Who really makes the best elliptical trainer?

There are companies going around claiming they make the top rated elliptical trainer, which is true when you are rating the best elliptical trainer using old technology. Now if you want old technology, don’t bother buying new, there are enough used and reconditioned units on the market since they are being replaced by the newest patented, “center drive technology” with box frame design elliptical units by Quantum Fitness Corporation, a 17 year old fitness manufacturing company located in Texas.

If you want humongous floor space hungry designs, enjoy climbing over clumsy center post supports to enter and exit the unit, having to extend your body to reach misplaced support rails, enjoy your wrist being overly driven into extension and flexion on every stride and a movement pattern which hikes your hip, knee and ankle in an awkward upward rotational movement, then you do not want a Quantum center drive elliptical trainer. You should invest in a used old technology best rated elliptical trainer.

However, if you are truly looking for unit that is easy to enter and exit, less than stair height entry, and added by sturdy, large and conveniently located side support rails for safety and security, the 210 series is for you. If you like the idea of a floor space friendly sleek design that is only 34” wide and 43.5” long with a natural stride length and fluid like motion that does not hike or drive your hip, knee and ankle than the 210 series is for you. If you like the idea that the center drive technology places your body directly over the drive mechanism to promote good posture during the exercise bout, and that the foot pads are cushioned for comfort and only 1.75” inches apart to place less stress on the inside of the knee joint, then the 210 series is for you. If you want to protect your wrists from exaggerated movement by custom ergonomically designed upper body handgrips the 210 series if for you. If you like the idea exercising in a safe, strong and secure environment because of a box frame design (a design now being toted by one of the largest pick up truck manufactures as having the sturdiest and strongest frames) that eliminates flexing of the frame and mechanism supporting you, the 210 series is for you.

For your reference, listed below are just some of the many independent evaluations done on the Quantum 210 series of elliptical units (commercial/self generating 210C, medical 210M and home 210H):

“The Q-210H crosstrainer from Quantum is built very solid with excellent ergonomics.”

“I received this unit for my small workout studio and it is awesome. All of my clients love it. I plan to buy 3 more. Unit was easy to assemble and programs are easy to use too.”

“I purchased this unit from Amazon and I love it. It was super easy to put together, and it fits great in my extra bedroom. I would definitely purchase again.”

“The Q-210H elliptical surpasses just about anything else in its price range of under $2500 and even some of the big boys from Precor and Life Fitness”

We couldn’t have said it better. Who makes the best elliptical? You should be the one to determine that. Listen to your body after taking the 210 Series for a test drive at your local Quantum dealer. You will fall in love with the quiet, fluid motion, and your mind will be at ease knowing that your investment is backed up by a lifetime frame warranty, three-year part warranty and one year of labor. Elliptical technology has reached new proportions with the advent of the 210 series by Quantum. It is time to change your thinking about elliptical units and awaken your fitness senses.

Sales training tips for selling hydraulic exercise machines

History:

Hydraulic exercise systems were first introduced in the 70’s as an inexpensive alternative to the very expensive Isokinetic dynamometers being marketed for muscle testing and orthopedic rehabilitation. These hydraulic systems were sold mainly to hospitals, orthopedic centers, professional sport teams, physical therapy clinics and exercise physiology labs because they offered a resistance whose advantages over weight resistance were easily understood and appreciated by the medical and scientific community. However, their popularity in the fitness arena never developed because of the medical only marketing approach taken by the one company manufacturing a hydraulic line of equipment. It wasn’t until the late 90’s did the resurgence of hydraulic equipment take place led by the Curve’s express workout craze. The idea of express workouts that worked all body parts in 30 minutes, and had both cardiovascular and strength improvement coupled with weight loss triggered the immense popularity of hydraulic machines in all areas of the fitness market.

The Market:

When presenting the hydraulic resistance concept, one must explain it as the complete opposite of weight lifting, and to understand it, the customer must experience it. The chance of selling a hydraulic piece of equipment from a catalogue sheet, without the customer experiencing the feel of the resistance will be minimal. The reason, people in general cannot fully understand what exercising at a controlled fixed speed of an exercise feels like. Also, during any presentation, it is of utmost importance to relate the hydraulic resistance advantage as they relate to the goals of the customer, and that can usually be defined as overall wellness. Although the hydraulic machines have definite applications for muscle building, the primary market for this type of equipment never was or never will be the body building market. No matter how hard you try, the body building enthusiast will still want to lift weights. Remember, your main customer will be the baby boomers and seniors who represent the fastest growing segments of our exercising population, and hydraulic equipment is ideally suited to them. So you want to talk about how hydraulic resistance machines will help achieve overall wellness and thus a better quality of life through an improvement in health and energy without intimidation. Whether the goal is general strengthening, body shaping, muscle toning, weight loss, or increasing range of motion and joint flexibility, it all can be accomplished in the least time consuming, safest and most effective way through hydraulic resistance. Wellness is the key phrase in fitness health today, and it is what the greatest segment of the exercising public is interested in, so these are the key points to bring out when selling hydraulic exercise systems. Also do not forget to bring out how hydraulic resistance machines were developed for the medical market, and now have expanded into the fitness market because of their proven success in orthopedic rehabilitation. Remember, if it works for an injured muscle or joint, it certainly works for the uninjured.

Weight resistance verses hydraulic resistance:

Weight lifting, which is called isotonic muscle loading, requires selection of a FIXED RESISTANCE (dumbbell, barbell or selection of a weight load on a piece of equipment). The amount of weight chosen is ones best GUESS as to what you can handle for a number of repetitions, and as we all know guessing how much weight you can handle can be dangerous or ineffective. Also, be aware in weight resistance exercise, the amount of weight selected is limited to what you can lift at the weakest point in the range of motion. For instance, if you can arm curl a 25 lb. dumbbell, this is the weight you can get started when your arm is extended straight down at your side which is a weak anatomical position. When you are curling the weight and you get to 90 degrees of elbow flexion (dumbbell horizontal to the floor), the 25 lbs you started with is too light because you are stronger at 90 degrees of elbow flexion than you were at your starting point, so you are not getting enough resistance. When you complete the curl so the weight is about shoulder height, then the 25 lbs is enough because again you are at a weak point in the range of motion. So with weight lifting, you are only loading the muscle to what it can handle at the weakest points in the range of motion. You are never matching what the muscles are capable of at all of the other points in the range of motion. So the resistance chosen at is not as effective as it should be, and if you guessed too much it can cause an injury. Besides this FIXED (GUESSED) RESISTANCE, the SPEED at which you lift the weight is VARIABLE. When you start out and are fresh and no fatigue has taken place, you will lift the weight at a faster speed then you would on say your tenth repetition when fatigue is taking it’s toll. Also, with weight training, as you go through the range of motion for a particular exercise, the (GUESSED) FIXED RESISTANCE cannot match what you are capable of at your strongest points, so you automatically accelerate the speed of movement. So weight lifting is defined as moving a GUESSED FIXED RESISTANCE through a range of motion AT A VARIABLE SPEED OF MOVEMENT.

As mentioned, hydraulic resistance is the complete opposite of weight training resistance. Instead of a variable speed of movement, you have FIXED SPEED OF MOVEMENT, and instead of a fixed resistance, you have a VARIABLE RESISTANCE WHICH IS TOTALLY ACCOMMODATING. With a hydraulic system, you do not have to guess what resistance to select the resistance met will automatically be equal to whatever your strength capability is at every point in the range of motion on each and every repetition. The only choice you have to make is what speed to exercise at, and this is clearly defined by what your goal of exercise is. For range of motion, flexibility and speed (power) a speed of 1-2 is used. For muscle toning/shaping and fat burn a speed of 3-4 is used. For maximum strength and muscle building a speed of 5-6 is used. Once you chose the speed by just easily setting a dial, the SPEED REMAINS FIXED through out the range of motion, but the RESISTANCE WILL BE VARIABLE AND TOTALLY ACCOMODATING TO EACH INDIVIDUAL USING THE MACHINE. No guessing how much resistance to use, and no worries if it is too much or too little. From the de-conditioned to elite athlete, the hydraulic resistance will automatically match what you are capable of with COMPLETE SAFETY on each and every repetition.

Advantages of hydraulic resistance:

• Resistance is directly related to the capability of the exerciser through the entire range of motion on each and every repetition. Never too much or too little. Weight training, resistance easily can be too much (dangerous) or too little (ineffective).
• Smooth movement patterns with little or no impact loading. With weight training, movement patterns are uneven at best, and changing directions with the weight can lead to impact loading to muscles and joints.
• No residual muscle soreness because of no eccentric loading, thus one is encouraged to stay with the exercise program. Weight training forces eccentric loading thus the associated muscle soreness in inevitable and can discourage continuance of the program.
• Provides more exercise in less space and time because you exercise opposing muscle groups in the same exercise bout. Weight resistance training requires two different machines or exercises to exercise opposing muscle groups. More time, more space, less effective.

Hydraulic equipment focuses more on muscle toning/shaping than muscle building. It provides the ideal solution for overall wellness for everyone from the de-conditioned to the exercise enthusiast. It is totally in tune with the constraints of today’s fast paced life style, and the needs of the largest segment of our exercising population. It provides more functional exercise in less time for every body in a completely safe and non-intimidating environment, and automatically keeps pace with improvements in muscle strength and endurance.

Have the customer get in the machine and set the speed to one. Have them do a couple of repetitions, next set the speed to three and have them do a couple of more repetitions. At this point they will say you made it harder. Next set the speed to five and have them do a couple of more repetitions, and at this point they will look at you to express how much tougher it was. Lastly set the speed to six and have them do a couple of repetitions. After this they will acknowledge how much tougher that last set was. Now explain what you did. Let them know at a speed of one they had to move very fast to even engage the resistance that is why speeds of one and two are used for range of motion exercises for seniors or beginners or to train high speed power for elite athletes. When you put it at a speed of three the speed was slower than one so they could engage the hydraulic resistance so it felt harder than one when in reality it was just slower. That is why for muscle toning/shaping and fat burning, speeds of three and four are used because in general a person will exercise for timed periods such as 30 seconds. Then when you went to a speed of five and then finally six you made the speed much slower, and no matter how hard they tried they could not make the movement arm go any faster. The harder they tried the more resistance they met, but they never met more resistance than they could handle. Even more important, as they got tired they still worked the full range of motion because the resistance automatically accommodated to the fatigue. This is the complete opposite of what happens with weight training, you get tired you do not work the full range of motion, you only work the range where you can still handle the weight. Next at a speed of six have them push hard and stop as if they felt some pain or discomfort any place they want to. What they quickly learn is when they stop the resistance stops and if they continue the resistance automatically matches them. Again, this is the complete opposite of what happens when weight training, if you stop because of pain or discomfort, the weight is still there, so it has to be controlled or an injury could occur. Be sure to point out at all speeds how smooth the movement pattern is which is not what happens with weight resistance. Now your customer your customer has experienced how smooth hydraulic resistance feels, they understand the fixed speed and variable resistance, they see how they worked two muscle groups in the same exercise, and most importantly they see how non-intimidating yet how effective hydraulic resistance machines can be. To top it off, have them do a weight machine or dumbbell exercise that duplicates the exercise they just did on the hydraulic machine and they will be sold on hydraulics. There is no comparison. One of the best machines to do this comparison with is a hydraulic shoulder press verses a weight machine shoulder press or dumbbell shoulder press, because anytime your hand has to extend over the height of your shoulder the exercise becomes more difficult, threatening and in most cases uncomfortable.

Hydraulic resistance: quick training, quick results and lasting benefits.