Vienna Miller asked:


Ironman elliptical trainers are owned and manufactured by Keys Fitness, a well respected name in the fitness industry. Keys also owns the CardioMax, Alliance, HealthTrainer and of course the Keys Fitness brand name.

Ironman produces a range of elliptical trainers from economy to midpriced, starting around $599 and up.

Although Ironman ellipticals are not as well known as some other brands, they have recently come out with several new models that may be worth considering.

The Ironman Achiever elliptical for example, offers a long 21″ stride, a more compact layout and center drive technology (where there are 2 smaller flywheels on either side of you instead of one large flywheel out in front).

Is an Ironman elliptical trainer right for you? Here’s a general review to help you decide:

Strengths:

1) Center Drive Technology - This is feature found only on some newer Ironman models like the Ironman Achiever and the CDT Elliptical.

Instead of a large flywheel out in front or behind you, there are 2 smaller flywheels on either side of you. According to Ironman, this helps to ensure proper workout posture. It also gives you a smaller footprint if you are short on space.

This 2 side flywheel design is also found on several other brands like Nordic Track and Proform

2) Longer Stride Lengths - While older economy Ironman models had really short stride lengths (14 - 16 inches), the newer higher end models have actually come out with 21″ stride lengths.

A longer stride length more accurately mimics your body’s natural motion and can give you a more efficient workout. While 21″ may be a bit too long for shorter users (under 5′4″), most users love the feel of a longer stride.

3) Great Reviews - Iron man ellipticals rate fairly well with experts and users. A leading consumer ratings organizaion gave the Ironman 320e a ‘Budget Buy’ rating.

Also, users have rated these ellipticals quite well, with many of the models averaging about from 4 out of 5 stars - mainly on the new models. Buyers liked the smoothness of the ellipticals as well as the center drive construction, which is more compact.

Weaknesses:

The older economy Ironman units do tend to have shorter stride lengths and very short warranties. There are other economy brands that offer you more for your money.

Also, while the newer models show promise, they don’t have a lot of history behind them. So it’s hard to say how well they’ll last over the long run.

Summary:

The new Ironman models are impressive - giving you smaller footprints, long 21″ strides and the center drive technology. While they don’t have as many bells and whistles as some other brands, the longer stride and design make them a popular choice with buyers.

I wouldn’t necessarily recommend the older, economy models with the smaller elliptical strides. You won’t get the best workout and you probably won’t feel comfortable on these units.

However the higher end models (especially the Achiever & CDT models) offer better construction and show a lot more promise overall.

Regardless of which elliptical you choose to buy, make sure you know what to look for when buying an elliptical. Consider the needs of everyone who will be using it, their height and weight, as well as the space you have in your fitness area.

Jim Johnson asked:


Because elliptical trainers are fairly new to the home fitness market, there aren’t as many consumer reviews on them as you can find on some of the other home fitness equipment that is sold online. But there is enough to help identify some of the best models that are available for purchase. As we looked over these reviews, here are the top results that we found.

First of all, it’s important to note that most reviewers feel that the low cost budget part of the elliptical trainer field is seriously lacking in overall quality. That’s why many reviewers encourage spending at least $2000 in order to get a really high quality machine. Of course, the very best units are commercial machines that you will find in most gyms. But they usually start around $5,000 in price, so when looked at from that perspective, $2000 is not so much to spend. With that in mind, here are two elliptical trainer models that we found were usually rated very highly:

1.The Precor EFX 5.19 - this elliptical trainer comes very highly recommended by many, and sells for about $2400. It has a lot to offer though, including an adjustable incline and a child’s safety feature to prevent accidental start-ups. It’s said to be very quiet and had a solid stable feel. Some of the lower-priced Precor models are also very good machines but they lack the handlebars for an upper body workout. We think that is very important, and so could not recommend those lower-priced machines instead. The only thing that this machine could use in our opinion is an included heart rate monitor. At this point, you have to pay extra for one, and the costs is around $150. Still, overall this is a very fine machine that should provide years of quality service.

2. The Life Fitness X3i - this trainer is also another very highly recommended model, and it generally sells for $2600 or so. It’s especially highly rated for ease-of-use and ergonomics, and it’s build quality is superior in every way. It also has movable handlebars to give you a complete and thorough upper body workout, but unfortunately you also have to buy the heart rate monitor as an extra on this machine, and that can cost up to $200. But lots of reviewers and consumers are very positive in their comments on this elliptical trainer, and that is a very good sign. Both of these elliptical machines can take up quite a bit of room, so be sure that you have the space to be able to accommodate them before you buy. Actually either one would be a fine choice to make.

There are several other highly rated elliptical trainer machines as well, but we could not include them all in this article. But hopefully, the models that we have mentioned above will work well for you too, as they have for so many other people. As with most other home fitness equipment, we recommend that you use them and try them out in person before you make your final decision.