I know it’s a bit early to be asking for gifts or even thinking about what to buy others. Well, maybe not so much for some early birds who routinely start shopping months early for Christmas so they can avoid the holiday rushed and the inevitably picked over racks of merchandise at malls around the holidays. I myself tend to fall somewhere in between. While I wouldn’t consider myself an early Christmas shopped, I also don’t consider myself a last minute Christmas shopper who is still out on Christmas Eve putting the finishing touches on her Christmas shopping.

Christmas and New Years are one of the biggest times to purchase a piece of fitness equipment. One, because some people have holiday money or bonuses that are burning holes in their pockets and have wanted a new elliptical machine or treadmill for months, and two because we all put on a little extra padding around the holidays because of all the horribly fattening foods, and many people rush out to start their New years resolutions as soon as possible, and purchase the exercise equipment for the coming year, in hopes of starting a new trend of health, fitness and vibrancy.

At any rate, Christmas time and after Christmas is often a wonderful time to get good deals on not only on elliptical machines, but also on popular brands of treadmills like Horizon treadmills and ProForm treadmills, both of which also happen to make excellent elliptical machines. The elliptical has morphed into my favorite piece of exercise equipment. I own a Horizon myself, and I love it. I use it all the time, and it’s just like working out on an expensive piece of gym equipment.

I love the fact that I’m getting an excellent cardio workout in without necessarily impacting my joints hard, or building that big bulky muscle that only guys really want on their legs. Instead, the elliptical is built to help make for sleek and toned muscles, not boxy and bulky muscle tone, because of the fluid movement it creates. For a complete review of ellipticals see Elliptical Reviews, and by all means, please share your experiences through comment postings on your ellipticals or other exercise equipment.

I was at the gym where I work (I’m lucky enough to have a great gym facility where I work), and a gym worker was giving a new member a tour of the gym. She had stopped at the elliptical machines and was answering the new patrons questions about how to operate the piece of machinery, when I thought “wow, I never even thought about how confused I was when I first tried one of these machines”. It’s like the old saying about riding bikes, once you know you never forget, even though learning seemed hard at the time.

Elliptical machines mostly operate on pretty much the same type of system, except the user interface and various controls and features usually vary per the model and make you have. The better models will typically have more options to choose from when it comes to picking programs like up and down hills, cardio, endurance, and manual. Every one of them though, has a manual program, and most will have a control that you can dictate the amount of incline you want to be on, or high high of a grade you want to be stepping on.

They usually all have a resistence adjustment as well. So, if you’re a beginner, you usually will choose the lowest resistence – say a number one, and if you’re more advanced, like I am now, you might choose a 5,6 or 7. I know when many people first start out on ellipticals, they find them very hard to do much time on. Trust me, if you stick to it, in no time you will find an elliptical a much better option than most treadmills, because of the fluidity of motion and more options on how to work out the whole leg, not just the quad and the calves.

Some of the best ellipticals now today that can be purchased for home use, and are just as good as anything you’d get on at the gym are reviewed here on our special elliptical machine reviews page. There are so many out there, and there are some really sub-par ones, it is really worth it to purchase a good one though – they are more stable and provide a much better, more worry free workout than one that is rickety or doesn’t work at the right resistence levels.

I work out in two different places – at home and at work. At home, we are lucky enough to have an elliptical machine and a nice weight set as well as a floor work mat complete with an ab cruncher that we can safely do situps on without injuring our backs.

One big difference I’ve noticed between the ellipticals that I work out on at work and the one we have at home is that the one we have at home, which happens to be a Horizon elliptical machine, that I love, has the handle bars that go back and forth as you glide, whereas the one at work does not, and I have to move my arms myself if I want upper and lower cardio action.

I think it’s important for me, personally, to get the best workout possible for my body type, which is the type that tends to maintain weight in my upper arms a lot, to get a good upper body workout as well as lower. I also think that it tones as well as burns off fat in that localized area if you have the arm handle bars, so that you can sculpt your arms easily.

If you have to manually just move your arms back and forth in a swinging motion, and you don’t have that extra added resistance of a handle bar going back and forth, you really don’t fee it in your arms like you do when you’re done on an elliptical machine with the handle bars. I don’t think it’s just me either, as others have also said they feel they get better workouts on the ellipticals with the arms handles.

Another thing is, I feel like it allows me to align my back and spine better with the arms levers because I am actually forcing myself to stand up straighter, as well as getting that good resistance muscle building which may help to strengthen the back and make the posture better, naturally. That’s my two cents, and I think some other people might agree with me on that, whether they own a Horizon elliptical or another popular one like the ProForm elliptical machine, both of which come with and without the arm levers for extra movement and cardio work.

When looking for an elliptical trainer or machine, which brands are the highest quality, most reputable types? I started reading reviews and researching to try to determine the answer to this question. An elliptical trainer is also known as a cross trainer and it’s purpose is to simulate walking or running without causing pressure or high impact on joints.

Ideally, you want a comfortable stride and a durable machine that can handle 250 lbs. or more. A well designed elliptical machine will evenly distribute the workout of the arms as well as the legs. Price ranges are highly variable on this type of fitness equipment. Elliptical trainers can range from several hundred to four thousand dollars or more.

The higher end brands such as the Quantum Fitness, the Precor and the Life Fitness can handle a weight capacity of up to 400 lbs. and are excellent machines. When assessing qualities of an elliptical trainer, the user’s height and weight must be considerred relative to the type of equipment chosen. A heavier frame, electronic adjustable resistance, adjustable pedals and stride length are desirable features when choosing an elliptical trainer.

For stride length, or range of motion, the longer the length, the better. You can buy an elliptical trainer in the lower price range, but if you want a machine that will last a long time, you’re better off to save up before investing in this kind of machine. The brand names, Precor, Sole and ProForm have been reviewed as high end elliptical trainers, but well worth the price.

Good sources of information on reviews of elliptical trainers are epinions.com and consumer reports.com, and best of all right here at elliptical machine reviews. A high quality elliptical trainer will give you smooth motion and a better, safer workout for your time invested in your personal fitness.