Friday, March 6, 2009

Things to consider when buying an elliptical trainer!

By Amanda Jocks

Nowadays, more and more people have become aware of the benefits that an exercising routine can have for their health and body - but as they are too busy to go to a health club they use home fitness equipment. Therefore, the demand for this type of machines has greatly increased in the last few years, especially the demand for elliptical trainers.

An elliptical trainer, as we've already said, is a home fitness machine which allows you to take care of your health and body in the comfort of your own home, any time you want. There are many types of such trainers on the market today, but not all of them have all the features that you might need when exercising, therefore when you want to buy one, you should think about a few things first.

When you first decide to make the purchase, you should check your wallet and make an estimation on how much you are willing to spend. Elliptical machines come at various prices - from $300 to $3000 or more; but the tricky part is that not always the most expensive one is the best; and another catch is that you might never need the features offered by the most expensive models.

Anyway, there are certain features that you shouldn't neglect. For example, never neglect the stride length, since it can create you discomfort, and that will usually lead to not doing your workout and abandoning the sole purpose that you purchased the elliptical in the first place. So if you are an average height person, go for at least an 18 - 20" stride(some cheap models offer a 12 - 14" one, but that's ridiculously small). A tall person, though, needs at least a 20" stride, if not a 21" one in some cases.

The adjustable resistance is also a good indicator for an elliptical trainer's quality; you will be needing many resistance levels, as you progress with your workout. The ramp(or incline) is another factor to consider, since will help you workout various muscle groups. Depending on your priorities, you could choose a model that also has upper body workout arms - great extra effort that will add up. The last but not least things to consider are the weight capacity(because it gives you a perspective of how durable the machine is) and the warranty(which is usually a great sign for a product's quality).

Finally, these are some of the most important things you should consider when buying an elliptical trainer, but you should also consider those "delicate" features offered almost by any quality machine, such as the display panel which can show you the distance, speed, time and even the burned calories.

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