When you invest your money in something such as an elliptical crosstrainer, you want to make sure you get the most bang for you buck. If you pony up hundreds of dollars only to have to face a broken flywheel, one day after the warranty is up of course, then you're out hundreds of dollars.
Your choices after buying a crummy elliptical trainer:
A) Kick yourself.
B) Kick the elliptical.
C) Gripe.
D) Cry...
E) Buy another elliptical trainer, or dash it all! Get a jump rope, right?
The point is that you want to be sure that you make the best investment choice you can up front, and that means reading actual reviews from those who either have used the elliptical or who have bothered with that pesky "R" word: "research."
Don't worry - there are actual reviews you can find online. Not that long ago there was a Yahoo! Answers question about a certain company, and the question was, "Is Yowza Fitness a reputable company to buy from?"
What was irksome was that the answer that was chosen as the "best" answer was the answer, in effect, that, "Yowza hires liars to give fake reviews, don't trust any of these people - if their product was good, it would be in local stores."
If it was "Yowza Fitness" or "Smooth Fitness" or "Schwinn Fitness" - or any other company, really, the answer would really chap my backside - and the reason is that neither the questioner nor the would-be answer "guy" knew a lick of the company in question.
What on earth does any of this have to do with the title of the article: How to Choose A Great Elliptical Trainer? Simply this: do your research. The fact is that simply because a company uses affiliates to sell their wares, does not negate the review.
Here are some facts about Yowza Fitness in particular that need mentioning:
They were started when a leader at Smooth Fitness wanted to head another direction, with further innovations. This person has a number of patents to his name, all relating to improving the elliptical trainer.
The end result is that a Yowza Fitness elliptical trainer, at any price point, is an advanced piece of durable fitness equipment. This is true from the Largo, their entry-level product, to the Captiva, the top dog in the pen.
Whether or not you choose a Yowza elliptical trainer or another product from Schwinn, Livestrong, Precor, Smooth or Sole Fitness (to name but a few), make sure you dig a bit deeper than a cursory glance.
One of the great things about Yowza in particular is that their business model cuts out the middle man price of overhead associated with a department store. That is the reason they do not appear in stores - not because they are low-quality, but rather have an intelligent, money-saving business model that breaks with the status quo.
(Ironically, that same business savvy helped make Smooth Fitness the giant they are today, since the same mind was behind their products and marketing strategy!)
Here are a number of factors to consider when buying an elliptical:
1. Make sure you look at the warranty. What is it? What is covered? Is it 1-year, which is typical? Can you upgrade the warranty, and for how much?
2. Is there a refund policy? What are the conditions?
3. Does the elliptical have a flywheel or magnetic resistance? (Flywheels are heavy, and deliver less smooth of a workout due to the way inertia is used and generated, although there are good models on the market with flywheels from Schwinn and other companies.)
4. What is the "footprint" of the machine? Will it fit where you are planning to put it?
5. Is it smooth, and stable?
6. What do customers have to say about it?
7. If you cannot find the elliptical in a local store, then can you arrange to see it in person somehow?
8. Does the stride adjust? If so: how - do you adjust it, do you need to get off the machine?
9. Is there an MP3 player docking station? How are the speakers?
10. How many users can use the machine (i.e., does it allow for multiple pre-set user profiles)?
11. What muscle groups are worked - will it give a genuine total body workout, or mainly your legs? (This question depends on your personal fitness goals, obviously, but if you pay ,000 to ,000 for a machine on the uppity end, you would hope to get a full body workout.)
12. Is there financing available?
There are other questions you may consider, but be sure that you can find the questions answered in the elliptical reviews that catch your eye.
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