The Most Ergonomic Elliptical Trainers on the Market
The quality of Horizon Fitness Ellipticals puts them among some of the best available. We were recently at the North American corporate headquarters of Horizon Fitness, which is owned by Johnson Health. It’s the same parent company that produces Vision Fitness and Matrix Fitness products.
The facilities were impressive with a huge workout center for the staff to actually exercise on the machines they design and promote. It was great to see everyone testing out the Horizon Fitness ellipticals.
Brad Heath at the Horizon Fitness company headquarters.
The Horizon Fitness folks took a new approach to designing this next generation of Horizon ellipticals by interviewing customers and prospective customers to find out what their priorities were in selecting an elliptical. Out of these encounters they developed the foundation of their ellipticals with the SIX STAR Certification. A series of biomechanical features designed to give the Horizon Fitness ellipticals a natural and comfortable feel. These steps toward customer satisfaction is why we like taking the time to do Horizon Elliptical Reviews.
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They Manufacture Their Own Components – A fancy term for this is “vertical integration.” Basically, this means that all Horizon Ellipticals have parts built by Horizon as opposed to 3rd party companies. The results are machines that fit together better and have fewer maintenance issues.
Rachael and Brad in Wisconsin to visit Johnson facilities.
Excellent Customer Service – We got a chance to see the call center during our last visit. They had machines available to the customer service reps so that they could look at working models while on calls with customers. Customer service is one area where many companies struggle, so we were pleased to see a well-stocked call center with many knowledgeable reps ready to field income calls.
Strong Company Culture – A company that treats their employees well is going to treat their customers even better. We were impressed with the company culture that promotes health and well being. To give you two examples: there is an employee fitness center and the company hosts company-wide yoga sessions on the front lawn.
Horizon Fitness Elliptical Reviews
Horizon EX-59 Elliptical — $649 (Best Buy Recommendation) This is one of the better budget elliptical trainers. It has a 4.5″ Green LCD display, 18″ stride length, and 10 levels of electronically adjustable resistance. This has a superior warranty than the expired EX-69 model with 2 years warranty on parts.
Horizon Elite E9 Elliptical — $1,599
The Horizon Elite E9 elliptical exercise machine is their top model and is loaded with extras including a full color touch screen display, heavy flywheel, cushioned pedals, multiple grip handlebars, ViaFit, Optional Passport and Virtual Active videos that simulate running outdoors and is showed on the color display.
Horizon Elite E7 Elliptical — $1,399
This machine has the same features as the Elite E9 minus the full color display and Virtual Active. It does comes with ViaFit and the optional Passport.
Horizon Evolve 5 Elliptical — $1,399
This Horizon Fitness elliptical gives you the best of the Horizon engineering, including the SixStar Certification. It also comes with interactive ViaFit and the optional Passport.
Horizon Evolve 3 Elliptical — $1,199
This is a slightly lower model from the Evolve 5 with a lighter flywheel.
Horizon 7.0AE Elliptical – $999
This model is set for release in Fall 2018. It will be available in Dick’s Sporting Goods stores. Review coming soon!
ViaFit — The Evolve and Elite Horizon Fitness elliptical trainers are equipped with a Wi-Fi feature allowing you to define fitness goals like number of workouts, calories burned, amount of time exercising or total distance and track your progress. You can also import fitness and nutritional stats from other popular apps, giving you a central resource to track data. Studies continue to show that those individuals that track their progress are more likely to achieve their fitness goals.
Passport — Passport lets you simulate running or walking famous landscapes throughout the world. Your Horizon Fitness elliptical trainer can connect to your TV and provides high-definition videos on your television. The videos are synced with speed and intensity of your workout. This feature is designed to take the monotony out of exercising in place. There is an additional cost for the Passport box.
SIXSTAR Certification
1. Ideal Pedal Placement — Pedals are placed with zero distance between them to eliminate stress on hips and back. This makes them ideal for women because of their unique and adoring physique.
Team member Rachael taking a closer look at Horizon Fitness treadmills.
2. Optimal Handlebar Spacing — Grips are within optimal reach and distance for both small and large framed users.
3. Straight-up Body Posture — Keeps your body upright for improved comfort. We’ve noticed that when we work out on a front drive elliptical we are always leaning forward to use the handlebars. That is why we often forego the bars altogether and simulate running.
4. Long, Natural Elliptical Stride — Mimics a natural running or walking motion while minimizing fatigue.
5. Low Pedal Placement — Pedals placed low to the ground are easier to step on and off.
6. Smoother Momentum — The large drive pulley ratio creates a smoother and more efficient motion.
Our Thoughts – Horizon Fitness Elliptical
The new generation of SIXSTAR Certification Horizon ellipticals are a vast improvement over their previous generation of crosstrainers. The new elliptical machines appear more stable, durable and provide a more natural elliptical stride.
“As if you were running on air.”
The interactive features found on the Elite and Evolve Horizon Elliptical models are very appealing and will assist you in achieving your fitness goals. We particularly like the The Elite T9 with the touch screen full color monitor, ViaFit and the Virtual Active videos.
Overall, Horizon Fitness has made some significant improvements to their line-up in the last few years, and offers some of the best values in their price range. See a complete comparison chart of all Horizon Ellipticals here.
