Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Things to consider when buying an elliptical trainer!

By Amanda Jocks

Exercising is beneficial for anyone's health - that's what people started to pay attention to lately. As they have no time to go to a gym and follow an exercising routine there, they start to look out for other options, like home fitness equipment. This explains the growing demand in the last years for such equipment, and especially for elliptical trainers.

Whatever your fitness goal is, an elliptical trainer will help you achieve it from the comfort of your own home - exercising whenever you want to. As there are many types on the market today, you should be very careful when choosing what you want to buy, since not all of them have the features that you might need to succeed - there are a few things to consider when making a decision.

The budget is a very important aspect of your decision - and with prices ranging from $300 to $3000, you are in front of a pretty tough choice. Forget about the myth that the most expensive one is the best one, because it's not always like that and because you might not need all those expensive features the 3K one offers you.

However, there are some basic features that any elliptical machine should have and you should consider too. First of all, the stride length is very important because a short one does not allow you to fully work your leg muscles and it also makes your workout less comfortable than a longer stride elliptical. Usually a cheaper machine offers you a 12 - 14" stride, but for an average height person it will be proper an 18 - 20" stride and for taller people a 20" or even a 21" stride.

You should think about your progress from the very beginning, and anticipate that at some point you're going to need more resistance levels - so choose a machine that has many. The incline degree is also an important feature, since it gives you the help needed to work more muscle groups then in a normal position. Also, if you want a full body workout(and that's desirable), you should pick a model that has the upper body workout arms. Finally, you should think about the two most important features - the weight capacity(which practically tells you how strong your machine really is) and the warranty(usually the producer's opinion on the product's quality).

With all of these being said, we can conclude that there are many differences amongst the various types of elliptical machines and you should choose wisely. In the end, you shouldn't only settle for those basic features, and reach for better ones, such as the display able to show you the distance, time elapsed and calories burned. - 16004

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