NordicTrack VGR 910 works for us!
Written: Mar 04 '03 (Updated Jan 06 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Makes those pesky love handles disappear, quietly!
Cons: Hey, it IS exercise!
The Bottom Line: Great Exercise equipment with minimal additions. Would highly recommend!
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| ivplay's Full Review: NordicTrack VGR 910 (NTEL0590) |
Why we bought one
I guess like everyone else my wife and I discovered that we had been making time for eating out, and making excuses for not exercising. Our favorite excuse is that it is too cold outside to go for a walk, or too hot, or too humid, etc.
In response to having some extra cash due to a severance package, when we moved into our new home we bought a NordicTrack VGR 910 from Sears. It was $599 after rebate/sale, and this was in October of 2001. We have had it ever since and used it on a regular basis; more regular in the winter time, of course.
Setup
The setup of this was very easy in our minds. The booklet was right on in explaining how to put it together, and assuming that you have a few rudimentary tools and at least an ounce of mechanical knowhow, you too will be able to put one of these together. The box that it comes in is quite large, so ensure that you have home delivery or access to a truck to get it home.
Usage
We have been using this steadily for the past year and a half, and we both think that it is a great machine. The big plus to us is that it is not mechanized, as we do not want something that the kids can inadvertently get hurt on. This is by no means a kid-friendly machine, but it is much less prone to hurting your child without a motor on it!
Another reason to like the non-motorized functionality of it is that it is relatively quiet. We can turn the radio or TV on and exercise away, reading a magazine or book as we go. It is not unbearably loud, although it is not whisper quiet, either. It is after all a machine with resistance!
The exercise programs that you can utilize with this are somewhat rudimentary, simply because it is not mechanized. There are only two settings for incline control, which is what we call 'really easy' and 'really hard'. In order to go between the two of them, you must stop your exercise and get off of the unit, manually put it up or down, and then get back on. It isn't that difficult, and you probably need a breather anyway, right? So this is not too big of a detriment!
The exercise programs do work, nonetheless. They will work your inner thighs, outer thighs and calves simply by changing how you stand on the pedals. As my wife likes to say, it works your butt off, literally. She has seen marked improvement in her inner thighs while I have simply lost weight all around, so both of us are a success.
If you use the arm exercisers you will also get a workout on your arms, and by forcing the arms to do the majority of the work it can be a very good workout, at that. I do not prefer to use them myself, as I begin to feel a little motion sick, but my wife uses them all the time. It also rocks the book or magazine you are reading quite a bit, so keep that in mind.
The LCD display monitors heart rate, and it does a pretty good job of it from what we can tell. There is a built in heart rate monitor in the handles, so if you use the arm exerciser, you will not see your heart rate. Once again, something to keep in mind!
Finally, the LCD display runs on two batteries, that we have never changed out in the year and a half we have owned it. We really enjoy the machine!
Comparison to the CTX-910
We looked at trading in our VGR last year. My wife jumped on the CTX at Sears, and after a few minutes determined that she didn't want it. The new pedals and springy to balance weight, and in comparison to the one we have it felt very 'bouncy'. If we had never had the VGR, we may very well have bought it, but as it is, we would not trade it in for the world!
Recommended:
Yes
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