Life Fitness E3 Elliptical Trainer Review – A Good Buy or No?

 

Life Fitness E3 Elliptical Review – Highlights:

 

The Life Fitness E3 elliptical is a step up from the popular E1 Life fitness model. It adds better-designed moving arm bars with multi-position grips as well as resistance-thumb controls from the moving arm bars.

 

 

The E3 has a rear-drive design and includes the popular Life Fitness Whisper stride which uses maintenance-free ball bearings to reduce friction and give you a more quiet operation.

That helps to contribute to one of the best features of the Life Fitness E3: the nearly silent operation.  This is great if you’re looking to work out and not disturb the family late at night or early in the morning.

The eddy current resistance system also gives this elliptical a very solid, heavy feel without the jerky stop-and-starts that you usually get with cheaper ellipticals.

One thing people notice when using the Life Fitness E3 elliptical trainer (and Life Fitness trainers in general) is how comfortable and natural the movement feels. This is partially due to the properly spaced pedals.

 

 

These help to minimize the lateral hip shifting that could put stress on your lower back. So you’re comfortable both during and after your workouts – even extra long ones.

 

 

Life Fitness E3 Elliptical Review – Console

 

The E3 comes with the Go Console which shows your time, resistance, heart rate, distance calries and more. There’s also an intensity graph showing you where you’ve come from and where you’re going to.

The console is simple and well laid out with easy buttons to adjust your settings, resistance and more. The console is backlit and easy to read.

 

 

 

 

There are also 13 different built-in workouts to add some challenge to your exercise time.

The console stores information for up to 2 different users. So you don’t have to input all of your information over again when you start a new workout.

 

 

Stationary Bars To Work Your Lower Body

Stationary center handle bars let you focus on working your lower body. The stationary bars also have the coach zone training which helps you target different muscle groups as you run.

 

 

Track Your Heart Rate 3 Different Ways:

There’s also a specially designed ErgoGrip stationary handlebar if you want to just work your lower body. These stationary handlebars also have a hand sensor for your heart rate.

 

 

There are also hand rate sensors on the moving arm bars – something you don’t get on the E1 model. So you can track your heart rate without taking your hands off the moving arm bars and disrupting your workout.

If you’d prefer you can also track your heart rate with the wireless chest strap included with the elliptical.

A lot of people find that the chest strap gives you more accurate results than the hand grips. It’s also a lot more convenient than having to continually grasp the hand sensors (and interrupt your upper body workout).

 

 

 

 

Long 20 Inch Stride Gives A Better Lower Body Workout

A longer stride helps to move fully work your lower body leg muscles. You want to be able to full stretch out and run. The Life Fitness E3 elliptical comes with a generous 20 inch stride which will really help you work your lower body.

Another bonus to this trainer is a very low step-on height which makes a lot of people feel safer and more secure. It’s also great if you have a lower ceiling height.

The step-on height is only 6 inches, which is quite low for an elliptical. So to get the proper ceiling height, just add that to your height (or the tallest user height in your home) and give about another 1/2 – 1 foot and you have the ceiling height that you need for this trainer.

 

 

 

 

Life Fitness E3 Elliptical Review –  Any Downsides?

One of the most surprising things that you don’t get with this trainer is incline. There is no incline on the Life Fitness E3.

Incline changes the slope of your elliptical pathway and helps you to crosstrain different groups of lower body muscles. A lot of people really like having it  – and it’s pretty surprising not to find it on a trainer at this price point.

Also, while the construction and ergonomics are excellent on the E3, you don’t get a lot in terms of extras (adjustable pedals, adjustable incline, online programs, iPod dock etc.) And at this price point many of the competing brands give you at least a few of these things.

For example the Nordictrack Commercial 14.9 Trainer gives you incline, adjustable pedals and even a full-color web browser in the console – all for about $1500 less.

 

 

Where to Buy and Save:

Overall if you’re looking for Life Fitness quality and you want a bit more substance than the E1, you’ll appreciate the E3 trainer.

It has a bit more weight to it and a few more additions like upgraded handlebars and resistance thumb controls. You can buy it directly online and get Free Shipping here.

 

Click Here To Save on the Life Fitness E3