Life Fitness Elliptical Reviews

Are the Lifefitness elliptical machines any good?

 

About Life Fitness Elliptical Trainers

Lifefitness is one of the top manufactures of exercise bikes and elliptical trainers.  Today their exercise equipment can be predominantly found in many health clubs across the United States. However, they started out several decades ago with much more modest roots.  Their founders, Ray Wilson and Augie Nieto, purchased the rights to the Lifecycle exercise bike from its inventor Dr. Dimick.  They perfected the design and began selling their version of the exercise bike to health clubs across the nation.  Since then they have built up a company that employs over 1,700 people with over 180 dealers and distributors located in more than 120 countries.

Today Life Fitness is now a division of Brunswick Corporation.  Brunswick acquired Life Fitness in the 1990's and is also the manufactures of bowling equipment and billiards tables.  However they are also widely known for their boats, marine engines, and navigation systems.  Also included under the Brunswick umbrella with Life Fitness are the popular fitness equipment manufactures Hammer Strength and Parabody. 

By design the Life Fitness home elliptical trainers are built with a commercial quality type of construction.  They are stable machines that come with a longer stride length and larger pedals than a lot of the competition.  For those that are not familiar with the stride length, it is the farthest distance between the pedals.  A small stride length alienates those that are above average in height or chose to use a longer stride during the exercise. 

The reviews for most of the Life Fitness elliptical machines are very positive.  The Life Fitness x1-5 elliptical series has especially received very positive reviews.  Many of the reviews we have seen have commented on how smooth and quiet their elliptical trainers are.  If there is a downside for the Lifefitness elliptical machines it has to be the price.  They are considered a high-end machine and because of that they do come with the heftier price.  The entry-level model starts around $2,000 with the more expensive home models priced in the low $4,000 range.  Due to the high cost of these elliptical trainers it may be worth considering a used model on sites like eBay for those can't afford a new one. 

Life Fitness Warranty

Most of the Life Fitness elliptical trainers come with a lifetime warranty on the frame; 3-year warranty for parts and a 1-year warranty for labor (X7 model comes with an even better warranty). 

Options

Most of the home elliptical trainers offered by Life Fitness come with two options, a Basic workouts console or an Advanced workouts console.  The Basic workouts console on most of the elliptical trainers includes 5 workout programs and a heart rate readout (read the individual reviews to see exactly what that model offers).   The Advanced workouts console is priced around $300 higher than the Basic console price.  The Advance console includes 10 workout programs, 2 user profiles, 2 custom workouts and a wireless heart rate chest strap on most systems.  

The table below list reviews for the Life Fitness elliptical machines that are currently available.  Click on the individual links for more information about the model listed (MSRP reflects prices at the time of the review.  Prices may change over time).

 

Ellipticals	Resistance Type	Stride Length	MSRP	Rating
Life Fitness X1	Eddy current	20"	$2,299.00
Life Fitness X3	Eddy current	20"	$2,999.00
Life Fitness X5	Eddy current	18"-24"	$3,599.00
Life Fitness X7	Eddy current	18"-24"	$4,299.00