Body Sculpture BT5405 Premium Motorised Treadmill Review

Body Sculpture has been in the fitness business since 1965 and has grown from small beginnings into a well known international brand. They produce a wide range of fitness equipment and accessories ranging from treadmills to dumbbells to exercise mats. Their products are targeted at all age groups and abilities and consist of entry-level low-cost items through to mid-range fitness machines. We took a look at the Body Sculpture Sculpture BT-5405 Premium motorised treadmill with power incline to see how it compares with the competition at the mid-range price point.

Like with most treadmills the BT-5405P does require assembly. Unlike most treadmills, however, it’s already largely pre-assembled and requires a minimum of assembly. Attach the leg levelers, unfold the treadmill from the lying flat position and secure it into position with some nuts and bolts using the supplied tools and you’re essentially ready to go. There are a few aesthetic bits of plastic to add on as a finishing touch once you’ve finished putting the bolts in but this literally takes just a few minutes and while assembly does require two people, it’s easy enough to complete. The only slight negatives to report here are poor English in the user manual and that on our test model two of the bolt holes didn’t quite line up and it took a bit of cajoling things into place to get them synced, while one other pre-drilled hole seemed to have a slight threading issue that required a bit of elbow grease to resolve.

With a footprint of 162cm x 74cm (64” x 29”) when fully open and 85cm x 74cm (33.5” x 29″ ) when folded, the BT-5405P is most definitely a space-saving treadmill. It also weighs just 56.5kg. (124.6lbs) and features transport wheels making it easy to move around from one place to another. Moving it when folded is less of a chore than with a standard treadmill and can quite easily be achieved by one adult as long as the floor surface is flat. It’s small enough to fit into most rooms without dominating them and while it’s not what we’d call a “looker” it has a neat and tidy appearance that benefits from its compact dimensions.

Reading the specs this compact unit appears to have a gigantic 2.5hp motor, which is unprecedented in a treadmill this small! However after reading the specs more closely the stated 2.5hp figure is actually the peak power output of the motor (this is the rating given under testing when the motor is being strained to breaking point) and isn’t the continuous power output which is what the motor delivers under normal use conditions. The continuous power output of the motor is actually 1.25hp which is more in line with what we’d expect to see on this type of running machine. This is still a respectable power output and nothing to be ashamed of, so we suspect that they’ve broken with the convention of stating continuous power and highlighting the peak power output figure instead in order to grab the attention of potential buyers.

The running area on the deck, like the rest of the machine, is compact. At  125cm x 41cm  (49.2” x 16.1”) it’s suitable for most average height runners but if you or any intended users of this machine are 6ft 2″ or above then you may want to look for a model that features a slightly longer, if not wider running surface. The overall size of the deck does mean that this model is more suited to walking, jogging, and normal running, rather than all-out sprinting. So if you’re planning on doing HIIT (high-intensity interval training) workouts as a regular part of your exercise routine then this probably isn’t the treadmill for you. On the other hand, if you’re planning on using your treadmill for walking, jogging and normal running, then the BT-5405p is a suitable choice.

Getting started on a run is about as easy as it’s possible to get. Press the start button, wait a few seconds, then get moving! It really is as easy as that in manual mode, while selecting one of the 15 preset workouts from the menu is also quick and simple making it easy to get your head around things almost instantly. The 1.25hp motor does a decent enough job of powering the belt up to a maximum 16kph (9.94mph) with the changes in speed taking place at an acceptable rate, though not quite fast enough for effective interval training. While the motor is fairly quiet at lower speeds, our test unit did produce a noticeable  whine at speeds approaching the maximum and it was also possible to hear it struggle a touch when a 97kg runner was putting it through its paces (your reviewer is still trying to get rid of a bit of holiday weight!) with the incline set to maximum. As the stated maximum user weight is 110kg we’d not expect to hear any discernable change in the pitch of the motor upon landing, so out came the treadmill lubricant to ease things up a bit. It definitely helped a little but didn’t entirely get rid of the motor whine at maximum incline and higher speeds, though it did make a noticeable difference when the deck was flat and the speed dropped down a touch. The maximum advertised incline is 12%, but in practice, this feels more like 12 levels of incline reaching around 10% rather than a true 12% incline. Still, it’s enough to work up a good sweat and get the heart pumping, though it’s always a little disappointing when the stated specs don’t entirely match the reality.

Running on the BT-5405P feels comfortable with the cushioning system doing a reasonable job for a compact tread and the running area providing some security when tiring a little in terms of being able to move around the deck surface without losing your footing. Going for a 30 minute run at a purposeful pace was a good experience and there were no niggles or unexpected aches or pains 48 hours afterward which is always the real test of a cushioning system. Reaching the buttons on the console while running is nice and easy as they’re large and bright making them an easy target. Workout information is displayed on the LCD monitor which is also easy to read with the display featuring large, bright characters showing Pulse, Time, Speed, Distance and (Theoretical) Calories burned so it’s easy to track your run. There’s also a body fat function built-in and our test unit seemed to provide roughly accurate figures, with a few slightly surprising results generated for different members of the team. One notable absentee feature is the lack of a built-in wireless heart rate receiver. Compact model or not, at this price any treadmill really should have a wireless receiver that can be used with a chest belt as not only is that a far more accurate way of measuring heart rate, it’s the only sensible way of doing so while running. Hand-pulse sensors are ok if you’re at walking speed or even a slow jog, but just try grabbing onto them and keeping a hold of them while simultaneously attempting to maintain your running speed at 7mph for 20 minutes and you’ll see what we mean! It’s awkward, it only works while you’ve got your hands on the sensors, it’s not very accurate, and at this price, a wireless receiver should be present.

Other features include stereo speakers (though you’re definitely better off with headphones for your run), audio input jack, water bottle holder, a ledge to hold a tablet or smartphone and a USB socket that can be used to charge your devices, though it doesn’t connect to the console. The instruction manual also referred to some bluetooth functionality via an app, the likes of which we’ve seen before, but this may refer to a slightly different model as when attempting to connect to our test unit there were no bluetooth devices that could detect the console of the treadmill.

Last but not least, the manufacturer’s warranty on the Body Sculpture Premium motorised treadmill is 12 months and covers parts only. While there are a few niggles on this model as mentioned above that we can just about see past, it’s hard to reconcile this low level of cover with the price of this treadmill. In this price bracket a 24-month warranty fully covering both the cost of parts and of engineer labour costs is standard practice for pretty much any manufacturer you’d care to think of, so on this front the BT-5405P falls short and makes this particular model hard to recommend.