Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought this two years ago and now that I'm ready to upgrade to another machine, it's time to give this a review. If you are recovering from an injury or just beginning a fitness journey - this is an excellent start. I have cervical spinal compression that affects all of my nerves and joints. I had to stop running because the pain was so bad and I was falling down - a lot. As a result I gained a lot of weight, high cholesterol and diabetes. Desperate to do something about it, I bought this. Setup was a little intimidating at first, looking at all of the pieces laid out on the floor but it actually went quickly and was pretty easy. I read the reviews about the squeaks and bought a greaser spray - which I definitely used for the first several months of breaking this in. That squeaking DOES go away after time. At first my legs cramped horribly, forcing me to stop every 10 minutes and massage the cramps out - then get back on. After a few weeks, that stopped and I was able to complete 30-45 minute sessions without stopping. People started noticing the changes within a month in my appearance. My legs toned up pretty quickly. After a year and a half I lost 50 lbs, 10 inches off of my waist and brought my cholesterol and A1C levels into the "normal" range. Those results come from using this machine 3-5 times a week and a clean diet (watching carbs and portion sizes) and working a sedentary job. Unfortunately, it's no longer enough of a workout for me. My weight was the resistance and now that I've lost so much of it I'm just spinning in circles and have been stalled out for 6 months. Now I'm upgrading to a much more expensive elliptical with all of the bells and whistles. This was my "starter" machine and it served a very good purpose. The odometer and calorie burn tracker are a joke - there is no way I run 3.5 miles and burn 400 calories in 30 minutes - on this machine or any other. The pulse monitor also doesn't work. It serves as a good timer and that is it. All in all, the construction of this is very good. With nearly daily use for 2 years, nothing has broken and it has been very sturdy. I fold it up and put it away after each use as well. We all have to start somewhere in our journey and if you are just starting yours - this is a very good beginning.