Buying an elliptical for crunch fitness? You may want to look at several elliptical trainer ratings before buying to get an idea of which elliptical trainers are best for your crunch fitness workouts.

Before you look at elliptical trainer ratings however, here are a few things you should know about how these crunch fitness machines are rated:

#1 Elliptical Trainers are Rated in Specific Price Groups

There are really 3 categories of these exercise equipment: Economy Buys, Mid-priced and Commecial Grade ellipticals.  Economy buys range from about $300 to $1000. Mid-priced ellipticals range from $1000-$2000. High End or Commercial crunch fitness equipment range from about $2200 and above.

When experts go to rate elliptical trainers they usually compare the elliptical trainers within price class.  So just because an economy elliptical trainer gets 5 stars and a mid-priced elliptical gets 4 stars, that doesn’t mean the economy elliptical is better than the mid-priced elliptical. It just means that compared to other economy elliptical trainers, that one is superior.

#2 Experts Value Elliptical Features Differently

Ever wonder why certain crunch fitness trainers get rated highly by some experts and not by others? It’s because different elliptical trainer raters value some features over others.  So for example, while Consumer Reports may give more weight to long warranties and stability, Consumer Guide may value smoothness of ride or ease of use.  It doesn’t mean one elliptical trainer is better than another – it could just mean they are rated using different criteria.

#3 Use Caution When Reading User Elliptical Ratings

In addition to expert crunch fitness ratings, there are also websites that allow people to write a personal review of their elliptical. While these can be helpful when shopping for an elliptical, be cautious of basing your decision just on these ratings.

Exercise equipment for crunch fitness is big business and some companies are not above having one of their employees post negative reviews on their competitors. No elliptical brand has a perfect track record – sometimes even the best brands make a dud. And those are usually the people that go online to post a negative review. Those people who are happy with their elliptical crunch fitness equipment are less likely to post a comment.

Bottom Line? Take user ratings with a grain of salt and compare them to your own research when deciding on your crunch fitness training equipment.  So those are three things to keep in mind when looking at elliptical trainer ratings.