Frequently Asked Questions - How To Buy

Whether you plan to use an area in your basement, a spare room, or the “space above the garage,” before you make any other decisions—think ahead. When you are visualizing where you’ll put a new exercise bike, treadmill or home gym, put yourself in the picture as well. What can you do to make your space an inviting, practical and fitness-friendly place—a place you’ll want to be?

Guesstimating your space is not a good idea. No two pieces of exercise equipment have the same footprint. If you’re considering a home gym, some models are 7 feet tall. You really do need to know the dimensions of the space you have available. You may have to rearrange other furniture, too, so what you need first is a floor plan.

You don’t need an architect’s blueprint—a simple sketch will do, as long as you show the dimensions. Another fun way to plan is to use this online space planner (courtesy of Precor) and create a perfect, printable plan to bring with you to the store. Whether it’s a sketch or a print-out, your plan will help your fitness adviser guide you in your selection of your ideal equipment.

Carpet, hardwood or concrete floors are not suitable for your workout area. We recommend a rubber mat or rubber click-together flooring, available at any North Star Home Fitness Store. Rubber absorbs impact, reduces noise and vibration, cleans quickly and easily, and won’t retain perspiration odor. And, importantly, it will protect your new machine from loose carpet fibers.

A gloomy, stuffy exercise space is a certain motivation-killer. Consider how natural and artificial light will work. Also consider using a dehumidifier or humidifier to keep your exercise environment just so… or possibly an exhaust fan to keep the air fresh and circulating.

Nothing makes time go by faster than losing yourself in your favorite TV show while you work on your cardio. With a TV, you can also incorporate exercise videos into your workouts. You can even have the remote at your fingertips—just attach hook-and-loop tape to the back of the remote and to the machine. Bike pouches make handy holsters for water bottles, remotes and cell phones. (The latest trend is to mount a personal LCD screen, with DVD player, right on your cardio machine for one-on-one interactive entertainment!)

Tape down any loose electrical cords. Use a power strip if you'll be plugging in several items. If you have young children, make sure you have a place to stow dumbbells, medicine balls, and anything that little feet might trip on. Also consider what storage you’ll need for things such as towels, shoes, and workout gear.

Just ask. We’re here to help with professional advice. At North Star Home Fitness, our job is to get you the fitness results you’re seeking. We’re here to act as your personal mentor through the entire process of bringing fitness into your home — before, during, and after you make any purchase decision. When you have your basic floor plan in hand, or even just the basic measurements, come on in to your local North Star Home Fitness store, and consult with one of our home fitness professionals. (And don’t forget to bring your sneakers for test-driving different types and models of equipment.)

One solution is to join a health club and use it regularly. But some people, who have explored that route, don’t like the atmosphere in many clubs—the feeling that they’re on display and under constant scrutiny. Another turnoff: exercising at a club isn’t normally an activity you can undertake spontaneously, since it entails having to get dressed and driving to the facility. If the would-be exerciser has small children at home, the logistics of even a few minutes at the gym may become totally unworkable. The problem: when using a club on a regular basis becomes too inconvenient—or the ambiance is too distasteful—many frequently respond by stopping their exercise programs altogether.

A number of factors guide you to the choice of equipment that suits you best, and the knowledge you need can’t be found in ads or infomercials. If you have or know a personal trainer, consult them about your fitness plan and goal-setting, as well as how to plan your home exercise space. Or come on in to your nearest North Star Home Fitness Store and create your plan with one of our experienced, certified home fitness professionals.

You really do get what you pay for. In addition, there is a direct correlation between the investment you make and likelihood you will use the equipment… and the more you use it, the higher quality it needs to be.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a magic machine and the best there is, if you don’t like to use it, you won’t—and you won’t see the results want. Buy what you enjoy using. You have an open invitation to wear your workout gear to any of our stores and test-drive different kinds and models of equipment until you find the one that feels just right.

Why choose a home treadmill? No rain, wind or snow. No bugs. No traffic fumes. No ill- tempered dogs. No hard pavements. You can walk, jog or run as far, as fast and as long as you want—whenever you want. But there are some important things you should know before you buy.
For more information, see our treadmill buying advice.

Come in for a test drive, and feel how the elliptical motion combines walking, stepping, and cycling into one movement. For the past few years, elliptical cross-trainers have been the hottest thing in fitness—providing a safe, effective cardiovascular workout for the de-conditioned user and the seasoned athlete alike. In fact, the non-impact motion has allowed people to return to exercise who couldn’t before due to a physical limitation, such as joint pain. For more information, see our elliptical buying advice.

Exercise bikes (stationary bikes) are an excellent, low-to-no-impact cardio and weight-loss choice. You can pedal away the fat—and never get a flat. But which bike is ideal for you? Upright, recumbent or dual action? What resistance type? Workout feedback? Warranty?
For more information, see our exercise bike buying advice.

Home gyms are a great way to get a full-body, strength-training workout in the convenience of your home. They offer space-saving, user-friendly designs, with many brands, models, and exercise packages to choose from. Home gyms can be a significant investment, and we strongly recommend consulting a fitness equipment specialist before making a purchase decision.
For more information, see our home gym buying advice.

For a reasonable cost, in little space, free weights will give you the greatest variety of exercises per $ invested and square footage used. Working with free weights is an efficient exercise form because you engage multiple muscle groups, as opposed to machines which typically focus on a muscle or group.
For more information, see our home gym buying advice.

Functional strength training is a range of total-body activities that build strength, balance and coordination for general fitness, and improves your ability to perform general, day-to-day activities.

The most popular fitness accessories include heart rate monitors, exercise balls, floor mats, yoga products, and medicine balls. Incorporating them into your workout routine is a great way to add variety and serve the strength and flexibility components of your overall fitness plan. We carry a full selection of SPRI fitness accessories and Polar heart rate monitors.

Make your local North Star Home Fitness Store your personal fitness information center. Bring your questions on any aspect of home fitness and exercise. Our certified fitness professionals are walking encyclopedias of information, and you’ll have all of their attention. They’ll be glad to share their knowledge and help you make the informed decisions that will get you the results you want. Be open and candid about your fitness goals. The more information he or she has, the better their advice will be.

What type of equipment do you need? Strength ? Cardio? Both?

What requirements (space, electrical, maintenance) are there for each piece of equipment?

Where do you plan on placing the equipment?

What kind of equipment have you and/or your friends used?

What did you and/or they like or dislike?

What would they recommend for your skill and interest level?

What kind of safety features does the equipment have? This could be important if you have children.

When possible, try before you buy. For instance: try out the equipment at a local health club or

borrow a friend’s equipment. Try out the equipment in the store. Don’t be bashful! Use it for more

than a few minutes to get a real feel whether it will work for you.

Does the product have a warranty? What does it cover?

How do you maintain the equipment?

How do you get it serviced? (For larger pieces of equipment, such as a treadmill, a repair person may have to visit your home).

It’s the single most important piece of advice we can give! When you know what you want to achieve, you’re less likely to invest in more or less machine than you need. Equally important, your plan and our fitness professional’s expertise will quickly narrow your search to treadmill models that best suit your specific needs and expectations.

Your treadmill needs a strong motor, but don’t believe all you hear about treadmill power. If a sales person, ad or product literature pumps up the “horsepower” of a treadmill, ask what kind of horses. “Peak HP” is the treadmill’s top power output, may last only moments, and cannot be sustained. What you DO need to know is the CONTINUOUS-DUTY horsepower, the power a treadmill can sustain continuously, rated over 24 hours of non-stop use. High continuous HP typically means the treadmill can work efficiently and powerfully under more weight, and that it’s easier for the treadmill to maintain a steady speed with the harder impacts at higher speeds. 1.5 Continuous-duty horsepower or higher would be recommended for most users.

Treadmills typically run from 0 to 10 mph. Some will go as high as 12 mph. If you don’t plan to run, there are models built specifically for walking. Again, it comes down to finding the model that suits your particular needs best. Do check that a treadmill has a low starting speed, so you won't be jerked off balance by a sudden start.

To program or not to program? As with so much to do with fitness, the only answer is your own. How will you use your treadmill? For example, if you've used one at a gym, did you use the programs? If not, you probably won’t need them at home. However, treadmills offer a variety of pre-programmed courses to keep your exercise program interesting, motivating and challenging.

The belt is a vital component of every treadmill. Belt size translates directly to a treadmill’s walking surface size. We recommend a belt at least twenty inches wide, with plenty of length to accommodate a comfortable stride. A 6’ 6” user can typically run on a belt 52” or longer.

You need a deck that’s durable, low-or-no maintenance, and shock resistant. A deck should be firm, yet “give” a little under your stride. This absorbs some of the shock normally transmitted to your ankles and knees. Maintenance-free treadmills are usually self lubricating, which allows the belt to glide over the deck with ease, significantly reducing wear on the motor, deck, belt and rollers.

Power incline gets our vote over manual any day (not to mention there aren’t many manual treadmills out there today.) The power incline motor lets you raise and lower your treadmill’s elevation while you’re walking or running – rather than having to stop, use a lever or crank, then start up again.

All treadmills have handrails—some just a rail in the front, others with rails from console to floor. It’s strictly personal preference, so choose what you feel most comfortable using.

Treadmills with built-in heart rate control not only allow you to monitor your heart beat—they can adjust their speed and incline to keep your body working in a specified heart rate zone. You can plan your treadmill exercise to give you optimal pay-back in weight loss, cardio, aerobic cross-training or endurance conditioning

A smaller treadmill may suffice, but not if it’s also going to be used by a 6-foot-plus user and 280lbs. Similarly, a folding treadmill may help if space is tight, but you may have to compromise on functionality and durability. Once again, it’s best to do your up-front planning, and have your exercise area thought out and tape-measured ahead of time to save guesswork in the store.

You can find treadmills in department stores, sporting goods stores and fitness equipment specialty stores. This may sound like a shameless plug, but the best place to buy a treadmill is at a store that specializes in treadmills and offers expert product and fitness knowledge—because what a big-box-store salesperson doesn’t know, or the brochures don’t tell you, can badly misguide your search for your ideal treadmill. Also be sure to check the warranties on any treadmill model, and quiz the vendor about post-sale support and service.

Make your local North Star Home Fitness Store your personal fitness information centre. Bring your questions on treadmills—or any aspect of fitness and exercise. Our certified fitness professionals are walking encyclopedias of information and you’ll have all of their attention. They’ll be glad to share their knowledge and help you make informed decisions that will get you the results you want.

Visit a local authorized retailer who specializes in fitness equipment — not hockey, soccer and golf gear. Specialized fitness dealers will have a more educated staff, higher quality equipment, and the ability to assemble and service your product more effectively. All of our store locations have relationships with personal trainers to help you start your program.

The most important feature of an elliptical trainer is feel. Make sure the motion feels smooth, without any jerking or unnatural movement. It's only when you put an elliptical trainer through its paces — adjusting the ramp, trying different programs, or exercising in forward and reverse motions — that you’ll start to notice and feel major differences in quality and comfort between models. So, get into your exercise clothes, put on your walkers or joggers, come on in and spend some time test driving.

The design of the elliptical trainer is very important. A better designed unit will allow your feet to remain in contact with the pedal during the entire workout while others could cause the heel to come off the pedal. Full foot contact during the elliptical motion relieves pressure on your knees and makes it a truly impact free workout. Full foot contact also relieves pressure on the ball of your foot, which would cause your toes to “fall asleep”.

Most quality units carry a lifetime warranty on their frames. For other components, look for warranty coverage for at least 1 year on labor and a minimum of 2-3 years coverage on the parts. (The most popular cross-trainer on the market carries a 10-year parts warranty.) Make sure your warranty includes the electronics and other key “wear-and-tear” components.

If you’ve been checking out elliptical trainers, you’ve probably seen some hype about magnetic resistance. In fact, virtually all cross-trainers create resistance with some form of magnetic brake. Your choice comes down to the types of magnetic resistance (standard or electro-magnetic) and the quality and features of the equipment.

Standard magnetic resistance is created by moving a powerful magnet towards or away from the moving flywheel. As the magnet moves towards the flywheel, the current generated between them increases—creating resistance. (If you recall your high school Physics, this is known as an Eddy Current.) On some standard magnetic ellipticals, you turn a dial to move the magnet towards the flywheel and create resistance. On others, a small electric motor moves the magnet.

Electro-magnetic resistance is typically used in higher-end cross-trainers. This system doesn’t have a moving magnet. Instead, an electro-magnet is positioned close to the flywheel, and current is passed through it to create a resistant force. The more current, the higher the resistance. Electromagnets are very controllable, offering a finer range of resistance adjustments than other magnetic systems. Electromagnets are also more durable due to having fewer moving parts.

The strength of the frame is very important. A low-price machine will invariably have a cheaper build. This leads to weak joints in the frame and early failure. A well-built machine’s frame is constructed to tolerate the stresses of use for years.

can be described as somewhere between the circular motion of a bike and the flat motion of a treadmill. Most better quality elliptical trainers are equipped with a range of pre-set programs, essentially a series of varying resistances designed to simulate differing uphill gradients (sorry, no downhills). Programs let you choose the level of intensity for your workout—and also vary your workouts so your exercise program is never a dull routine.

A dual-direction cross-trainer let’s you choose backwards or forwards motion. A dual-action elliptical trainer has moving arms to integrate your upper body, as well as your lower body.

Make your local North Star Home Fitness Store your personal fitness information center. Bring your questions on elliptical trainers — or any aspect of fitness and exercise. Our certified fitness specialists are walking encyclopedias of information, and you’ll have all of their attention. They’ll be glad to share their knowledge and help you make informed decisions that will get you the results you want.

If you know from experience what type of exercise bike suits you best, or which features you need, our fitness professionals at your local North Star Home Fitness Store can show you a range of trusted-name exercise bikes.

Our best advice — don’t buy an exercise bike that you haven’t tried out personally. Take nobody’s word for comfort. Visit a reputable fitness equipment store and test-pedal every model that looks like it fits with your plan. It won’t matter how many features a particular model has if it doesn’t feel right when you use it. If your stationary bike will have more than one user, most bikes accept a wide range of height and weight adjustments. However, some exercise bikes do have a maximum weight capacity.

Test it the way you’ll use it. Don’t be rushed by a salesperson. Set the exercise bike up for your body. Adjust the seat height so that, when your leg is fully extended at the bottom of each rotation, the knee of your extended leg remains slightly bent. The pedaling motion should feel rhythmic and fluid… resistance should be at a comfortable setting, and the handlebars should be easy to reach.

If you’ve been checking out exercise bikes, you’ve probably seen some hype about magnetic resistance. In fact, virtually all exercise bikes create resistance with some form of magnetic brake. Your choice comes down to the types of magnetic resistance (standard or electro-magnetic) and the quality and features of the equipment.

Standard magnetic resistance is created by moving a powerful magnet towards or away from the moving flywheel. As the magnet moves towards the flywheel, the current generated between them increases—creating resistance. (If you recall your high school Physics, this is known as an Eddy Current.) On some standard magnetic exercise bikes, you turn a dial to move the magnet towards the flywheel and create resistance. On others, a small electric motor moves the magnet.

Electro-magnetic resistance is typically used in higher-end exercise bikes. This system doesn’t have a moving magnet. Instead, an electromagnet is positioned close to the flywheel, and current is passed through it to create a resistant force. The more current, the higher the resistance. Electromagnets are very controllable, offering a finer range of resistance adjustments than other magnetic systems. Electromagnets are also more durable due to having fewer moving parts.

What do you want or need to know during and after your workout? Most stationary exercise bikes tell you how many miles you've pedaled, your speed, and how long you’ve been riding. If that’s all the information you need, your search for your exercise bike becomes simpler. Our selection of LeMond G-Force bikes now offer downloadable workout statistics to your home computer, allowing you to track the progress of all of your workouts.

If you want to monitor your heart rate, know how many calories you burn, use pre-programmed workouts that simulate rides in the hills or park, or create your own custom rides, your exercise bike will have an on-board computer and multiple LED displays keeping you informed at any second of your workout.

Exercise bikes carry varying warranties — from 90-days to lifetime coverage on different parts of the bike. For example, parts and labor may be covered for 6 months, electronics for 1 year, and the frame for a lifetime. In general, keep in mind that a longer warranty is indicative of a higher quality machine.

Make your local North Star Home Fitness Store your personal fitness information centre. Bring your questions on stationary bikes — or any aspect of fitness and exercise. Our certified fitness professionals are walking encyclopedias of information and you’ll have all of their attention. They’ll be glad to share their knowledge and help you make informed decisions that will get you the results you want.

Understanding and discussing each user’s goals will protect you from buying a unit that will not withstand the use of multiple family members or have the proper adjustability for a variety of user sizes.

A heavy-duty steel frame construction will provide a long-lasting, safe and stable machine. Machines built with strong robotic welds are preferred.

Home gyms should be easy to use. They should not require any cable or pulley adjustments when moving from one exercise to another. In addition the weight stack should be adjustable with just the push /pull of a pin.

The cables should be of aircraft quality with a 2000 lb test strength and coated in nylon, while the pulleys should have sealed ball bearings for durability and smoothness. Non-coated cables and pulleys without bearings do not last as long and are not as smooth to use.

Many of today’s gyms come with exercise posters, workout charts, and/or DVD’s. All of our stores work closely with local personal trainers to help you get started with your new home gym.

Many of today’s gyms allow for an attachment for doing leg presses, squats, and calf raises.

Be sure to measure your space thoroughly. Home gyms can be very small, but can also grow to almost 10 feet wide by 10 feet deep. Some models have an adjustable height to allow for clearance in rooms with lower ceiling heights.

Most quality gyms carry a lifetime warranty on their frames. For other components, look for warranty coverage for at least 1 year on labor and a minimum of 2-3 years coverage on the parts. (The most popular home gyms on the market carry a 10 year parts warranty.) Make sure your warranty includes key “wear-and-tear” components (pulleys, cables, upholstery.)

Since most people are of different heights, the seat should adjust to ensure proper positioning and support for every exercise.

The padding should be comfortable and supportive while exercising. The motion during the exercise should also be bio-mechanically correct. Better engineered machines will allow for specific adjustments in different exercises. These 'range of motion' adjustments accommodate different levels of flexibility for the user.

Make your local North Star Home Fitness Store your personal fitness information centre. Bring your questions on stationary bikes — or any aspect of fitness and exercise. Our certified fitness professionals are walking encyclopedias of information and you’ll have all of their attention. They’ll be glad to share their knowledge and help you make informed decisions that will get you the results you want.

A heavy-duty steel frame made from 11 gauge steel construction will provide a long lasting and safe system. Frames built with strong robotic welds are preferred. The equipment should be solid and not shake, rattle or move during any exercise.

The padding should be comfortable and supportive while exercising. 'Body contoured' moulded pads are the best for comfort & durability.

A weight bench should have an adjustable seat and adjustable back rest, as well as adjustable barholders (or uprights), for Olympic-style benches. The seat and back pad should adjust from a flat position to a full upright (90 degree) position, to allow for a safe variety of exercises. The uprights should adjust to accommodate for the user's arm length and overall height in every exercise.

If a unit has any cables or pulleys, the cables should be of aircraft quality and coated in nylon, while the pulleys should have sealed ball bearings for durability and smoothness. Plastic coated cables and pulleys without bearings do not last as long, and are not as smooth to use.

Safety is extremely important when using any type of weight equipment. The better quality benches and cages will offer adjustable 'safety catches' (or spotters) to support the weight if the user is unable to lift the weight back up.

As your workout increase in variety, so should your weight equipment. Better designed units offer a variety of attachments which can be added to the existing equipment. These additions will help work the muscles differently and improve your results.