Portly Gazelle Residing In My Living Room

Before purchasing the this product I'm pretty sure I watched Tony Little on infomercials happily convince consumers that the Gazelle is the best fitness machine ever a few hundred times. At the time I didn't realize how much the infomercial repetition was wearing me down. The advertising techniques didn't hurt either. They use endorsements from the product creator Tony Little himself and Darla Haun. Tony Little is considered a fitness expert and his reputation lends credibility to the product. There were some claims that I found highly inaccurate. First of all "this product is light weight." Wink. It's actually about sixty bulky pounds which I personally do not consider light. It also "folds quickly for easy storage.” This is just not true. Also "you can achieve a challenging aerobic workout without sacrificing your knees." I never realized I was trading off the health of my knees by doing aerobics. Hmm... Wait, how am I sacrificing my knees again? That's right, the ad does not go into detail. Darla Haun was used as a transfer as one of the advertising techniques. She's beautiful, well groomed and in great shape while she works out on the Gazelle without even breaking a sweat. The infomercial uses a bit of humour and showcases everyone laughing and having fun while using the equipment. Unless you buy two your chances of having fun working out side by side with someone else on the same machine in your home are slim at best. I think the product may provide some fitness benefits to inactive people by getting them moving but I don't believe the benefits would be any better than those same inactive people walking a flight of stairs in their house or apartment building. I actually think taking the stairs would be more beneficial and less expensive. This product received wonderful reviews with an online average of 4/5 stars but the same complaints kept re-appearing that were deal breakers for me such as: this exercise equipment is so heavy. Some say it is not as easy to fold as is advertised and it tends to squeak. Many people have found that the heart monitor included in the package is not accurate, the cup holder is badly designed and it is really hard to change the piston for the resistance levels. Most users leave it set to aerobic workout.