Health Beauty & FitnessHealth, Beauty, Fitness Tips

When it comes to purchasing an elliptical trainer you have four choices in where to buy:

1. Mass Merchant

2. Fitness Specialty Store

3. On-line Distributor

4. Used from a private individual

I would discourage you from option 4 since quite frankly, it’s very risky to purchase a used elliptical trainer. By their nature, elliptical trainers can be expensive to repair and you most probably won’t receive any kind of warranty with a used elliptical. So be careful.

A fitness specialty store will carry the higher-end ellipticals costing upwards of $1000 and well beyond. They will carry light commercial to commercial-grade elliptical trainers such as Precor, Life Fitness, SportsArt, and others. These are excellent brands and I encourage you to at least have a look at them since quality is extremely important when considering an elliptical trainer. This will also provide a basis on which to judge other elliptical trainers.

You will most likely find knowledgeable sales people in fitness specialty stores, but not always the lowest prices. The salespeople typically work on a commission basis and you may find them to be on the aggressive side. However, don’t let that deter you from test-driving and researching ellipticals at these stores. Just don’t get pressured into buying just yet.

Mass Merchants such as Wal-Mart, Sears, The Sports Authority, and Dick’s Sporting Goods carry the lower-end ellipticals. You can find some good values here, but it’s extremely important to understand exactly what you’re getting. Elliptical trainers in this price range can wind up costing you more that you expect in repairs and down time. I don’t recommend any elliptical trainer that retails for under $500.

Though it may be tempting to go for that $150 elliptical machine from Wal-Mart, you may wind up regretting it soon after you get it home. The salespeople at these stores, though typically friendly, aren’t always the most knowledgeable about elliptical trainers and the quality behind them.

If you are sold on elliptical trainers from ICON Health and Fitness such as Nordic Track, Reebok, and ProForm then I highly recommend that you purchase it from Sears. In fact, you may want to purchase it from the Sears on-line store. You can even purchase your Sears elliptical on-line and pick it up at any of their retail stores. Sears has a good reputation for handling repairs and exchanges during the warranty period.

Some of the best deals on elliptical trainers can be found on-line. Besides frequent sales, on-line distributors often provide free shipping and free extras for ellipticals over a certain price. Having the elliptical delivered right to your door can be a huge help since you won’t have to schlep a large, heavy box home as is the case if you purchase from a mass merchant.

To best answer the question — “Where Can I Get The Best Price On An Elliptical?” — is to try elliptical trainers off-line and buy on-line for the best deals.

The newest cardio equipment that has hit the fitness market is the elliptical training equipment. It gives individuals full and low impact body workouts. However, people must learn if these machines have been living up on the beneficial claims.

The University of Wisconsin’s researchers known as La Crosse have compared the motorized treadmill from the NordicTrack Ellipse elliptical trainer. They focused on parts like the cycle ergometer and stairstepper to determine the differences among the provided exercise modes of both equipments. Their study revealed that running a treadmill and Ellipse displays no important differences in terms of heart rate, calorie expenditure, and oxygen consumption. Both equipments have provided superior workouts on its test subjects over the cycle ergometer and stairstepper.

The researchers also discovered that impact forces that are produced by the Ellipse is similar to walking, while running a treadmill became the number one activity in providing maximum amounts of exercise impact, which could cause knee and joint pain. John Porcari who is the lead researcher explained that the Ellipse ground forces reaction is less than a half, compared to treadmill running, thus the motion of each equipment is giving workouts with similar intensity. Moreover, orthopedic injury is less likely to be acquired.

The ACE (American Council on Exercise) commissioned a recent study headed by Doctor Len Kravitz. It was conducted at the University of Mississippi camparing 4 elliptical trainer’s overall qualities.

The equipment being tested are the NordicTrack’s Ellipse selling at $599.95 dollars, the ICON Health and Fitness, Incorporated’s HealthRider Elliptical Crosstrainer at $499.99 dollars, the Guthy-Renker’s Power Train at $199.80 dollars, and the Quantum Television’s Cyclone Crosstrainer at $399 dollars.

Seven women and seven men performed the rigorous elliptical trainer testing. The four elliptical trainers surprisingly displayed similar test outcomes including perceived exertion ratings, calorie expenditure, heart rate, and stride speed. The perceived exertion ratings range from 12.5-13 correlating to a challenging yet a comfortable workout. The ACE’s study on each equipments revealed that effective workouts are given to both women and men. Their burnt calorie was equivalent to an 11.5 minutes mile running or a powerful aerobic dancing.

University of Mississippi’s researchers also surveyed each machine’s personal responses on the provided test subjects. The overall preferences based from the fourteen participants have ranked the equipments from the top to the least of their favorites. The Ellipse is on the top of the list, second was the HealthRider, third was the Power Train, and the last was the Cyclone. Nevertheless, Consumer Reports magazine have recently reported problems on the Ellipse in the form of durability failures. Needless to say the researchers and test subjects have proven the effectiveness of NordicTrack’s Ellipse.

The research team of Dr. Kravitz also provided their comments. Five out of seven women has been hit on the knees by the Cyclone’s center guard panel. The HealthRider started to make an extremely loud noise on its metal parts after a one hour use.

Moreover, Kravitz stated that the Cyclone and the Power Train appears to be made inexpensively to have a competitive price. The HealthRider is a product launched before it’s ready but it’s very smooth when running on it and gives a highly satisfactory service although the quality has not been tested. The ellipse compared to other equipment is more solidly built, feels smooth, runs smooth, and the most durable.

The studies from both universities lend credibility on the elliptical trainer’s effectiveness. Make sure you thoroughly do your own research prior to purchasing any fitness equipment including elliptical trainers.

Calorie counters are used in nearly all aerobic equipments, from treadmills to elliptical trainers. Infact there are even calorie counter that give you the calories you burn when you jog. Unfortunately these gadgets are rarely trustworthy. And if you are not careful they can be a source of frustration.

Exercising to lose weight as it is for most people is already difficult. Few have a natural motivation to keep fit. The last thing you want is a gadget that will give you false hope.

Studies show that most calories counters will over shoot your calorie expenditure by as much as 30%. With many individuals posting calorie burns of above 400 calories per session, it means that an extra 120 calories were falsely calibrated as burnt. This can translate to a deception that you have burnt up to one pound of fat in a month just by using your elliptical trainer.

Obliviously if you are using sound tracking methods like body fat percentage, you will notice the inconsistencies. But for those stuck with the bathroom scale, a more ineffective method of tracking your weight loss, the numbers will just never add up. Your counter will be telling you, “You are losing” while the bathroom scale looks like it is stuck on the same numbers since you started losing weight 6 months ago.

It is important to know that all commercial calorie counters estimate amount of calorie used in a particular activity.

The better ones require you to enter your weight, height, sex and age to better approximate the amount of calories burnt. In particular treadmills are known to be more representative of actual calories burnt. They have been around longer and their formula and calibrations are more established. On the other hand elliptical trainers and stair climbing machines are not that accurate.

Since in exercising for weight loss you are looking to burn fat, estimating how much fat is burnt is really complicated. This adds to the complexity in using calorie counter to determine amount of fat burnt in an exercise routine.

To be able to accurately determine the amount of calories expended from body fat you need to take into consideration the amount of oxygen breathed during the activity. Fat burning to produce energy is only possible in the presence of oxygen.

Machines approximate this by notifying you of a “fat burning” zone where it is approximated most of the energy for the activity is being supplied from body fat.

In reality, you use about 160-200 calories per session; above your regular calorie use (Resting Metabolic Rate). What most machines do is they show the total approximate calorie burnt including RMR, not to mention the inherent 30% error.

This does not mean you do not track your calories though, just adjust them appropriately.