Life Fitness is a company that belongs to the Brunswick Corporation. Lifecycle exercise bike was the first exercise equipment that this company ever produced. And thanks to this first bike the company pinned a name in the industry of health and fitness ever since they started three decades ago. Aside from producing high-standard elliptical cross trainers, they also manufacture high grade treadmills, home gyms, exercise bikes and also stair climbers. The company is proud to call themselves as innovators because they are able to designed and build over 50 various U.S patent and performance features that definitely changed and move the health and fitness history.

Life Fitness elliptical trainers are always ensured to have the three most important key components that they believe that will make every elliptical machine or trainers stand out and for them to be considered as a high-quality fitness machines. These four components are the design, the biomechanics, the research and the positive result testing. The company owns an in house biomechanics program testing center, where they can test the equipment and see if it can deliver positive result workouts to their customers and also to identify the benefits and the effects of the machine on the user.

Another great thing about this company is that all of their employees are composed of knowledgeable and kind fitness professionals along with professional medical advisory board that helps study the science and medicine of exercise in order to promote beneficial and specific training programs. In order to assure that their company will offer the best services to their consumers, they created the Life Fitness Academy.

Life Fitness have 9 various models of elliptical trainers, there are two of them that are made for commercial or public use, such as in gyms and in health clubs and there are another 5 models that were specifically designed to be used at home. These 5 home machines are built with rear drive systems that have flat stride adjustable patterns, which makes it very useful to all members of the family including the elderly.

Here is a list of their available models and a short review for each one of them:

Life Fitness Club Series Elliptical – built with smooth glides, an accurate HR monitor, great workout programs, exceptional ergonomics and is one of the top ranking trainers within its price range.

Life Fitness X1 Elliptical – amongst all the rear-drive models of Life Fitness this is the most affordable. Little to no noise during exercise, smooth pedal movements, very reliable.

Life Fitness X5 Elliptical – quality made, stable, reliable and has the comforts of ergonomics compared to other expensive gym quality models form other brands.

Life Fitness X8 Elliptical – almost a 5 star rating according to the reviews for all important areas of the machine. It’s adjustability, noiseless level, value, durability, ergonomic stride pattern as well as its program and attractive style.

Life Fitness CT9100RD – a reconditioned gym club quality machine for a reasonable price.

Life Fitness CT9500HR – worth buying remanufactured if you can’t get it on stores brand new.

Life Fitness 91Xi – solid ride, smooth pedal movements, and definitely the best one for cardiovascular exercises.

Life Fitness 95Xi – ergonomic design, auto stride adjustment, natural smooth elliptical movement.

Truly, the world of health and fitness is filled with a lot of ELLIPTICAL EXERCISE MACHINES, from elliptical bikes, elliptical trainers, elliptical crosstrainers, etc. But what exactly is an elliptical exercise machine? When we speak of the word, “elliptical” it actually refers to a movement or anything that mimics and copies that shape of an ellipse or more commonly an “oval”. Ellipse, geometrically defined, is a closed plane curve created by a point moving in a way that the sum of the distance from that point to two other points around the curve is always constant. Nowadays, the term elliptical refers to a workout machine that allows you feet to move and stride back and forth which gives a person a good form of exercise.

Features

This type of exercise equipment is termed as elliptical trainers because of the foot pedals that move back and forth in an elliptical shape. But overall, elliptical trainers is an immovable exercise equipment that provides the same benefits as with a treadmill but functions quite differently. The main thing that differentiates this from the treadmill is a pedal link that is specifically intended for each foot. These individual foot pedals will help you do the exercise safely, effectively and comfortably. With these pedals, you do not need to lift your foot up and down on each step but instead stay put as you move back and forth. These movements along with speed and lengthy strides will surely help you lose weight in a less amount of time. There are also other forms of elliptical exercise machines that come with handgrips on an upright form that also moves back and forth together with the foot pedals. This is a feature that lets elliptical trainers stand out in the market since it allows you to make use of not only your lower body muscles but the muscles of your upper body as well.

Benefits

Another thing that lets elliptical exercise machines stand out, compared to the other forms of treadmills and just by simply jogging or running, is the little to no stress on the hips, the back and the knees during exercise since your feet move together with the motion of the machine and you do not carry the whole weight of your body when you are pounding. There are also models of elliptical exercise machines that allows you to pedal backwards, a feature that lets you work your hamstrings including the rest of your leg muscles in a different way than moving them forward.

Warning

It is important though that the person should know how to properly use the elliptical exercise machine to prevent your body to twist more on the sides. The person should constantly maintaint proper posture and form all throughout the workout session to prevent stress on the lower back muscles.

History

Precor was the first company that manufactured an elliptical exercise machine during 1995. All of a sudden, these elliptical exercise equipments were being loved by gym club owners and home gym owners mainly because it came in smaller models and were noiseless compared to a treadmill.

Arc trainers and elliptical machines are both exercise equipments that are used to burn fats and calories or simply called as cardio fitness machines. Specifically, these two cardio fitness machines were designed to help relieve stress on an individual’s joints that is usually caused by excessive walking or running. These two machines have almost exactly the same look and design.

Arc trainers and exercise elliptical machines however differ when it comes to the movement of their foot plates. Arc trainers have three different styles of pedal motions, namely: low incline, medium incline and high incline. The motion of the foot pedal during low incline mimics the motion done during cross country skiing. At medium incline, the motion is the same as the motion of an elliptical machine and at high incline; the foot medal motion is the same as the motion of a stepper or climber. While an elliptical exercise equipment’s foot pedal moves in an elliptical motion. This movement was designed by the inventor himself or herself who is a Precor engineer in the 1990s, to help his or her daughter who suffered from a heel injury. According to the inventor, the elliptical movement of the elliptical machine reduces the impact on the joints. Nowadays, there are a lot of manufacturers that produce elliptical trainers unlike the arc trainers which are only manufactured by a single company known as the Cybex International.
According to Cybex International, their arc trainers were specifically designed to keep the user on an upright position to avoid putting too much pressure and weight on the hips and on the knee joints. A study published in the “Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research” claims that these two exercise machines do not provide any forms of discomfort on the knee and lower back. However, that same study discovered that elliptical machines provides discomfort when used at different intensities and ARC trainers also does the same regardless of any type of intensity used.

Another thing that differentiates these two machines are the benefits of the biomechanics that they were built with. Cybex International claims that an individual can burn more calories with their exercise machine compared to an elliptical machine. This is because of the biomechanics of the ARC trainers that were intended to work on the large muscles of the lower body, which includes the glutteal muscles and the quadriceps. An exercise that makes use of the large muscles of the body can burn a lot of calories faster.

The benefits that these two exercise equipments provide all depends on the intensity of the workout. There isn’t any single exercise equipment that will let an individual burn a lot of calories in a short amount of time. The best thing for an individual to do is to combine his or her cardio fitness equipment exercises with other forms of exercise to prevent him or her from getting bored.

When it comes to elliptical machines, the market is indeed flooded with a lot of them that one can choose from, different brands, different manufacturers, different styles and even different features. Truly, choosing one amongst the wide range of choices is a confusing task.

This article will guide you on how to choose the right elliptical machine.
Models & Features

Before picking out one amongst the rest of the choices, it is best if you try to compare the models of the elliptical machines that are available first. Most of the time, the trainer or the salesclerk that stands right behind you will force you to buy the most expensive one. As much as possible, do not listen to what he or she says. With the use of a piece of paper and a pen list down the available models of the elliptical machines and try to Google about the listed elliptical machines. This way, you will be able to compare the models and features, not only here their positive benefits but also unbiased, positive and negative reviews of the previous buyers of the elliptical machines.

Elliptical machines are indeed quite expensive and purchasing one is like a health insurance or investment. The money that you will pay for a machine is not something that you can just pull out of a shell.
Training Programs

Most machines will have a maximum of 10 preset training programs. There are also some that doesn’t have even one. If you are somebody who opts to have a progressive training and a long term goal then it is best if you combine your elliptical machine with a trainer who is equipped with various and multiple training programs. They usually have around 4 to 24 training programs that you can utilize.

Resistance Settings

Every elliptical machine differs when it comes to resistance settings. Most elliptical machines models are not equipped with an adjustable resistance settings. If you need to control the resistance of the machine as you train, then take your time to look for the one with resistance settings that can range from 6 to 20 different settings.

Heart Rate Monitor

Unlike the resistance settings, most elliptical machines that are being manufactured today is equipped with a heart rate monitor, however they differ when it comes to the type. The type of heart rate monitors are standard wireless, dual grip, hand grip, pulse grip and chest strap. Each of this type of heart rate monitor has its own strengths and weaknesses, and it all depends on the preference of the user. It is important however that as a user, you must at least try of how this type of monitor will work on you and see if you are comfortable with it or not.

Consoles

There are various types of consoles that elliptical machines could come with and the choice depends on the lighting of the room of where the user plans to place his or her elliptical machine. The consoles could either be an LCD display, a Multi-color LCD, a Blue Back-Lit LCD, a Clear-view Back lit, an LED Dot-matrix or a single and multiple windows.

Features

A lot of elliptical machines are built with unnecessary yet beneficial features and it also depends on the preference of the user if he or she wants to have it on his or her elliptical machine. These features no matter how many do not really put any additional amount to the price. The most common additional features are foot pedals, bottle holders, cooling fans, adjustable foot plates, wheels, reverse resistance, oversized pedals and even MP3s.

Weight

It is indeed proper that you already have in mind of where you plan to place and locate your elliptical machine at home, since elliptical machines differ in weight. Some machines are around 275 pounds while there are those that reach 400 pounds (average is around 300 pounds). If you plan to move your elliptical machine on the living room when you are going to use then bring it back to the storage room as soon as you are done, then it is best to choose the one that weighs around 275 pounds. As much as possible though, in order to avoid hassle, find a spot in your house where it is spacious enough to fit in your elliptical machine. You can find the weight of the available elliptical machine through the description tag that is usually attached to it.

Warranties and Price

Every elliptical machine has different warranties depending on the manufacturer. There are four main areas of the machine that is covered with warranty and every part differs in the length of the warranty, the frame, the parts, the electronics and the labor. As much as possible, choose the machine with a lifetime warranty on the parts and at least 1 year on the labor. It is not necessary to pick out the one that is the most expensive since it is the one with the longest warranties. The best and great elliptical machine is the one that does not cost a fortune but with enough length of warranty.

This world is indeed overwhelmed with a lot of things that will help a person feel good about himself or herself. It seems like every single person in this world desires to lose weight in order to look perfect. There are tons of diet books and fitness guides that are published every week or every month that continuously claims that the new book is better than the old one since it will help a person lose weight faster and easier.

The same thing goes with fitness equipments, specifically elliptical exercise equipments. There is always a new elliptical trainer being manufactured that claims to be a better exercise equipment than the rest. With the rise of the newly manufactured exercise equipment, people become fascinated of the new style and look that it has which then leaves the other exercise equipments as part of the bad ones.

Elliptical trainers are gaining popularity nowadays because of all the positive claims about them. But is it true that they are better? Do elliptical trainers have greater performance than the other exercise machines? Although elliptical trainers are known to act as an exercise and fitness machine, still a lot of people are wondering, can they lose weight with an elliptical trainer?

The main thing that differentiates elliptical trainers from other fitness equipments is the fact that they feature the combination of a star tread machine and a treadmill. The foot beds or the foot pedal of this machine moves in an elliptical motion which allows you to exercise while avoiding impact on the joints (a discomfort found on treadmills) and boredom (a common complaint of star tread machine users).

There are a lot of positive claims regarding the effects of elliptical trainers. And yes, one can lose weight with elliptical machines, mainly because of the style of exercise that they provide to the user. It helps a person lose weight by focusing on the large muscles of the body. The use of the large muscles of the body allows a person to burn calories faster than using any other types of fitness equipments.

Nevertheless, regardless of the fitness equipment that a person make use of, the number of calories that a person can burn depends on the intensity of the workout. It is best not to depend on the fitness equipment alone since it usually focuses on just 3 – 5 large muscle groups of the body. If you are planning to purchase an elliptical trainer sometime soon, it is also recommended that you try one out at a gym or fitness center so that you will know for yourself if the equipment suits your needs or not. This way, you can avoid spending too much money on something that you might end up not using since you do not find it beneficial and helpful anyways.

Elliptical machines are one of the different types of cardio fitness equipments that’s been gaing some popularity ever since they were introduced in the market. Perhaps, it is indeed impossible if you haven’t heard of them ever. They are considered as the best piece of exercise equipment and a lot of people are utilizing these machines including homeowners and gym or health club owners. If you are one of those that may have heard a thing or two about elliptical machines but haven’t tried them yet or are clueless of how to use it, then there’s no need to worry since this article will teach you how to use an elliptical machine properly, and effectively.

It is normal for a person to feel shy and intimidated when using new equipment for the first time especially if it’s in a gym. However, there are tips and step by step guides that are available online, like this one that will help you avoid the humiliation and the risk of falling off during exercising. Here are a few elliptical trainer techniques to get you started.

• As soon as you step on the elliptical exercise equipment, be sure that step and place your foot on the foot pedal that’s in the lowest position, just like riding a bike.

• You move the pedal of the elliptical trainer by striding, and you must be aware that the proper way of striding the pedal is by stepping it forward. If your foot goes backward then you are not doing it correctly. Back strides are only applicable and effective for long time users of the machine. Most of the time, there will be a gym club trainer that will inform you about this, but there are times when all of them occupied.

• As much as possible, start slowly then allow the natural movement of the stride to guide your motion. If it’s your first time, then it is normal for you to feel a bit strange about the strides.

• The lowest resistance level available on the machine is the one recommended for the first time users. You can then slowly increase the resistance to the point where you are most comfortable of using the controls on the console of the elliptical machine.

• The lowest motion usually available on elliptical machines is the cross country skiing motion. Balance yourself by holding on the handle bars or grips then do the cross country skiing motion. The handle bars exist to help you keep your balance. But soon, when you are already able to control your balance on the machine, try not to hold on any grips or bars since this way, you are not only making use of the large muscles of your lower extremities but also the ones on the upper extremities.

• Just like warming your body up before any workout sessions, use less resistance on the machine first in order to allow your muscles to warm up and allow it to remember the proper way of using an elliptical trainer.

• 10 minutes is the length of time recommended for first time users of the machine.

• While performing the exercise make sure to keep your back straight and stand tall in order to avoid straining your back and knees.

Gyms and health club fitness centers are usually employed with trainers and staff that are ready to help anyone to get started on a new piece of exercise equipment. They are also the ones that will guide you to use the simplest elliptical trainers to allow you to get used to how elliptical trainers move.

Elliptical machines were specifically designed to allow and assist an individual while performing cardiovascular workouts. According to Jonathan Myers, author of “Exercise and Cardiovascular Health”, regular cardiovascular workouts including aerobic exercises will help a person stay active and reduce his or her risk for cardiovascular diseases preventing him or her from strokes and hypertension. Elliptical trainers can definitely motivate a person to exercise a longer period of time which will in turn help him or her reach his or her fitness goals.

Two of the best forms of exercise that will provide the most benefits to an individual are walking and jogging. Walking or jogging daily will reduce your risk of developing any form of heart diseases by 45 percent. This is according to the The New York Times. And also, to walk and to jog approximately 12 miles per week, you can reduce the levels of bad cholesterol in your body and longer periods of exercise will certainly replace the bad cholesterol with the good ones. However, not all individuals feel comfortable jogging and walking in public and some do not have that much time in their daily lives to prepare themselves in order to jog around the neighborhood. Because of this, ELLIPTICAL TRAINERS were born. Elliptical trainers will let you walk and jog right at the comforts of your own home. According to Dr. Len Kravitz, a Doctor that worked with the American Council on Exercise, usage of elliptical trainers will allow a person to burn 8 to 9 calories per minute, which is equivalent to a running pace of 11.5 minutes or equivalent to an intense form of aerobics.
But how much time does a person need to spend on an elliptical machine?

In order to gain the most benefits from the elliptical machine, it is a must that you should use your elliptical equal to the length of walking and jogging of about 12 to 20 miles per week. There are certain elliptical machines can display on the console the number of miles you have already travelled using the machine. If you are an individual with the strength and capacity of running and jogging 15 minutes to reach 1 mile, then you should run about 26 to 43 minutes on the machine daily. However, if you can only spend three days per week on the machine, then you should 60 to 100 minutes for every session.

If you are worried that you are not capable of exercising at least 30 minutes on the machine per session and because of this you might not be able to achieve your fitness goals, then DON’T FRET! All you have to do is to break up the number of minutes for 3 times a day. For example, if you aim to use the machine 30 minutes a day, then do 10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes at lunch time and anoth 10 at night. When using the elliptical machine, it is important that you make use of every minute of your workout session. As much as possible, burn the most calories and try to improve your performace, your endurance and your fitness level. Try not to hold on to the grips or the handrails, instead work on your upper extremities by using the movable bars as you stride.

If you are the type of person who is interested in fitness and health, then perhaps it is not new to you that using an elliptical machine as a part of your cardio workout session, is one of the most effective forms of workout. Elliptical machines have proven their worth and benefits ever since they first came out in the market, that is why all of a sudden they had a name in the world of fitness industry. These machines are known to be of help in weight loss. Not only the previous customers of this machine would agree, most fitness athletes including Gabriella Reece (world known volleyball player) can assure that sprinting on an elliptical trainer 30 seconds to 1 minute would let you burn a lot of calories in less time.

Health fitness clubs are equipped with not only fitness programs and session workouts but also other types of fitness equipments like the treadmill, the bikes, stair steppers, etc. but amongst all of them, ELLIPTICAL EXERCISE TRAINERS are the most recommended type of cardio fitness equipment by most health club owners. Using this machine will allow a person to perform full body workout while preventing any form of pressure or stress on the joints and knees. These two parts of the body are usually the ones that carry most of the weight of an individual during exercise with the use of other types of exercise equipment.

If you own an exercise elliptical machine at home, yet you do not know how to utilize it more effectively, here is an example of a cardio interval workout that you can perform together with you elliptical exercise equipment. This cardio workout will gradually allow you to perform exercises with higher intensities later on if you do this for over a week or a month. Still, you may perform consistent single intensity level exercises for fat loss but you will notice greater progress if you try this interval workout.

This sample cardio workout is known as the Twenty Minute Interval Elliptical Workout. You perform this by simply running through various levels of exertion and you need to repeat the cycle several times for 20 minutes. You can then gradually increase the resistance, the incline, and the duration if you notice that you have already gained some strength.

• Warm your body up at the lowest intensity for 3 to 4 minutes.
• Increase your intensity level for 2 minutes.
• Then raise your intensity to high for 1 minute.
• Then raise it to a very high level for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

You have the option of varying the duration and number of intensity levels depending on how you want your workout session to be like. Just do not forget to start with low and end with high intensities during your entire workout.

Nowadays, the world of health and fitness is flooded with exercise and fitness tools. Most manufacturers produce a new model of an exercise tool within a month or so. If you try to check out the malls, you will certainly notice that there are a lot of different types of tools and things that focuses on health and fitness, diet books, exercise equipments, . And it seems like almost every individual in this world wants to look perfect. However, not all of those fitness crazes are able to commit to what they are promoting. Against all of these things, one thing is for sure. If you want to look good, lose weight and become health over-all, an exercise machine is what you need.

When it comes to exercise machines, there are a lot of them that you can choose from, especially when you visit the gym or the health club. But amongst all of those exercise equipments, there are two of them that stands out, the TREADMILL and the ELLIPTICAL TRAINER.
But what makes these two machines stand out amongst the rest? And why is it that a lot of gym users favor them against the other exercise machines? And which one is better, the treadmill or the elliptical trainer?

DIFFERENCES:

Elliptical Trainers

• A new piece of exercise equipment in the industry of health and fitness that allows a person to burn calories in the same way a person can burn calories as he or she is jogging and running.
• Decreases the risk of injuries on the back, knees, hips and ankles that a person is usually at risk for when exercising on the streets.
• A low-impact exercise elliptical equipment that goes easy on the joints of your upper and lower body.
• Is built with foot pedals that you can step on to while working out.
• Exercising with an elliptical equipment will let you feel like you are running on air.
• The best choice for the elderly and for those with knee and joint problems.
• Mimics or copies the elliptical motion of the foot as well as how the legs extend, how the tips swing and rotate when a person walks, jogs and runs.
• Elliptical motion allows an individual to make use of all the major muscles of the lower body.
• Usage of the lower body muscles will allow a person to burn calories in a less amount of time.
• There are certain elliptical trainers that comes with handlebars that will allow a person to use his or her upper body muscles as well that could provide a great contribution to the number of burned calories during exercise.

Treadmills

• The most popular type of fitness equipment that existed for several years already.
• Very simple and easy to use and is a good piece of cardio fitness equipment.
• Allows an individual to walk, jog and run without the need to go out on the road and there are also models of treadmills that mimics the movement of hill climbing.
• Using this exercise equipment requires your body to absorb the impact or the force that one usually gets during walking, jogging or running your weight is like multiplying by 2.5 times.
• Treadmills can certainly meet the exercise needs of an individual. You get the opportunity to set the speed and set the incline to meet the person’s desired cardiovascular needs.
• With treadmills, you may walk up an incline, a heart pumping run on a super high speed.

If you are a person who dazzles in the world of health and fitness, perhaps, the term ELLIPTICAL BIKE is not something new to your ears. Almost every single health gym club has this type of elliptical exercise equipment. However, there are those individuals who are just starting to take advantage of exercising and visiting a gym.
What is an Elliptical Bike?

An Elliptical Bike is just like any regular bike, but it is immovable and only stays in one place or position. It is a specially designed form of bike that you can commonly find in health clubs, spas and fitness gyms. Along with the other forms of exercise elliptical equipment, it can help a person to burn calories, lose weight and become physically fit. It allows a person to perform a smooth and quiet total body workout that involves both the upper and lower extremities of the body without the need of having to jog or run around the neighborhood.

Elliptical bikes benefit most the leg and the thigh muscles since it mimics the movement done during aerobic exercise. Using an elliptical bike is the same as performing different types of aerobic exercises but you are only staying in one location. Most elliptical bikes are constructed and made with the use of heavy duty metal equipments along with large slip-resistant (water-resistant) foot platforms that will assure that safety of the individual using the machine. Nowadays, the manufacturers make use of technology and they constantly produce elliptical exercise equipments especially the elliptical bike that is based on computer. A computerized elliptical bike, allows the user to change and vary the difficulty, the resistance and also increase the pace. Increasing the pace of the bike is like riding your own bike on the hill. There are those people who prefer a regular bike than an elliptical bike because they actually think that they can save money if they stay with the regular bike instead. But the truth is, an elliptical bike can provide you more benefits than just the bike itself. With an elliptical bike, you get to perform intense bike actions since you are required to stand and move all of your body parts as you are using the machine. Elliptical bikes are also the same as the other low-impact exercise equipments. It allows you to use it naturally, as if like you are riding a bike on the air. There are a lot of athletes who love to use this exercise elliptical equipment, especially the skiers.

An elliptical bike exercise is composed of walking that is done at various speed, and resistance levels. Elliptical bikes are made with LCD consoles that allow you to detect and keep track of your distance, resistance and the length of time you have spent on the bike. Not only athletes but a lot of home gym owners love to have this in their home because it does not take a lot of space, saves time and money as well.