your workout.

This is why the ProForm Pro 2500 is compatible with Polar Chest Straps to act as the transmitter. Not only that, but you actually receive one of these high quality heart rate monitors completely free when you buy this machine.

When combined with the preset heart rate training programs, this helps provide much more accurate feedback to the display, making it clearer to see when you pulse starts moving outside of your target range.

ProForm’s lowest priced treadmill with iFit enabled

As you might have gathered from some of our other ProForm treadmill reviews, it’s usually only their higher priced exercise machines that have iFit enabled.

Usually you’re more likely to see the description of ‘iFit compatible’, which still lets you use all of the same iFit features, but you just have to purchase an extra module for an additional $100 before you can use it.

There’s no need to go out and buy this for the ProForm Pro 2500, as ProForm are currently offering two tiers of pricing.

The first tier is free membership to iFit, with free web access to their fitness community, tracking, fitness articles, and workout stats.

The second tier is based around a monthly payment plan of $9.99 per month, but offers a range of additional features.

These include Google Maps compatibility, exclusive discounts, HD video workouts, and much more.

If you haven’t heard about the benefits of training with iFit, we’ve put together a quick summary of the most impressive features and detailed them below.

iFit Workout Features:

Workout programs

Just because the ProForm Pro 2500 is iFit enabled, doesn’t mean you have to base all your workouts around it. You also have over 30 workout programs already pre-loaded into the onboard computer, custom designed to suit a range of goals and fitness levels.

To help you reach these goals more quickly, ProForm have divided these programs up into 5 categories.

Workout program categories:

Ease of assembly

Not surprisingly, two of the most common reasons for lower ratings in treadmill reviews are poor quality packaging, and how poor quality / lack of assembly instructions.

If you’re spending over $1000 on a high quality piece of fitness equipment, the first thing you want to do when it arrives is get the machine setup and start your first workout.

Over the years, ProForm have built an impressive reputation for providing excellent customer service, even before you place your order.

This level of quality is still present throughout the user manual for the ProForm Pro 2500, which helps to make the assembly as quick and easy as possible.

If you’re having trouble finding the user manual online, feel free to have a read of our own copy.

In terms of the assembly instructions, rather than rushing straight into some complicated pictures like with some machines, you get a full part identification chart and checklist.

This helps to make sure you have everything you need before you start.

In truth, there isn’t a great deal required for the assembly. But that doesn’t stop ProForm from putting together a range of clearly labelled drawings, as well as some easy to follow text instructions, complete with part references.

If you’re not particularly attracted to the idea of assembling this type of equipment yourself, you can always hire a service technician to set it up for you.

With two people working on putting this treadmill together, it shouldn’t take longer than 30 minutes before you can be programming your first workout into the on-board computer.

What’s included with the warranty?

Customer reviews

Even with everything we’ve covered so far in this review, it’s also important to take into account other people’s experiences of the Pro 2500, to help build a balanced overall impression.

We managed to find a number of reviews on Amazon which are certainly worth a quick read, but if you’re looking for a quick overview, we’ve got that covered too.

The lists below detail the most frequently mentioned pros and cons reported by these reviewers:

Pros:

Cons:

• Occasional updates to the firmware are required (available when connecting the treadmill to your WIFI)
• The heavy weight of the machine can make it difficult to move around much after setup
• Most lower rated reviews aren’t to do with the quality of the treadmill, but for troubleshooting issues related to downloading software upgrades