Chances are, you purchased an elliptical to spare your knees. You want the burn of running without the pounding impact that sends your joint aching. It is not a bad trade-off for comfort if you are in it for long haul instead of marathon.
But there’s so many on the market and they all vary from heavy-duty commercial grade beasts to flimsy pieces of plastic toys. Finding the wrong one can feel like buying a feature you’ll never use. It can also be like getting stuck with a machine whose stride length are too short for your legs or one that break down after a while.
Determining the proper machine depends on knowing exactly what you intend to use it for. Do you need something small enough to fit in closet or is a fully adjustable resistance machine necessary for total body workout? More crucial than the amount of pre-set programs are the range of motion and build quality, so price point is telling.
Match your dollar to the machine that can absorbs your workout: that’s where the real difference lie. Machines in this category tend to cost less than three-hundred bucks. You get what you pay for.
Best Elliptical Machines For Every Budget
Budget-Friendly Entry-Level Ellipticals
These are entry-level machines; they’re simple and lightweight and intended for occasional, light exercise. Companies such as Sunny Health and Schwinn typically corner market on these types of machine, which focus more on affordability then endurance. Stride length is generally fixed and limited, typically no longer than about thirteen to fifteen inches.
If you’re shorter or simply prefer to watch some TV while getting your heart-rate up, that’s great. However, don’t count on these machines to supports rigorous workouts for an entire hour. Their flywheels is small, their construction are lightweight, and they’ll wobble when you really put them through their paces.
They are great for moving around casually but poor at replacing a dedicated cardio workout. What’s interesting is what happens when you step it up to five hundred to eight hundred dollars. This is the sweet spot for most home gyms, as you’re now getting into a heavier flywheel.
Mid-Range Home Gym Models
A heavier flywheel mean a smoother, more natural stride. You’ll be able to feel difference when you pedal. NordicTrack E5 series machines and Sole Fitness models offers better stability and adjustable stride length.
You begin to see feature such as inclined pedals that realy help engage your glutes more effective. This is the sweet spot: Where cost meets performance. You are no longer compromising on core mechanics, but you are paying for something that feel solid underneath you and isn’t going to shake itself to pieces in six months of daily use.
For the enthusiast, it costs over $1K. This is high-end stuff. These are precision engineered to mimic experience of a gym machine. These are brands like Precor or the higher-end Life Fitness machines.
High-End Commercial Grade Machines
Expect big, heavy flywheels and potentially automatic incline adjustment (called power rise). Strides is longer, sometimes as long than two feet or 20 inches. That allow the user to be taller and not have to bend their knees into an awkward position.
Commercial grade construction mean drive systems and bearings will last thousands of miles. If you treat your home workouts like a job, this is the investment that pay off in both feel and longevity. On the other end of the spectrum, the main benefit of compact ellipticals (which are sometimes called apartment-friendly) are completely different.
Compact Space-Saving Options
They fold up, or squat down real low to ground. Companies like Stamina make machine that do this. Some models in Total Gym‘s compact line does this too.
And the trade off is space, not performance. It has a realy small stride length and a jerky motion as the mechanics struggles within their limited footprints. Great options if you live in an apartment with limited space, or you’ve got a corner that’s just not big enough for full size machine.
The catch? Comfort. You’ll notice pretty fast what the range of motion limits is on one of these.
Get them only if space absolutely trumps everything else for you. To conclude, get what fits you and your floor. Take a stride measurement before purchase.
Choosing the Right Fit
You want something big enough so you don’t feel restricted, but not so big as to dominate your livig room. Think about frequency of use. Do you intend on using this daily?
Then invest in a better product with a better flywheel. Will you be using it occasionally? Then one of the entry level products should of do the trick.
It’s all about consistency, not specs. Make sure you choose a machine that feels comfortabley to use…because the only metric that’ll keep you consistent is comfort. Your wallet will thank you…and your knees.
