Does anyone have any experience with ellipticals? I have gained a few too many pounds in the last couple years and need to do something. I have been looking at the Octane brand and Smooth Fitness brands. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks guys.

Josh

 

We have one from Sears.......its a good unit but it has no place to put my beer

Johnnycetane is an elyptical expert maybe he will chime in

 

I work for Octane Fitness. What would you like to know?

 

Personally I am not a big fan of elipticals. It feels like an unnatural motion. I run currently, but I should def look into something lower impact and eliptical might be that if I can tolerate it. Several people I know use them and have had good success. Change your diet a bit and get into some exercise and you will feel much better.

 

We have one of these. Precor Commercial EFX 556i We know a dude at the local health club. We bought through him. It is big enough to handle my size and it works quite well. It is very capable of giving you a great workout. I do different "courses" three days a week. Usually do about 2.2 miles in a 30 minute workout. Anything from weightloss to cross country programs. It measures all kinds of things. Pretty cool machines. Plus, it can go anywhere in the house since it makes it's own power with a magnetic coil and steel inertia wheel, kind of like an eddy current absorber. You don't have to plug it in.

 

Well Like I said above, I work for Octane Fitness so I am a little biased. What do I like about our machines? A few things are-

• The pedal spacing is great. It's a lot closer than many of the other machines so you don't feel like you're straddling something.
• The footprint of the machine is a lot smaller than many other machines so it doesn't take up a ton of space.
• Stepping up one level above the standard models gets you 10-15 programs to choose from. You will find one that you will like.
• The Q37, Q47 and PRO3700 use converging arms meaning they go back and forth at an angle that matches your bodies natural movement.
• The consumer models get 20 levels of resistance; the commercial ones get 30.
• The Armblaster and Glutekicker programs are really nice for targeting specific muscle groups.
• The multi-grip handles are great in that they work different parts of your upper body depending on where you grip them. Most other machines only have one place to grap the arms.
• I have really bad arthritis in my knees and a torn ligament. Our stuff is the one ellipticals that don't hurt me. I work out from 35-60 minutes everyday at 5-8mph and my knees do not hurt like they do with a treadmill or cheaper ellipticals.

The guys that started our company and also several employees came from Life Fitness. They have been in the industry for several years. We're young in that we're only 6 years old but we are growing and learn fast from our mistakes. You'll read about quality control issues that we've had in the past but they have been fixed. I know this because I'm part of the process that gets this done. We hold quite a few patents because we try new things. Sometimes it takes a bit to perfect them.

I'm not trying to sell you on our stuff; just trying to give you some insight.

Josh- I see you're from South Dakota. If you ever want to take a trip up to the Cities and workout on our stuff PM me and let me know. If you want to do it on a Saturday I'll meet you here and we can work out together. We have a few different models here that you can try.

 

Holysmokes, I am in luck. The Octanes are on the top of my list. The only reason I was looking at the Smooth is because some elliptical review website had it listed as one of the best.
I used a the precor that Staarma mentioned at the local wellness center and liked it. We were at 2nd wind exercise equipment on Saturday and out of all the ones they had, my wife and I both liked the Octane better. We were thinking that we would best fit the Q37e without having more options than we need.
I would love to hear more about them if you are willing Johnny. Thank a million guys.

Josh

 

The Q37 is a nice piece and probably our most popular. It has a 20.5" stride which seems to fit most people pretty well. I'm 6' even and I feel pretty comfortable on it. I prefer the Q47 or the commercial stuff because I like being at a 24" stride. The Q37 also has adjustable arms. You can move the arm link to adjust to shorter or taller users as needed.

We have a new seated elliptical coming out in a couple of months. It's a cross between a leg press, chest press and a recumbent bike. I know it sounds weird but the thing really works. That's probably the one I'll bring home.