Horizon EX-69 elliptical machine review

The Horizon EX-69 comes with a patented design called Straight Up which helps maintain your posture and keeps it erect while working out.

It comes with 11 pre set exercises and 16 resistance levels that you can vary as per your desire to change the intensity of your training.

There are mainly 3 target programs that emphasize time- rolling ,distance-mountain, or calories burned -reverse train. You can also design your own custom workouts. As usual there is a pulse monitoring unit  located on the stationary handlebars. You can just touch them for a few seconds for it to tell you what you heart rate is.

There is one disadvantage though. The stride length is fixed at 20 inches which can be a problem if you are very tall, because the stride length depends on your height.

Neither the incline can be adjusted. The moveable handle bars challenge your body’s upper section while the lower section is trained with the elliptical movement that you experience while on the trainer.

Lifetime help for the frame and brake. There is a 1-year warranty for parts and the same kind of coverage for labor.

The trainer is great for music lovers as you can listen to your favourite music with Surround effect. If you have never listened to the quality of surround music that Sony provides along with the machine then it is high time that you check it out.

Read More

Smooth Agile DMT X2 elliptical machine review

One of the notable features about the Smooth Agile DMT X2 is that the stride can be adjusted from 18 to 21 inches as per your desire. This has a lot of advantages that anyone can use this and a a result the it becomes ideal for the home. You can also adjust the stride shape. The stride can be made shorter and taller for more of a stepping motion.

It comes with 15 exercise programs and 9 of them are pre set exercise routines. You can also make your own programs and it will be embedded to the system. It has 20 levels of resistance.

There is the interval program with low and high levels which focuses on the core muscle groups and literally sculpts your body, there is the fat burning program. It is very easy to change the intensity of the workout program with the “Lite Touch Thumb Control” where you need to only press a button to go from less intense to very intense.

Again there are some key features which set the Smooth Agile apart. In other elliptical trainers you might see that they offer a chest strap to measure the heart rate but in the case of Smooth Agile the strap is wireless. It does not hinder your exercise at all.

The strap will change your workout intensity depending on whether your heart is beating at a high rate or a low rate, adjusting it according to whichever zone you wish your heart to beat, for example the fat burn zone or the interval zone.

Ton of accessories and add ins

You might be happy to know that the Smooth Agile is perfect for music lovers who are fitness freaks too. Then there are audio workouts where the company’s official trainer would guide you through each and every step.Or else you can just plugin your ipod to listen to whatever you want.

Warranty:

There is a  lifetime warranty on the frame and braking system plus a seven-year warranty on all parts and electronics, and a two-year warranty for in-home labor

Conclusion:

The trainer is very adjustable and comes with a ton of extra features which make it very cool to use. The wireless strap which adjusts the intensity of the exercise automatically is something un heard of and the fact that the stride is adjustable between 18 to 21 inches is great. The only con is that it does not have a water bottle holder.

Read More

Schwinn 420 elliptical machine review

Schwinn has not only been behind elliptical machines but its models are associated with treadmills, various exercise bikes and other fitness equipment.

With the Schwinn 420 you will get 12 pre programmed exercises that are generous enough to provide all the training possible. Other than that you get 16 levels of resistance which upon proper adjustment can make the exercise very strenuous for you if you so wish. The 

Schwinn 420 also allows you to cycle backwards, if you have ever used any elliptical machine you will realise that such a motion will greatly strengthen your calves.

One thing that I did not like about is that the stride length is not adjustable and is kept fixed at 18 inches. While this may do ok for lot of people what about the persons who are taller. Remember that the length of the stride depends on the height.

So people who are tall/people with a longer stride may not enjoy this machine as they would feel that their motions are being constricted.
Second thing is that the incline cannot be adjusted. While the incline does not play a very big role in determining exercise difficulty the lower muscle groups could have been targeted with more incline.

There is heart pulse scanner which you can touch and it will tell you the pulse. It comes with a magazine rack and a holder to place the water bottle.

The LCD displays various values like the RPM,watts,distance,speed etc but is not backlit.

Read More

Precor EFX 5.25 elliptical machine review

Features of Precor efx 5.25

Precor has been one of the pioneers in the industry and today they have a high reputation in the fitness industry. Precor EFX 5.25  is a solid equipment which has 8 pre programmed workouts included in it and also provides 20 varying levels of resistance.

You might not know this but the company created the first elliptical machines. Although Precor gives you the option to spread your hands and legs as much as you want there is also the option to use the stationary bar if you so wish.

You can adjust the stride from 18.5 inches to 20 inches which should be enough for anyone. That said the stride lengths are adjustable which is a boon for everyone since it would be easy for anyone to fix the stride length as per their height. You can take a maximum of 510 strides per minute.

Precor has been awarded a patent for a technology known as Cross Ramp technology. What it does is it enables you to change the height of the elliptical path which your feet are travelling. As a result the lower muscle groups tend to get more worked out.

With the 20 levels of varying resistance you can choose whether you want to be out of breath or go moderate with your exercise.

There is also a heart rate unit which tells you your heart rate and the machine also tells you the zone in which you are working out. You can place your fingers over the touch sensitive grips of the machine and it will tell you the zone in which your heart is working.  If it indicates the fat burn zone it means that you are working in the zone which is 50 to 60 percent of your maximum aerobic heart rate.

There is the cardio vascular zone also which indicates that you are working out at 80% of your aerobic heart rate which means you are strengthening your cardiovascular system.

Powered incline: The incline ability adds an extra challenge to your workout. What makes the Precor EFX 5.25 different though is that the incline can be adjusted with the help of  a button.

Separate USER ids: If there are multiple members in your home who have widely different exercise needs then there is a feature in Precor EFX 5.25 for that. It supports two user IDs and can remember the information entered by them on their elliptical workout routine.

Locking pin safety: If there are kids around your home you might be worried about them getting into trouble with the Precor efx 5.25 but that won’t happen because Precor has provided pin safety for locking the machine

Foot pedals: The machine has got foot pedals to assist your motion

Warranty:

Precor efx 5.25 comes with a lifetime warranty on welds, 5 year warranty on mechanical and electronic parts and a 1 year labor warranty.

A few cons:

Precor EFX  5.25 does not come with a music system  and neither does it have the chest strap for heart rate measurement. That must be bought separately. It is also quite heavy.

In short the main features and specs of Precor efx 5.25 are:

* Patented heart rate measurement system that tells you at which zone your heart is working

* Member IDS

*18.5 inch to 20 inch adjustable stride

*Moving handle bars

*Backlit LCD which is quite large

* Cross ramp technology which provides 15 to 20 degree incline

*Power incline

*Child safe with lock system

Conclusion:

The only thing we can say that is the PREcor efx 5.25 is  a great buy and offers a ton of features and a quality sturdy machine that will not disappoint you. However if you are budget conscious then this may not be the right choice for you.

Save $500 on Precor EFX 5.25 Elliptical Fitness Crosstrainer (Latest Generation)

Read More