Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I was rather skeptical about this thing. Always looking for space-conscious workout options for my basement gym. But I'm pretty much a bars, bells, and plates kinda guy. So I was dubious about the efficacy of this stepper. Despite my initial impression that it would be better suited being in an older lady's sunroom for afternoon cardio sessions, I've really come to enjoy it. I jacked the tension up as far as I possibly could without breaking the mechanism and it's like walking up the side of a mountain. (And I do a lot of hiking, so I should know.) After about 10-15 minutes/500-750 steps I can feel a substantial response in most of my leg muscle groups. Surprisingly it doesn't seem to affect my glutes very much, but that may be due to my gait or height. But the heads of the quads, the entire hamstrings, and the double balls of the calves really get a surprisingly intense workout in a short period of time. Again, I have it set to the most intense tension possible. Price was good. Build is solid. The LCD display options are pretty swell as well. For a weightliftin' dude like myself, the included optional resistance bands are fairly useless. Just not enough resistance to matter to my musculature. However, I taped them together and attached them to a pillar. The two combined together generate a bit of effort for me, about equivalent to a 20lb kettlebell. So yeah, kinda useless for my purposes. But anyway, get this thing and get steppin'. Set that tension high and stomp it out yo.