When you press Start on your treadmill and nothing happens—no beep, no belt, just silence—it can feel like your whole plan for the day stalls with it. That first second depends on a surprising chain of checks: clean power to the console, a recognized safety key, proper interlocks, a calibrated incline system, and a motor control board ready to deliver the initial surge of current. If any link falters, the treadmill refuses to start, leaving you staring at a screen instead of getting your run in.