Features:

• Home version of Life Fitness' popular health club cross trainer; total body workout with synchronized upper- and lower-body movement
• 18 workout programs, seven personalized workouts, a race mode, and goal workouts
• Oversized pedals accommodate feet of all shapes and sizes; change programs without restarting or losing your current workout information
• Polar wireless and Lifepulse digital contact heart rate monitoring system (wireless chest strap included)
• 350-pound maximum user weight; lifetime warranty on frame

We were hesitant to spend this much on a piece of home fitness equipment, but it has turned out to be well worth it. I love using the professional Life Fitness Elliptical machines at the gym and I could not find another elliptical trainer with the same natural motion. A local fitness equipment store that carries Life Fitness equipment would not budge on the MSRP, and we would have had to pay tax and $200 for shipping. Amazon was running a promotion for $300 off of the MSRP with no tax and free shipping so I bought it here.

The Life Fitness Club Series Elliptical is fantastic. Solid as a rock. It has a welded frame and is constructed the same as the professional model and the motion is the same. The difference is in the resistance system. The Life Fitness models in the health club create resistance by using some kind of electric generator that powers the electronics. The resistance on this model feels almost the same but is much quieter. The machine is very quiet all around but it would probably be disturing to others if not in a basement. This model requires plugging it in to an electric outlet. The heart rate sensors in the hand grips work great for me but not for my wife- she uses the wireless chest strap for HR.

The Life Fitness Elliptical shipped by freight and arrived in about a week. A giant 18-wheeler delivered it to the end of my driveway. Make sure you have some help unloading the equipment- it weighs about 300lbs with the packaging. It was a struggle for my wife and me to carry the main part of the machine to the basement because it is awkward and bulky and weighs over 200lbs. It was fairly easy to assemble but it took me close to an hour. The core of the machine is already put together. You have to attach the upper arms and assemble and attach the center stack with the electronics and attach the plastic covers that make the machine look finished. It came with the Phillip's screw driver and giant Allen wrench that was needed for assembly.

The best part of this machine is that I actually use it every day and am excited to use it. It functions the same as the health club version giving a great low-impact workout and I don't have to drive to the gym.

I'm 6'4" 265lbs. Wanting the very best elliptical I narrowed my search to Precor and the Life Fitness X7 & Club models. Testing the Precor models I found the incline ramp, even at it's lowest settting, put a little too much stress on my knees, not too bad but worried what years of working out like that would do to me in the end. So then it came down to the X7/Advanced or the Club model. I was worried the Club's fixed 18" stride might be to short for me so I was interested in the X7 which adjusts from 18" to 24". I found on the X7 anything over 18" I started to lean forward in a hunched over position, longer the stride the worse it got so the X7 was definitely out. The Club model was a perfect fit for me so I bought it and I'm very happy with it. I did get it at a local store. The X7 had the advantage of a little better console I thought being an lcd as opposed to the Club's led readout. The X7 was also completely silent while the Club had just a little bit of a whine noise while in use but nothing too loud you'd notice once the radio or tv is on.