WELCOME TO HOME FITNESS DIRECT
At Home Fitness Direct, we take care of you by taking care of how you exercise at home. We've put together the finest range of quality equipment to satisfy every budget and every body.

EXPERT ADVICE
We listen to your needs and goals, your requirements and restrictions - such as how much time and space you can give to the equipment, is your back up to it, any relevant medical conditions we should know about. We can then recommend the ideal piece of equipment for your needs.

THE BEST EQUIPMENT
All our equipment has been personally selected by myself and a dedicated team of experts. We are absolutely committed to the range that you see on our website and contained within our brochure. Unlike many of our competitors we are selective and do not simply list every product available made by any brand. There are some big name brands missing from our site, the reason for this is simple, I would not have their equipment in my own home so why should I expect you to have it.

THE BEST PRICE
We constantly strive to give you the best equipment with the best service levels at the lowest prices on the internet. We are the only on line retailer that can offer you approved factory reconditioned Life Fitness commercial exercise equipment (click for details) at a fraction of the new selling price.

OUR PEOPLE
Many of our staff are members of the Register of Exercise Professionals - the Fitness Industry Association's quality assurance register. They help select our product range and can offer you individual advice on the right equipment for your needs. We also have the largest support network in the UK to help with space planning, delivery, installation and servicing of your new equipment.

Let us help you enjoy the benefits of being fit.

Jonathan Adler
Managing Director

OUR COMPANY

• Home Fitness Direct is part of PTE Plc
• Established for over 25 years.
• 8 Outlets within The UK.
• 85,000 Sq Ft of warehousing.
• Over £1 millon of stock held.
• National delivery fleet.
• Trained engineers UK wide.
• Fully stocked parts depot.
• ISO 9002 ACccredited.
• PLC since 2002.
  

ELLIPTICAL CROSS TRAINERS EXPLAINED

Just as a wholesome breakfast is good for you, so is a wholesome exercise routine. Elliptical cross trainers are perfect for exercising the whole body. Better still, they do it a non-impact way. And best of all they do it all at once so you get more benefits in less time. The dual action of the cross trainer arms combined with the foot pedals enables you to effectively exercise the main muscle groups together.

The foot pedals of cross trainers travel elliptically to mimic normal physical movement so it's the natural way to get a good cardiovascular workout. Exercising upper and lower body in unison quickly raises the heart rate to the optimum level for burning calories to reduce body fat and get you looking toned. This kind of exercise is good for coordination, helps build bone density to stave off osteoporosis and, because the whole body is involved, it's more fun to do. Plus, its small footprint takes up no more space than a regular exercise bike.

Extracts From "Which? report : Exercise machines"

So what's the best way to get your own body in shape? Recent sales figures suggest many of us are tired of wiping another person's sweat off the equipment at the gym, and are looking for quality exercise equipment to use at home.

Some cross trainers and exercise bikes are as good as those you use in the gym, but you should fight the urge to buy a cheap one.

We found these wobbly, boring and uncomfortable - a combination that will have you reaching for the stop button long before you reach your target weight.

You're far more likely to stick with a machine that makes exercise interesting so we'd recommend paying enough to get a solid machine with at least a few different exercise programmes and a heart-rate monitor.

Programmes
More expensive machines tend to be more solid and offer features like water bottle holders and reading racks but, frankly, if it's a toss up between a reading rack or an exercise programme, we'd advise you to ditch the books.

Programmes make your workout more interesting and effective by varying the resistance level, which governs how hard you have to work.

They can make it feel like you're strolling through a valley, tackling a small hill, or even taking on the Three Peaks challenge.

Calorie counters
To help you track your progress, most machines display basic feedback about speed, distance, time and - supposedly - your calorie expenditure.

The calorie counts can only ever be estimates (the machines don't know enough about your metabolism to be accurate) but we were surprised that even those on some expensive exercise bikes or cross trainers don't take account of the resistance level. So they give the same readout whether you're really pushing yourself or just taking it easy.

To check whether a calorie reader does factor in resistance, try using the machine for a minute at both high and low resistance and see whether the calorie readout differs.

Heart rate monitors
It's definitely worth buying a machine with a heart-rate monitor. Even the monitors on cheaper machines tend to be accurate, and they bring an extra dimension to exercising. Some machines, for example, have programmes that vary the resistance to keep your heart at a specific rate.

Handgrip monitors can be a bit of a pain if you want to let go of the handles. The ear-clip or chest-strap versions, found on more expensive machines, are more handy. An alternative is to buy a chest strap unit that displays your rate on a watch (from £35), or on the machine's display (from £30).

Several of the machines' manuals mention the so-called 'fat burning' and 'cardiovascular workout' heart-rate zones. But our exercise experts think these can be misleading.

The maximum heart-rate calculation on which they're based takes only your age into account, even though the maximum heart rate of a sedentary 40-year-old won't always be the same as that of a super-fit and active one.

To improve your fitness level, it's more important to train for 35 to 40 minutes several times a week, than tire yourself out quickly by trying to achieve a particular heart rate. As you get fitter, your heart rate during exercise should gradually come down, and should recover to its normal level more quickly.

Cross Trainer-specific features

Assembly
Avoid falling at the first hurdle. Find a friend to help you set up at home. Even some of the simpler ones need two people to assemble them safely.

Fly Wheel
Check the weight of the flywheel, not all manufacturers publish this, but a solid weight, say over 12kg will give you good resistance and a smooth motion.

Calorie counters
If these are dependent on the speed you're running at, they're more useful than if they're independent of speed. Some calorie counters don't take account of whether you're scaling Everest or doing the equivalent of a gentle stroll through the park.

Even so, they give you only a rough estimate of how many calories you're burning. They are slightly more accurate if you can input your age, weight and sex.

To check, compare the readings for a few minutes when you're pushing yourself and again when you're not. They should vary.

Console buttons
These are usually plus and minus buttons for resistance. Pressing and holding them down makes the value change faster. They need to be large so that you don't miss hit them while you are exercising, and respond to your touch well.

Display
Check if there are descriptions of the various programmes on the display. On some models all your workout information is displayed simultaneously, but on most there is too much to see at once, so you may see some information constantly, and have the option or scroll or alternate to check other functions.

Drinks holders
These are useful but they should be deep enough to prevent the bottle falling out as the frame shakes.

Stride Length
Make sure that the machine you are choosing has a stride length long enough to accommodate your size. The machine is an elliptical cross trainer, so named because your feet go round in an elliptical motion. Condense this into the smaller machine and you end up with circles rather than ellipses.

Adjustable Stride Length
Some machines give you an adjustable stride length with some being easier than others to adjust. This is ideal for machines being used by a variety of users of differing heights. Plus if they are easy to adjust you may use them on a shorther stride length for sprinting exercises and longer for cross country.

Feedback
Feedback modes give you information on your current workout. They vary between machines, but often include speed, pulse rate, incline, calorie counter, the current programme you've selected, heart rate measurement and total exercise time and distance.

Foot Plates
The platforms on either side of the of the flywheel should be wide enough to support you comfortably, and not sloping, so that you can get your balance right. You should not feel that your legs are too far apart.

Handgrips
These should be textured to prevent sweaty hands from slipping.

Static Handlebars - Bull Horns
Ideal for exercising the lower body. Some have hand grip pulse sensors in built.

Heart rate monitors
These are usually hand sensors on the handle bars (usually left and right), but some machines include wireless chest straps. You wear these on bare skin or over a thin layer of wet clothing. Some have the hand grips in the static handlebars, some in the moving. When located in the moving handlebars, you get a constant readout, whereas when in the static handlebars you need to reach for them.

Responsive Programmes
Keen users will want to have options for setting their own user profiles, in addition to the preset programmes.

Speed display
This is usually given in MPH or KMPH; you can usually choose which to use.

Weight
If you choose one of the heavy ones, you will need to consider where you're going to put it, or even if it'll be able to make it up five flights of stairs, if that applies to you.

The elliptical (or cross) trainer is the second best-selling exercise machine.

Like running without hitting the floor or cycling standing up, ellipticals combine the motions of the treadmill, stepper, cycle and ski machine.

They provide a low impact, weight-bearing aerobic workout for the upper and lower body, and are especially good if you want to improve fitness and lose weight without the impact of running.

We found the cheaper machines have a jerky up-and-down motion, though - more like riding a bike with square wheels than a gentle loping run.

Look out for:

• A frame that feels sturdy when you're exercising
• Static arms to make it easier to climb on and off
• Enough space between the body and static arms
• Adjustable swinging arms that provide a wide range of movement without pulling you too far forwards or back
• Long, adjustable foot platforms
• A smooth elliptical motion with good stride length
• A heart-rate monitor