Gazelle Tony Little Total Body Fitness Workout Exercise Elliptical Glider Supports 250-300lbs with Low-Impact Design for Home Gym

A Fun Low-Impact Machine To Exercise On!
I purchased an under-the-desk elliptical machine and love it. It has a convenient remote control and different speeds, but it doesn’t give me the level of exercise I hoped for. It also doesn’t stay in place, and the return period has lapsed.This Tony Little elliptical machine is truly low impact. It mimics the motion of skiing without risking life and limb, speaking of which I tore the ACL in my left knee in a bad skiing accident and was on crutches for eight months rather than having surgery. Although much improved, my doctor thinks I developed arthritis in my knee from the scar tissue and suggested I take up walking.To add insult to injury (no pun intended), I also have slight residual neuropathy in both legs after chemotherapy treatments from cancer eight years ago, although it, too, is much improved (thankfully, no sign of recurrence).What I needed was this Tony Little Gazelle machine, and I remember that my mother had one when I was growing up.A friend assembled it a few days ago, which took 45 minutes to an hour. It is very sturdy, but I asked him to remove the black rounded caps on each end of the horizontal bar at about waist level because although my hands are small to medium in size, I felt a tiny pinch when they were too close to those caps (they seem decorative more than anything else).Once the machine was assembled, I was apprehensive about stepping up on the foot pedals. They are only HALF the height up of a standard stair step and would not be a challenge to most people, but I was concerned about putting pressure on my bad knee. My concern was short-lived after figuring out the best way to get up and down from the pedals while also not risking injury due to the pedals not being stationery. This is what I did:First, while holding onto the horizontal support bar (not the raised arms), I step up on the right foot pedal with my stronger leg. Second, while still holding on tight to the horizontal bar, I step up with my other (bad) leg. Once I feel stable, I grap onto the arms and start moving. IT IS SO MUCH FUN!!I have used it three days in a row, and it is no struggle at all, nor did I have any adverse effect on my bad knee or somewhat weak legs. It is such great exercise for the legs/thighs, butt, and arms and folds up with little effort.NOTE: If you have any weakness in your legs, like i do, it is very important to hold onto a stable portion of the machine BEFORE stepping up and/or down, and as mentioned, I find the horizontal bar in front to be the best for that.If you are looking for a low-impact exerciser that you will enjoy using and that will not just gather dust, I highly recommend this Tony Little Gazelle.

A great little machine (no pun intended)
After trying out about a dozen different elliptical exercisers in sporting stores, I eventually bought the Gazelle Edge. It is a great little excercise machine but does have some short comings.I opted for this one because:1. PRICE: After trying out the ellipticals it became very clear that cheap ellipticals are incredibly uncomfortable to use. The motion on machines under $750 was either jerky or the short stride lead to the machine feeling more like a stepper than an elliptical. Many of the low line models were not all that stable. Of the mid-range steppers, I almost bought the Horizons E70 on sale for about $550 (marked down from the mid-$700s). This machine lacked a lot of options but did have the most natural motion I could find in a stepper in this range. Nevertheless, the motion on the Gazelle (they had the souped up Freestyle with thumb-pulse) was at least as good. The price on the Freestyle is about $200 on Amazon.com and the basic model is less than $1002. REVIEWS: Canvassing the internet, the Gazelle had a high satisfaction rates on a number of websites, including Amazon reviews. The low to mid-range ellipticals appeared to have poor reliability ratings and most reviews showed low satisfaction.3. BASIC MACHINE: It appeared to be a basic no-frills machine. If I was going to buy something at a low price range with few options, this one was as good as any other and far cheaper. It is also more light-weight and portable than any of the ellipticals I tried.After purchasing, I feel like I’ve hit the jackpot. The machine was easy to assemble, given its simple mechanism and few working parts. It offers a reasonable, comfortable workout and is remarkably stable. It also folds down flat for storage and weighs only about 40 lbs. It also requires little room to use. The manual recommends 3 feet in front and behind the machine, but 2 ? seemed to suffice for me. So far my machine is remarkably smooth and silent. There have been reports of squeaking, but I have not experienced this. The manual suggests lubing the machine with vasoline if this occurs… Despite the fact that Tony Little makes annoying infomercials, I think he has a winner in this machine.Nevertheless, it is important to realize that the machine has certain limitations:1. This is NOT a $1,500 Nordic Track Elliptical. It doesn’t have the programs, options, and fluid movement of a high-line elliptical trainer. If you want such a model, you will have to spend the money to buy one. That being said, this machine will not approach the smoothness/comfort of the expensive ellipticals and is really not comparable.2. This is NOT an elliptical trainer. The motion is different, pleasant though it may be.3. The machine has NO built-in training programs. You have to either buy Tony Little’s exercise tapes or make up a program as you go along. I did not opt to buy these, so I can’t comment on them. There are purportedly 7 different exercises that you can do on the Gazelle, but in reality there are only three that I can discern: You can `Gazelle in the neutral position, leaning back, or leaning forward. The other `exercises’ involve different grip heights, letting go/swinging your arms at your sides, bending your knees for a lower/longer stride, and `gazelling’ on your toes. The latter variations don’t really count for me as different exercises, but that’s only my opinion.4. The basic machine has NO resistance adjustment. The `Freestyle’ and `Pro’ models appear to have hydraulic resistance that is adjustable to three levels. Having tried the Freestyle in the store, the hydraulic pistons did add resistance but seemed to make the motion a little less natural for me. Additionally, there was no way to adjust these while exercising. One would have to stop. Get off the machine. Adjust the resistance and resume exercising. Lower line ellipticals can be adjusted while exercising, the Gazelle cannot. Despite the lack of resistance, you can still get a good beginner to intermediate workout on this machine. It is certainly good for people just beginning a fitness program. I alternate aerobic and exercise training for 30 to 40 minutes, 6 days a week and have been doing so for over two years. I would consider myself to be an intermediate to advanced level and was able to raise my heart rate to the target range on this machine.5. It has an INADEQUATE fitness computer. The fitness computer tell you your speed, how far you have `travelled’, the number of calories burned, and the time on the machine. Being a skeptic, I think the only reliable feature would be the time and possibly `distance’. I’m not knocking the company. Knowing how much time you have spent on the device is my most important issue. I could imagine using the `distance’ counter as a measure of when to stop the workout. I just don’t know exactly what `speed’ means or howe exactly it calculates `distance’ traveled or how the device calculates the number of calories when it doesn’t know your weight or the exact amount of applied resistance.Having demoed the Freestyle, I don’t think that the hydraulic pistons are worth the extra $100+ for the inexperienced Gazeller. (After a few months, I might change my mind about this but I don’t think so.) You can also buy a number of other models which appear to have more heavy-duty tubing and extra’s like water bottle holders. For my purposes, the basic machine appears to be just right. I wasn’t about to plunk down more money for a cupholder or an advanced computer. The thumb pulse feature might be helpful to see if you achieve your target heart rate, but you can buy an inexpensive wrist monitor separately and use it when walking, jogging, or when you are one other equipment.To my mind, the way to make this machine better would be to add a magnetic (or even friction) resistance feature that could be adjusted during exercise. It could be made even better by adding fitness programs that could adjust the resistance for you.6. Despite the title ‘Fitness System’ the Gazelle is NOT a complete workout. This is aerobic exercise only and most professionals recommend some weight training to supplement aerobic exercise to maximize weight loss. Tony Little implies on his infomercial that the Gazelle incorporates strength training as well as aerobic training. Unless he is doing something different than is described in the manual, this is really only aerobic training.I don’t think there is a better machine at this price. The midrange ellipticals were very uncomfortable to ride and appear to have a lot of mechanical problems. I would strongly recommend actually trying out the machines in a store before you buy on line. The only way to know if a machine is comfortable is to actually try it. If you are a more advanced exerciser, you might want to opt to invest in the bigger/expensive machines of the type that are used in gyms or by physical therapists. But if you are like me and want just a basic machine at a bargain price, this could be the one for you.

Assembly was quite smooth (only about 10 bolts). It went together in less than 1/2 hour.If you’re looking for a whole pile of options, you won’t find them here….but for me that’s an upside. First and foremost, this is likely the primary reason for keeping the price down. It also means the features that it does have are well engineered and function well.There are quite a few different ways you can use it (altering your hand placement, stride, angle etc) to target different parts of the body and get a pretty decent workout in. It comes with a DVD that, although horribly old (circa 2003 or so I think), it still provides great instruction. It’s easy to follow, a decent pace and she does a good job explaining things as you go.I can really only think of one complaint at that is this: Given it’s price point, I understand why it doesn’t have certain things like a better computer, adjustable resistance etc. The only thing I wish they included was a water bottle holder. I’m sure they could find a way to include one without driving the cost way up. It’s not a big deal, but I wish they had included one.All in all, a well built product that provides a good, no-frills workout.

I purchased this product about a month ago, and have been using it with some frequency (3-5 times a week). It can give you a decent heart rate increase if you put some effort in your exercise – you will probably not get much of a heart boost you just shuffle your feet slowly (though if you’re just looking for some very light and casual exercise like shuffling your feet, this can do it) It comes with a DVD that can guide you through a workout.The computer is quite rudimentary and probably not entirely accurate, though for the price of this machine, I wasn’t expecting anything more. It can tell you the distance at which you’re moving, the distance travelled, the time spent and the amount of calories burned (you can also set it so that it rotates between all the stats as you exercise). This machine does not offer resistance or heart rate monitors. I’d take the numbers with a grain of salt considering how low tech / rudimentary the computer is – but it can nonetheless give you a general idea of the intensity of your work out.The machine folds up nicely, and is easy to store. (Though the machine weighs about 40 lbs and doesn’t have wheels, in case you have trouble lifting this kind of weight, it might be a good idea to find some kind of wheeled platform on which to wheel this around your place.) The build is also quite sturdy and appears to be well put together. It solidly plants on the ground and doesn’t wiggle/tilt/move much even when you move vigorously, but when the exercise is intense, the machine might vibrate a little from all the swinging parts. I purchased a heavy duty equipment mat to place it underneath, further increasing stability and reducing vibrations.My only issue with this machine is that after only a month of use, the cable holders began squeaking. It doesn’t squeak very loudly, and I also wear earphones during the workout, so it never *really* bothers me – but I’m just saying that my machine does squeak. The instructions say to use WD-40 and to apply vaseline generously, both of which I’ve done, with some success (but with no permanent success). You can definitely reduce the squeaking with lubricant and WD-40, but the squeaking does kind of return eventually, even if much more quietly. Some spots can be hard to target with vaseline though, so you may need to get a bit more dexterous. It’s a bit of a minor nuisance, but it doesn’t really affect the physical performance of the machine, so I’d say that some basic level of maintenance might be required if your machine squeaks and you want it to stop. If you don’t care about squeaking, then by all means, soldier on.I purchased this machine with the understanding that I was buying a sturdy “beginner’s machine” for low impact cardio, and I can say that the machine meets my expectations for the most part. You can achieve brisk walking on it – if that’s the kind of exercise you’re looking for. There’s probably much better out there, but for this price – it does its job. If you want to get started on your fitness journey, I think this is a good starting point.