NordicTrack Elliptical Trainer Review

"Best Buy for Value and Innovation"

NordicTrack is part of Icon Fitness, the largest fitness equipment manufacturer in the world. And consequently they can offer more for less.

I recently made my third trek to the facilities in Logan, Utah, where I tested most of their new models, in addition to talking to department heads.

Their fitness equipment has some of the most innovative concepts in the industry. They spend considerable money on R&D, which re sluts in exclusive features like the iFIT technology, Center-Drive Design, PowerRamp and the FreeStrider.

---

Note: You can buy NordicTrack Ellipticals direct with free shipping. Go to www.NordicTrackEllipticals.com for the latest deals. Click here for NordicTrack Canada.*

Recommendations:

• 2012 NordicTrack AudioStrider 990 PRO - $999
• NordicTrack A.C.T Commercial - $899
• NordicTrack E 7.1 - $799

---

Of all the Icon brands, NordicTrack offers the best quality. This is reflected in the warranty, which covers parts and labor for one year. Many of the other budget brands come with a 90-day warranty. NordicTrack ellipticals are sold online and through Sears. The prices range from $600 to $1,300. It should be noted, their treadmills have received some favorable reviews from reputable organizations like Consumer Reports.

Reasons to Consider a NordicTrack Elliptical Trainer:

Value — Icon sold 4 millions units of fitness equipment last year. Whew! When you consider the economy of scale, that would suggest NordicTrack can offer better value than their competitors, and they usually do.

iFit Live Technology — NordicTrack revolutionized the concept of motivational programming for cardio machines with the advent of iFit Live, which allows your elliptical trainer to communicate with the Internet. There are a number of interesting features, but two stand-out.

Customized Workout Programs — You create a personalized account on iFit.com and define your fitness goals, like losing 10 lbs. over a 3 month period. Based on your input iFit Live will download a personalized workout program designed to achieve that goal. The workouts are progressive and are designed to get you to continually improve.

The program controls the resistance and incline of your elliptical trainer and provides audio coaching for further motivation. Your stats are downloaded to your iFit.com account so you can track your progress, which helps many to further achieve their fitness goals.

Run the World with Google Maps — In addition, iFit Live lets you simulate exercising anywhere in the world. You can either trace a route on Google Maps with a computer, or you can pick an existing route in the iFit Live Library. These routes include popular National Park trails or famous cityscapes. Your elliptical will simulate the terrain through the resistance. With the use of a laptop or smartphone you can visualize your progress with either a street, satellite or earth view on Google Maps.

iFit Live is currently available on all their elliptical trainers. There is a cost for the Wi-Fi module, which includes a one year subscription.

PowerRamp — Several NordicTrack elliptical trainers allow you to adjust the incline, just like a treadmill. The benefit of incline control is the ability to exercise different parts of your lower body. It is also an excellent method to crank up your cardio and burn more calories.

It should be noted that the incline on the NordicTrack AudioStrider 990 Pro is modeled after the incline design of the commercial grade Precor ellipticals. They lease the patent from Precor. This patented design allows the user to maintain a pure elliptical motion as you raise the incline. Other models tend to distort the motion as the incline is raise.

Incline and Decline — Taking the incline feature one-step further, NordicTrack offers their NordicTrack E9.0 and NordicTrack Elite 12.0, which allows you to both incline and decline the elliptical motion. The advantage is that you can simulate going up and down hills and mountains. In addition, as you increase the incline the stride length increases, allowing you to further target a range of lower body muscles. These models are front drive designs, which make it easy to mount and dismount the machines.

Center Drive Design - A recent introduction to the NordicTrack line-up is their center drive models. They offer a variable adjustable 18"-22" elliptical stride. You can set the elliptical stride to your desired length. Like the incline feature, when you adjust the stride length you can target various muscles. In addition, by adjusting the stride you can accommodate users of different heights. The center drive design offers a very compact footprint, which is only 47" in length. In addition, the square based makes these ellipticals extremely stable. These center drive models have been hot sellers. See the NordicTrack A.C.T. and the NordicTrack Commercial Pro reviews.

FreeStrider Technology The FreeStrider design is one of the most innovative concepts to come out of the fitness equipment industry in years. It is a hybrid between an elliptical trainer and a stepper. Unlike an elliptical that has a fixed and limited motion, the FreeStrider has a variable stride that goes up to 35". In comparison to typical elliptical trainers, you exercise more muscles and get an improved cardio workout. (See the NordicTrack FreeStrider S.)

NordicTrack Quality and Service

Quality Control — I have watch this company go through a major transition in the last several years, and the quality of their machines has improved immensely, which is evident with some of the generous warranties they offer on their machines.

Customer Service — NordicTrack has made strides in their customer service. Several years ago I received numerous complaint about an unresponsive service department. Back in 2007, when I first went out to their corporate offices I met with the head of service, Dan Jones. He stated they were committing several million to improve the quality of their customer service. Since then, I have seen the number of complaints drop dramatically. (Considering the volume of their sales, you can expect a few!)

NordicTrack Elliptical Trainer Reviews

Our Review

NordicTrack offers some of the best values you will find on elliptical trainer in the sub $1,500 range. The company excels excels in two areas — value and innovation. Because they are part of the largest fitness conglomerate in the world, they can offer impressive value. The economy of scale allows them to build more for less. In addition, this company is fanatical about innovation. They invest considerable amounts of resources in leading edge technology, which results in features like iFit Live.

When buying a NordicTrack Elliptical Trainer, you want to check out their sales items. In my reviews I try to keep up with the latest prices, but they change regularly. When they offer an exceptional bargain I will attempt to alert you through my reviews.