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16 of 16 found the following review helpful:
Best Workout in the Gym Jan 29, 2011
By kone
"kone"
I do not own this machine as it is WAY beyond my budget. However, I use this model 3-4 times a week at a local Bally's Exercise Club, and I absolutely became addicted to this machine. It is by far the best workout I have ever gotten in a gym setting with a single machine.
The stair stepper is about 6 feet tall and requires a lot of head room. Therefore, it is not a machine for a home gym with low ceilings! The control panel allows you to set a custom program or use a variety of standard programs. Read-outs give steps per minute, total miles, total floors, total calories, and METS. The panel is easy to use. There are two cup holders adjacent to the panel for water/liquids. You need the water because within 3-4 minutes sweat beads start popping out, and within 10 minutes your shirt will be wet. Of course, it all depends on how fast you want to go. The machine will go very slow, or when cranked up, will cause you to literally run up the moving stairs. You can adjust the step speed on the go up or down easily. The machine is quite stable with no wobble. There are two of these machines at the gym, and I frequently found one or the other was "down" for repair. I do not know how this reflects for the individual owner, as a gym machine gets used far more than a home unit would.
This is a top-notch cardio workout. Your heart has to work hard to move upwards against gravity, so you will burn maximal calories as you literally climb the hill of (endless) steps before you. Each step is about 10 inches. Climbing stairs works the quads and calf muscles exclusively, and these burn mega-calories! The side hand rails are extremely useful, as one uses them for balance and to lean on to work the upper body a bit. Ideally, the posture should be upright, but inevitably, I found myself leaning forward with weight on my forearms as the workout progressed.
There is a definite risk of injury using this machine. One could fall off backwards or trip and fall on the stairs. The shut off lanyand is mandatory when using the machine for safety.
The biggest drawback to ownership is the huge price tag. I'd have this machine if I was wealthy, but for the time being, I will use the one at the gym. Saving my pennies ... maybe when I am 80 years old I'll have enough - to get a used one.
konedog
9 of 10 found the following review helpful:
Escalator on steroids Mar 11, 2010
By KSU nursing student
I do not own one of these but I so would if I could justify the living space it would take up and the cost. I use it at the local gym every night and it has so much calorie burning power. The downside is you can't just mentally turn off during the workout, you have to know your steps and pace or toes get squashed...
These stairmaster machines are super tall also, would require more than an 8' ceiling because you'd hit your head no doubt. LOVE LOVE LOVE this machine!
16 of 21 found the following review helpful:
Great machine but very expensive Nov 15, 2009
By A Reviewer
I can't conceive of spending this much money on a cardio machine for home use, but I use this product at the gym and love it. In addition to manual settings, it has several pre-programmed regimens. For each regimen, you can choose an amount of time and a difficulty level from 1 to 20. The interface is user-friendly and flexible, and has all the displays one would expect - calories, distance (in miles and floors), steps per minute, etc.
If you're considering purchasing this machine for your individual use or for your family, my recommendation would be to join a gym that has it, as it is really too expensive to justify a purchase for an individual. I go to 24-Hour and all their locations have these.
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