Staying in shape and maintaining a solid figure are bi-products of hard work and practice with fitness equipment. People often over emphasize innate athleticism and ones ability to become good at physical activity. Why do people so often correlate natural athletic ability with ones potential? When it comes to getting in shape, all exercise really is, is practice, practice, practice. If you run on a treadmill or elliptical trainer for 6 hours a day, trust us, not only will you know the piece of fitness equipment like the back of your hand, but you will look like you live in a gym.

If you take the time to learn proper technique and practice cardiovascular exercises such as running, with strength workouts such as lifting weights, then eventually you will become a master of your body and its appearance. If you are out of shape, lazy, weak and/or slow, the great thing is that you have all the upside in the world and all you need is a treadmill, a home gym, some inspiration and 30 minutes a day. Seriously, that is all it will take if you want to build muscle, lose weight, while looking and feeling lean.

Although most people want to fit in the same jeans they wore in high-school, taking the time and effort in order to do the exercise necessary to look and feel, thin and firm. More people use their home fitness equipment as a coat-hanger than an exercise machine.  If you put in the time on your Precor elliptical cross-trainer, or your Life Fitness 95Ti treadmill, the results will show. Fitness equipment has become more user friendly than ever and the various motivating exercise programs designed by fitness equipment companies such as Life Fitness and Precor, really allow users to go the extra distance while having fun at the same time as going through an intense workout.

Approximately thirty  years ago, after the engineering of a stationary fitness rowing machine by David Smith in his basement, one of todays most respected,  popular and successful fitness equipment brands was birthed. Spawning from David Smith’s development of an ergonomically correct rowing machine in 1980, Precor has turned into one of the international leaders in the branding, design, production and marketing of fitness equipment.  No more than 3 years after David finished the design of the rowing machine in his basement, Mr. Smith was joined by the bright and fitness minded opportunist Bill Potts. Potts brought his knowledge of electronic programmability to the table and sought out to integrate unique programming, as well as  statistical user-feedback, into the exercise equipment Smith was designing. Potts believed that allowing people to monitor their stats such as speed, time, distance and other readouts, would increase the popularity of their workout equipment.  Ultimately, making the exercise equipment more user-interactive, intrigued people because they could monitor their results in real-time and knowing how fast or long you have to exercise in order to surpass your previous records can be highly motivating and its potential was fully realized. By 1985, several more additions had been made to the once one man band, and Precor expanded to carrying treadmills, exercise bikes and rowing machines.

In 1990, Precor entered the health club scene, with a series of commercial treadmills, built to withstand all day wear and tear. There is a major difference in the structural integrities and mechanical capacities between commercial (health club) and residential exercise equipment. Whereas a solid home treadmill can be used at most up t0 four hours a day, a gym quality treadmill can be used for up to four times as much as non-commercial grade fitness gear. Precor realized that their commercial line of treadmills must have the size, speed and strength in order to compete with the other leading brands in the fitness equipment industry.

The year of 1995 was a breakthrough year for Precor, as they invented the first elliptical cross-trainer and put it on the map in the form of their Precor EFX 544 cross-trainer. The Precor EFX 544 was designed with an adjustable cross-ramp and fixed arms. The adjustable incline ramp makes it easy for users to work out different muscle groups in their lower body through the simple adjustment of the angle on the incline ramp. The EFX 544 was so popular that Precor decided to continue their production of elliptical cross-trainers for usage in health clubs and homes. One of the first additions to the Precor line of elliptical cross-trainers was a cross-trainer with moving upper body arms.

After already having the cardiovascular fitness industry  in the palm, through the acquisition of Pacific Fitness in 1998, Precor made giant strides towards building a successful line of strength equipment. A result of this merger was the extremely popular Precor Stretch Trainer, that is a favorite of fitness trainers and gym patrons.

In 1999, Premark International, which was parent company of the Precor brand at the time, was bought out by International Tool Works. Soon after ITW acquired Precor, popularity for Precor increased, as their equipment become more affordable and focused on consumer needs. With a bigger bankroll and more steam built up, Precor was acquired by Amer Sports in 2002 as part of a 180 million dollar deal. Amer Sports coming into the picture resulted in Precor changing their primary goals. After years of revolving around industrial products, Precor’s new aim was to become an international distributor of a wider range of fitness equipment and sporting goods.

With all of the success and momentum that Precor had built open over the last 2 decades was great, but they still did not have a dominant and consumer friendly line of strength equipment. That all changed in 2004 when Precor established an Icarian line of strength equipment. Icarian strength equipment can be found anywhere from private home gyms to large health club franchises. The line of strength equipment itself has all home gym products ranging from bench presses, to multi-station and plate loaded home gyms, to weight racks and other strength training machines.

A very popular feature on the Precor cardio line of fitness equipment originated in 2004 as well. The cardio theater feature on Precor cardiovascular equipment, came as a result of their relationship with an entertainment technology firm, ClubCom. For example, if you are familiar with the Precor 956i Treadmill, it can be purchased with a cardio theatre attached to the display console. Having an entertainment center to use when you exercise has proven to allow some people to workout up to 75% more than they did  on the same treadmill, without the cardio theater. The year of 2006 also marked the year that Precor introduced its Experience Series line and the Cardio Theater was an option for all Experience Series treadmills and elliptical cross-trainers. After gaining the support of consumers across the U.S., the Cardio Theater went on to win awards at the annual international product design competition, hosted by Business Week.

Around this time is when Precor struck a deal with the Hilton Family, that would make Precor gym equipment the main supplier of Hilton hotels such as the Double Tree, Embassy Suites and The Hilton.  Catapulting Precor into the mainstream, the mainstream commercial deal between Precor and Hilton Hotels, cemented Precor’s status as a premier brand in fitness equipment.

Several years after Precor began their quest to become an international player with strength based fitness equipment, the production amounts of their Icarian strength line increased by 300%. The year of 2006 also ,arked the year that Precor introduced its Experience Series line and the

Athletic and sporting good brands such as Wilson, Atomic, Suunto, Mavic and Salomonare are all different product lines under their parent company, Amer Sports Corporation. Precor fitness equipment is also owned by Amer Sports Corporation, who according to Precor.com,  ” is the worlds leading sports equipment company”. Since Precor has a mission to be “the most respected brand in fitness equipment (Precor.com)”, their relationship makes perfect sense.

A great majority of health clubs and gyms have Precor elliptical cross-trainers, treadmills, stretch trainers, exercise bikes and strength machines. Ultimately, the litmus test for whether or not fitness equipment is solid, is whether or not the fitness equipment in question can be found at health clubs and commercial gym facilities. In 2005 & 2006, Precor won the award for “Top Supplier”, from Golds Gym and Anytime Fitness. Since Precor fitness equipment can be found across the United States at almost every major health club, it can therefore be concluded that Precor represents the upper echelon of fitness equipment.

Customer Testimonial

“I just wanted to express how happy I am about my new Precor fitness equipment. In order to fill the monstrous void in my life, I decided to get off my butt and build myself a home gym. The last thing I wanted to happen was for me to get inferior fitness equipment and then use it as an excuse to not exercise. I believed that with really solid  home fitness equipment, I would have no excuse not to workout on a daily basis. For those of you who are unfamiliar with exercise equipment and which companies have the best reputation, I was in your shoes once too, and after lots of research and hard work, it became apparent to me that Precor fitness equipment was the most popular brand after surveying my friends and family (and some randoms) . Precor fitness equipment is the most popular and well respected fitness equipment company today. Their line of award winning crosstrainers, as well as their health club quality treadmills, exercise bikes and other cardiovascular pieces of fitness equipment, is recognized by gym owners and other fitness experts, as the most structurally sound and mechanically correct, exercise equipment on the globe. In order to fully understand the true quality of Precor gym and home fitness equipment, I recommend that you go to a local gym, or fitness equipment store and try out either a Precor treadmill, Precor elliptical, or exercise bike. Once you have experienced the smooth and sturdy performance of Precor fitness equipment, it will be much easier for you to understand how and why precor exercise gear is superior. Other awesome fitness equipment companies include Life Fitness, Star Trac and that is about it. There is no reason to over-think things when buying exercise equipment for your home. All you need to do in order to make sure you are not getting ripped off, is to make sure the company name on your home fitness equipment has a good reputation in the fitness equipment community. Precor has that, and I have been happy!”

*Precor history facts from Precor.com

If and when you decide to buy home fitness equipment you must make sure that you get maximum value from your treadmill, elliptical or whatever gym equipment you use. Don’t be the guy who lets their Precor 556 elliptical turn into a coat hanger. Clearly, there is no value in that. One should never let their health club quality home fitness equipment turn into dust collecting clothing rack.

Ultimately, the key towards prevents gym equipment from turning into unused wastes of space, is to purchase hi-performance gym equipment. Statistics prove that people who purchase low cost fitness equipment for their home, do not end up using it and fall victim to the fact that their impulse purchase, based off of the attraction of a low price, ended up realizing that their purchase was a complete waste and failure. If you would rather go outside and exercise on a track because you do not have extra money saved up that you can spend on fitness equipment, then that makes perfect sense and it would be difficult to argue that is not a great way to stay in shape. However, if you buy cheap and generic fitness equipment because you do not have cash, that is not better than nothing, in fact, it is a losing proposition. If you plan on buying home fitness equipment such as treadmills, exercise bikes, rowing machines, home gyms and stair climbers, and you do not have at least $1000.00 to spend, that odds that you are going to be able to buy fitness equipment that will last and that you will enjoy using, are slim and none.

With all of that said, the clear answer to anyones question about what they should do to stay in shape, the answer is to make sure you actively exercise on health club quality fitness equipment. There are so many different programs and obstacle courses one can use on cardio fitness equipment such as Precor ellipticals and life fitness treadmills, that working out on durable, well equipped and technologically advanced treadmills and other cardio equipment, is fun and interactive. Having an interactive workout allows users to really follow through on their goals through being able to track their progress. Not only do Life Fitness and Precor treadmills keep great user statistics, but they are also very comfortable on users knees and other joints. This brings us back to the first point which is that unless you purchase gym grade home fitness equipment, you will not get maximum value from your exercise equipment.

With arms that sway back and forth with its user, along with an adjustable incline ramp, this gym grade Precor crosstrainer is the only commercial Precor elliptical trainer that has both an adjustable incline ramp, as well as moving arms. The commercial Precor 576i is similar to the Precor EFX EFX5.25, Precor EFX 5.31, Precor EFX 5.35 and Precor EFX5.37, however, all of those precor ellipticals are designed for home usage and they do not have the structural integrity or mechanical capacities of a health club quality precor fitness machine. Not only is there a difference between the user weight capacities of commercial vs. non-commercial ellipticals made by Precor, but also, the smooth,  natural glide that you get with all health club quality Precor’s, is not  the same as their residential grade elliptical trainers, which most certainly are not as smooth.

The Precor EFX 556 elliptical does a phenomenal job assimilating to the natural walking and running motion of its user. Built by one of the worlds most renowned fitness companies, this one of a kind elliptical was designed to give your entire body a head to toe workout, while protecting knees, hips and your body as a whole, from the pains typically associated with running.

These days there are so many different pieces of gym and home fitness equipment, that when talking to a friend or a fitness expert, they most likely are unfamiliar with the exact unit you yourself use at the gym. In other words, when John says to Pete, “I used the CZ 400 Strider at my gym”, Pete will more often than not, have no clue what piece of fitness equipment John is referring to.

That is not the case when one discusses the Precor EFX series 556 cross-trainer. Talk about a hallmark! Can you even think of the elliptical cross-trainer that successfully provided an upper and lower body workout, before the invention of the EFX 556? Of course you can’t…Precor was the first company to ever develop the “Cross-Trainer” and the EFX 556 is its pride and joy. In the literal sense, without exaggerating, Precor created the first gym quality cross-trainers. The Precor EFX 556 model has been so popular with gym members and other fitness experts, that Precor has continued to improve and upgrade the EFX 556 into the EFX 556 V.2, or EFX 556i, or the EEFX 556i Experience series. But, all of the updates and modifications have all been upgrades and changes to the display, user feedback, workout programs and heart rate controls. Precor has not, and they most likely will not, change the original bio-mechanical design that laid the foundation for their elliptical cross-trainers as a whole.

The original “bio-mechanical design” in other words means the way the leg stride feels to the user and the reason it has remained unchanged after all of these years, is because this EFX 556 has done such a fantastic job in replicating the natural smooth, and ergonomically-correct stride of its user.

With its upper body arms, along with multiple workout options and various intensity levels, the Precor EFX 556 makes each workout session new and creative.

In regard to its impermeable steel frame, its structural integrity is comparable to that of a battle ship! That means this cross trainer can be used at top speeds for up to 15 hours per day. Good luck breaking it down.

Through their development of this groundbreaking elliptical, Precor has made themselves one of the most recognized names in the fitness industry today, and that recognition spans across the globe. If you are really serious about losing weight and reducing body fat, then let a Precor elliptical be your weapon against obesity and lethargy.

•Low Joint Impact – Smooth Precor Bio-Mechanics
•20″ Stride
•Moving Arms and Set Ramp
•Smooth and Quiet Electro-Magnetic Resistance
•Rear Drive – One of America’s Favorite Cross-Trainers
•Forward and Reverse Motion: Yes!
•Resistance: 20 Levels
•Ramp: 20 Degrees Set
•Heavy Gauge Steel Frame