Schwinn Elliptical Trainer Reviews

Why you should choose an elliptical trainer? 

Schwinn 420 Elliptical Trainer (2012) Model

Have you noticed how many elliptical trainers are at your local health club? Elliptical machines are growing in popularity and are gaining on treadmills in overall sales. Ellipticals offer the benefit of a low-impact workout, while exercising both your upper and lower body. They are particularly appealing to an aging baby boomer generation. Elliptical trainers can be forgiving to aging joints.

Low Impact Exercise with Elliptical Machines

Elliptical trainers reduce the stress and strain on your legs through an elliptical motion. Your feet never leave the pedals. It is like walking in midair. In addition, there is no reverse action. The shape of the elliptical movement mimics the natural path of the ankle, knee and hip joints during walking, jogging or running. In comparison, when you walk or run, every step causes a jolt to your body. It is suggested that runners impact up to 2.5 times their body weight. This affects not only the joints in your legs, but also your lower back.

Foot Pedals: To further reduce the strain to your joints, many elliptical trainers are equipped with articulating foot pedals — pedals that conform to your stride. Not only do your feet never leave the pedal, but also the pedal adjusts to the angle of the elliptical stride.

Weight-Bearing Exercise: In comparison to a fitness machine like a stationary bicycle, an elliptical trainer provides a weight-bearing exercise. Weight-bearing exercises are important to inhibit the onset of osteoporosis.

Dual Action Workout

What makes an elliptical trainer unique is the combined upper and lower body workout. In fact, there is no other fitness equipment that simultaneously works as many muscle groups. That is why many refer to an elliptical as a cross-trainer.

With an elliptical trainer, you get a workout that utilizes the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, chest, back, triceps and biceps. The obvious benefit from exercising more muscles is that you tone more of your body. Furthermore, you also optimize your energy expenditure. You end up burning more calories and fat in less time. It is also suggested that there is a reduced perceived rate of exertion with an elliptical workout. You are actually exercising harder then you would normally perceive.

Of course, to get the full benefit of the dual action workout, it is important that you distribute the resistance between your upper and lower body. Many people who exercise on an elliptical trainer place most of the resistance on their lower body and only go through the motions with the upper handlebars.

Programs: Like a treadmill, elliptical trainers are equipped with a variety of challenging exercise programs. These programs mimic hill climbing or interval training through alternating resistance. Many ellipticals are also equipped with wireless heart rate control, which allows you to optimize your workout by letting your heart rate control the resistance level.

Lower Maintenance with Elliptical Trainers

A benefit of an elliptical trainer over a treadmill is reduced maintenance. Due to the low-impact elliptical motion, and because of fewer moving parts, an elliptical trainer is less likely to require service. You do not have to worry about belts, motors, rollers and bearings burning out.

Drawbacks for Elliptical Trainers

There are drawbacks to an elliptical trainer. Some people find the dual action, elliptical exercise awkward and are more comfortable simply walking or jogging on a treadmill. However, it is my opinion that the dual action workout is what makes an elliptical trainer so appealing.

If you have not tried an elliptical trainer, get to your local fitness equipment store and give it a test. Better yet, pay for a day pass at a health club, and put one through a strenuous workout. See if you notice a difference.

Choosing The Right Elliptical Trainer

Elliptical trainers are great for getting a low-impact, upper and lower body workout. Buy smart and you will have a machine that is ideal for achieving your fitness goals.Of course, you can only spend what you can afford, but these are my suggestions. If you plan to use the elliptical for moderate exercising, the Schwinn 430 Elliptical Machine would be a great choice for about $700.00. For those that plan to use the elliptical for regular strenuous workouts, or will have multiple users, you should  consider theSchwinn 460 Variable Stride Elliptical Trainer which would be a better choice for about $1000.00. Weight is another factor to consider. The heavier you are the more strain it puts on the machine.

Schwinn 431 Description

The Schwinn 431 offers 16 computer-controlled resistance levels and 19 workout programs for workout variety, including 1manual, 10 profile, 1 Calorie Goal, 1 Time Trial, 3 Heart Rate Control, 1 Fitness Test and 2 Custom  programs. Its quick start functions allows you to easily change your resistance level while exercising to challenge yourself to the next level. Three feedback programs–recovery mode, results mode, and body mass index (BMI)–allow you to track the progress of your workout routine. BioGlide motion technology offers a natural-feeling 18-inch stride while the trainer’s BioFit design will provide a comfortable feel on the footpads and handlebars. The handlebars also feature grip heart rate monitoring which allows you to track your heart rate while you’re exercising.

Schwinn 431 Elliptical Trainer

Ideal for the home gym for fitness enthusiasts of any skill level, the Schwinn 431 Elliptical Trainer provides an effective cardiovascular workout by combining upper and lower body flexibility and coordination into one impact-free motion. Elliptical trainers emulate the natural motion of your foot while supporting your heel throughout the stride, making them much easier on your knees and joints. In addition to feeling more natural while working out, regular use on elliptical trainers will increase heart and lung capacity while improving your health (and burning calories at the same time).

Additional features of the Schwinn 431 elliptical trainer include Eddy current brake resistance for smooth and quiet stopping, transport wheels to easily move the trainer across the room, and a water bottle holder to keep your hydration source close by. This elliptical trainer has a compact footprint 59 inches long by 26 inches wide by 68 inches tall.

Review of 431

This is my first elliptical and for the money this is an excellent value with the features you get. You can input your weight and height and customize it for your target fitness goals, like you can on those more expensive health club machines. The display is large and easy to read. It would be nicer if the background lit up, but I can live with it.

The motions are smooth and the machine is very quiet-very easy to hear your music, the TV or carry on conversations and you don’t have to compete with the background noise of the machine-much like you have to do with our treadmill. That thing is noisey.

I’m quite pleased with this unit and I really don’t see myself purchasing a more expensive higher end one in the near future, unless this one should go belly up-which I doubt, it is so heavy duty and very well made.

I will recommend this to anyone and everyone. It is by far a superior piece of home exercise equipment for the money that most people can afford. Your health and fitness is worth the investment.

A new model is now available the Schwinn 420 Elliptical Trainer which I believe is an update of the 430 model.So far it has good reviews.

Review of 420

Like previous reviewers, I was wary of this model because it lacks reviews and I almost went with the older 430 model. However, after using it for a couple weeks, I can say that it was definitely a good choice and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for an elliptical in this price range.

I assembled the machine by myself because no one else was around at the time. I was able to do it in about 2.5 hours but it was difficult at times trying to line up parts and it required a bit of heavy lifting. I would definitely recommend you enlist the help of another person if you can and don’t even try doing it yourself if heavy lifting might be a problem. Otherwise, I had no major problems during assembly and the instructions were pretty straightforward.

The unit is sturdy and it delivers a smooth, quiet and effective workout. I’ve had no trouble manually programming the console but trying to create a custom program was confusing enough that I didn’t bother after trying once. Also, I have found that the heart rate monitor takes a while to give you an accurate reading, so I don’t bother with it much anymore.

Overall, you won’t find anything super fancy in this model but it’s solid, effective and great for the price.

Schwinn 460 Description

 Schwinn 460 Variable Stride Ellipitcal Trainer

Maximize your home workouts with the Schwinn 460 Variable Stride Elliptical Trainer, which features Schwinn’s exclusive V-Stride Technology that allows you to change stride lengths without manual adjustments or machine modifications. The 460 provides a complete lower-body workout: step to target calves and quads; walk to work your thighs and glutes, and run to lengthen your strides and engage all muscle groups.

Featuring a high-tech design, the Schwinn 460 includes 11 workout profiles built by the Nautilus Institute with instructional messages on utilizing stride lengths and foot/leg motions for maximized results. And the Schwinn Advantage workout system tracks results and programming for up to two users. You’ll get heart rate feedback via the HR grips on the static handlebars, and heart rate telemetry using the included chest strap.

The dynamic backlit touchscreen console displays workout and interval time, distance, pulse, speed, calories, resistance level, and course profile. Other features include an oversized water bottle holder (accommodates 4-inch bottle), adjustable cooling fan, and transport handle and non-skid wheels for easy storage.

Manufacturer’s Warranty
Frame – 10 years, parts – 2 years, electronics – 1 year, wear parts: 90 days