Elliptical Trainers Question

Art VanDelay

Art VanDelay

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Art VanDelay
Ok, this is remotely aviation related because we all want to stay in shape and keep our Medicals - right ? Between Rugby in college and running in the Marine Corps my knees are pretty much shot. Ortho says running is out. So it's pretty much been swimming and elliptical machines for me for cardio work.

Anyway it's time to get a new elliptical type trainer for the home gym. I went down to the sporting goods store and tried out a few. Even though it's technically not an elliptical I really liked the Bowflex Max. Anybody got any meaningful reviews or insight to offer ?
Thanks,
Art
 
No meaningful review, but I use the elliptical too at the gym due to my knees. I don't know how the Bowflex feels, but I always figure if I got one I'd get the same one the gym has. Does the Bowflex feel as 'good' as that one? Some of these home ones feel cheap. Not smooth and solid.
 
I use a waterrower and couldn't be happier. I have crepitus pretty bad so I tend to be mindful of my knees. No issues with it. It's a tad bit pricey, but they also have a rental program. I enjoy it, and it's given me a great workout so far. I usually row to warm up, then row for another 400-500 meters between sets on the weights.
 
There is a huge difference between the home machines and the commercial equipment at the gym. Although I like ellipticals, honestly the biggest bang for your buck is going to be a stationary cycle, and I mean a commercial spin class type which will set you back a grand and a half for a new one, and you can probably get a used one for a few hundred. Commercial ellipticals start at three grand and go up from there.

If price was no object, I would get a Precor AMT, which is not actually an elliptical, but a machine that more replicates the normal stride. It starts at about $7K.
 
Bad knees prescribe cycling or spinning.
 
I looked at ellipticals for a while and decided I couldn't get a good one for a reasonable price. I'm not familiar with the bow-flex but from what I saw, anything under $5k wasn't going to get you a reliable, trouble free machine with a smooth feel. I thought about trying to find a used one from a gym or something but decided that running was still the best option for me.
 
Sac Arrow said:
There is a huge difference between the home machines and the commercial equipment at the gym. Although I like ellipticals, honestly the biggest bang for your buck is going to be a stationary cycle, and I mean a commercial spin class type which will set you back a grand and a half for a new one, and you can probably get a used one for a few hundred. Commercial ellipticals start at three grand and go up from there.

If price was no object, I would get a Precor AMT, which is not actually an elliptical, but a machine that more replicates the normal stride. It starts at about $7K.
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What he says ^^^^^^

I try to use that machine at the gym. I like that it works the arms too.
 
The gym I go to has NordicTrac elliptical's. I've only used them a few times, but they seem to be a decent machine.

Are you still able to do leg exercises with weights? For the long term, it would be a good idea to keep them strengthened and conditioned with a weighted leg extension machine or something of the like.
 
The home machines simply do not have the adjustments to fit a person's height, resistance, and other requirements.
 
Ryanb said:
The gym I go to has NordicTrac elliptical's. I've only used them a few times, but they seem to be a decent machine.

Are you still able to do leg exercises with weights? For the long term, it would be a good idea to keep them strengthened and conditioned with a weighted leg extension machine or something of the like.
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I know you're not addressing me, but I still work out with weights, since there is no 'impact' per se. Like you say, I like to keep them strengthened. It's just pounding from walking/running or whatever else that makes them hurt.
 
I have a Precor, I bought it with the settlement I got after I crashed my motorcycle in 1999. It was about $1800 then, a similar unit now is $3500. It's a very solid unit, and has never given a moment's trouble.
 
Precor 5.35 is what I have. Its better than many gym units I've tried.
 
BrianNC said:
I know you're not addressing me, but I still work out with weights, since there is no 'impact' per se. Like you say, I like to keep them strengthened. It's just pounding from walking/running or whatever else that makes them hurt.
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Agreed. I rarely ever do any type of running/jogging, as I try to avoid impact exercises. I only lift moderate weight and light cardio by various other exercises.

Believe it or not, but Pilates is great cardio, even though it's mostly geared toward women. Little to no impact, which I like.
 
Ryanb said:
Agreed. I rarely ever do any type of running/jogging, as I try to avoid impact exercises. I only lift moderate weight and light cardio by various other exercises.

Believe it or not, but Pilates is great cardio, even though it's mostly geared toward women. Little to no impact, which I like.
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I'm very familiar with Pilates term wise and know that many people do it, but I have no idea what kind of exercising it is. It seems that the Crossfit box I belonged to for awhile had a Pilates class on Saturdays, but it cost extra so I never went.
 
A friend told me about companies that take top of the line gym equipment and refurbish it foe about half price. He bought a $7500 elliptical for approximately $3500. Google.
 
BrianNC said:
I'm very familiar with Pilates term wise and know that many people do it, but I have no idea what kind of exercising it is. It seems that the Crossfit box I belonged to for awhile had a Pilates class on Saturdays, but it cost extra so I never went.
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It's basically a series of resistance exercises involving your own body weight. I haven't done much of it, but it's pretty good.
 
I can totally relate to the bad knee situation. And many other bone injuries, and some not so easy to explain ones too :)

But, I would go with an endless pool, if you have the room. You can get them in a SPA nowadays, so the best of water resistance and heat therapy. I put an endless pool fast lane in my pool and love it! I swim at least 5 days a week. The negative side effects are: my kids use it all the time, our food bill has gone way up, my shirts are tight in all the right areas and lose in the right areas, and we have a lot of guests.
 
I have a Bowflex Max. Paid something like $1,400 for it. The computer mostly crapped out about the 2nd month. It stuck on some intermediate resistance setting that'll get my heart rate up to around 125 if I keep the rpms up. The customer service was indifferent and a PITA to deal with. I still use it, it burns calories. But, its not my favorite way to do things. I'm riding my mountain bike for now. But, plan on going back to the gym when the weather gets cold.
 
Cap'n Jack said:
What he says ^^^^^^

I try to use that machine at the gym. I like that it works the arms too.
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What he said that the other guy said.

I'm also a huge fan of the Precor AMT. Every now and again you can get a nice used (ex-gym) one for around $3500.

When Cap'n Jack says "working the arms" - this is not like just any old plain elliptical with arms. The entire stride is natural and integrated in a way that you don't get on a spinning elliptical. If you want to take tiny but high steps (stair-like), you can do it, or if you want to take long stretched out strides you can do it too. You don't change or set anything, you just make your stride longer, shorter, deeper, shallower - and you can alter it all the time - the machine adapts to you.

Pictures speak a thousand words I suppose:

AMT-Stride-Guide-4-up.png



I can get my heartrate up to 150 on that very quickly, and I don't get anywhere near as tired or in as much pain as spending 45 minutes on a treadmill or a plain elliptical trying to get up to 150. Good results with low effort - my kind of machine.
 
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deonb said:
What he said that the other guy said.

I'm also a huge fan of the Precor AMT. Every now and again you can get a nice used (ex-gym) one for around $3500.

When Cap'n Jack says "working the arms" - this is not like just any old plain elliptical with arms. The entire stride is natural and integrated in a way that you don't get on a spinning elliptical. If you want to take tiny but high steps (stair-like), you can do it, or if you want to take long stretched out strides you can do it too. You don't change or set anything, you just make your stride longer, shorter, deeper, shallower - and you can alter it all the time - the machine adapts to you.

Pictures speak a thousand words I suppose:

AMT-Stride-Guide-4-up.png



I can get my heartrate up to 150 on that very quickly, and I don't get anywhere near as tired or in as much pain as spending 45 minutes on a treadmill or a plain elliptical trying to get up to 150. Good results with low effort - my kind of machine.
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Looks interesting. I'd have to try one first before I shelled out that kind of money though.
 
I don't know what your price range is but the Schwinn 470 looks decent as far as home-grade equipment goes.
 
Art VanDelay said:
Ok, this is remotely aviation related because we all want to stay in shape and keep our Medicals - right ? Between Rugby in college and running in the Marine Corps my knees are pretty much shot. Ortho says running is out. So it's pretty much been swimming and elliptical machines for me for cardio work.

Anyway it's time to get a new elliptical type trainer for the home gym. I went down to the sporting goods store and tried out a few. Even though it's technically not an elliptical I really liked the Bowflex Max. Anybody got any meaningful reviews or insight to offer ?
Thanks,
Art
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You should do what I did, look on craigslist in your area And look for one in great condition. Most people buy these darn things and don't have the discipline to use it therefore becomes an expensive hangar. But if people are motivated to move out or some life circumstance they will sell it cheap....trust me!!

I purchased a Lance Armstrong one for 100 bucks, it would easily sell for 800 but the person was moving out of state and didn't want to keep it.

There are deals out there you just have to look and be patient!
 
I bought a commercial Life Fitness 9500 Elliptical used for 1300.00. Fantastic machine that I will never wear out. I found it at a fitness supply house...they had just re-upped a University. They had about a dozen of them.
 
What's important to me-

A comfortable fit and a natural stride. Not all machines fit all body types.

Automatic programs that adjust resistance and incline. Some hard, some not as hard. If I want to push hard I listen to hard rock. Sometimes I'd rather stream a tv show and just do a brisk walking pace. My machine has lots of programs and I can set base speeds and inclines within those programs. Variation is good.

Heart rate monitoring. I can use a program to achieve a set pulse rate using a chest band or I can just check it occasionally in other programs by grasping the fixed handles. I like both.
 
+1 for the precor brand. Check craigslist for precor. We were able to pick one up for $1200. Precor is also the original patent holder for the elliptical and they did a TON of research regarding stride length, etc before bringing them to market.

Generally: any elliptical that you buy should never hyperflex your knees. The way to check this is to stand on the elliptical and bring the foot pad to it's highest point. Look down; if you can still see you forefoot (toes and beginning of the rest of the foot), then the elliptical is probably good for you. My wife and i tried about 6 different brands before settling on the precor. The precor brand is also very durable and we bought ours with about 1 million steps on it in 2011. The only thing we have had to do is replace the battery and keep the tracks clean.

Another option, if you like to exercise outdoors, is the elliptigo. It's a "bike" that you pedal using elliptical style pedals.
Links:
http://shop.elliptigo.com/Arc-Bike-...Ld4S8VzfwzZmUqmzJ52Kfm0lA3cVHkrRoCGDIQAvD_BwE

 
RudyP said:
Wow - this is the first time I have seen the opposite of the common hanger/hangar mistake on here!
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I was thinking the same thing but I wasn't going to say anything. lol.
 
Art VanDelay said:
Looks interesting. I'd have to try one first before I shelled out that kind of money though.
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Art,

Any chance you're getting older and feeling the ravages of age? Kinda said in jest because I'm likely older than you but have a fiend in his late fifties who has worn his knees badly enough he can only ride his bicycle to work and back. No more running for him. One of the hazards of keeping physically fit is seeing things wear out. Good luck on keeping the knees functional and pain free.
 
Norman said:
Art,

Any chance you're getting older and feeling the ravages of age? Kinda said in jest because I'm likely older than you but have a fiend in his late fifties who has worn his knees badly enough he can only ride his bicycle to work and back. No more running for him. One of the hazards of keeping physically fit is seeing things wear out. Good luck on keeping the knees functional and pain free.
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Ok, thanks for that !
Truth be told it's actually the ankles more than the knees. I wore out the old elliptical, it was a Schwinn. According to my Doc I've been hitting it too hard. I'm 52 and would work my way up to a heart rate of 160bpm and stay there for twenty minutes for a total workout of forty minutes. Doc says that's way too high for someone my age. I told him in my late thirties I would do 180 so I felt I was slacking at 160. Time to slow down I guess.
 
deonb said:
Apparently 24-Hour Fitness went with Precor nationwide - and they have free 3 day trial passes. So maybe call your closest one and see if they have an AMT on the floor?
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Ok thanks for that - I'd really like to try one out. I've got a trip to Rio De Janerio coming up and the hotel has a professional gym so maybe they'll have one.
 
Ryanb said:
The gym I go to has NordicTrac elliptical's. I've only used them a few times, but they seem to be a decent machine.

Are you still able to do leg exercises with weights? For the long term, it would be a good idea to keep them strengthened and conditioned with a weighted leg extension machine or something of the like.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah I'm big believer in weighted squats on my strength training days.
 
10ys ago I bought a used Life Fitness X5 off of craigslist...loved that elliptical, heavy duty and quiet. And it had adjustable stride length which was important for when me (6'2") and my wife (5'4") use it. Then lightening fried the main board and as soon as the estimate came in for the board repair the insurance company replaced it.

We looked at both the rear wheel and front step style ellipticals. We both felt the rear wheel design seemed more natural. So we went with another Life Fitness '5' series with adjustable stride length. Love it. Only downside is that is so long compared to the front step versions. I recommend try both styles. And if funds permit, get the heavier duty ones that are also used in the clubs. I could care less about the display and actually I always cover up everthing other than the heart rate, crank the tunes and usually use a hill or H/R hill profile. They can get really expensive with the add-on display options.

I'm 51 and usually go at least 45min. I aim for heart rate peaks of 150-155 but not for long.
 
Art,

While I hate to admit it, I'm 77 and given the average lifespan of men I consider I'm living on borrowed time just based on age. Most of me is still working as advertised, but I realize theing both physically and mentally are slowing a bit. My hope is to die while I still have all my poop in a scoop and just fail to wake up some morning. Oh yeah, I check the obits first thing in the morning. If I see mine, I'm going back to bed so I can say I died there. :D
 
Art VanDelay said:
Ok, this is remotely aviation related because we all want to stay in shape and keep our Medicals - right ? Between Rugby in college and running in the Marine Corps my knees are pretty much shot. Ortho says running is out. So it's pretty much been swimming and elliptical machines for me for cardio work.

Anyway it's time to get a new elliptical type trainer for the home gym. I went down to the sporting goods store and tried out a few. Even though it's technically not an elliptical I really liked the Bowflex Max. Anybody got any meaningful reviews or insight to offer ?
Thanks,
Art
Click to expand...


I have similar issues with running and plan to get something for my house, as well.

I have not used the Max, but have heard great things about it. I am a big fan of the Arc Trainer, which is similar to an elliptical but has a much wider range of motion and emulates the feel of running. I get my heart rate up very quickly on the Arc Trainer.

Abram Finkelstein
N48KY
 
Norman said:
Art,

While I hate to admit it, I'm 77 and given the average lifespan of men I consider I'm living on borrowed time just based on age. Most of me is still working as advertised, but I realize theing both physically and mentally are slowing a bit. My hope is to die while I still have all my poop in a scoop and just fail to wake up some morning. Oh yeah, I check the obits first thing in the morning. If I see mine, I'm going back to bed so I can say I died there. :D
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Who said you were average? I had a CFI who is in his 80's and I hang out with a pilot who is in his 90's You still have a long way to go!
 
FloridaPilot said:
Who said you were average? I had a CFI who is in his 80's and I hang out with a pilot who is in his 90's You still have a long way to go!
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The way the world is getting crazier by the day I'm not sure I want to hang around to see the ending. LOL. :rolleyes:
 
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