Over the past four decades, numerous ailments seem to have become the ‘order-of-the-day’ in the present day society. The root causes for this malady are the sedentary habits in almost all walks of life, both at workplace and on the home front. Thus, those among the classes as well as the masses have endeavoured to devote some time for fitness exercises and similar pursuits to stay healthy.

However, with decline in the number of playgrounds or restricted usage in case they exist, it has become a catch-22 situation for these fitness aspirants. Despite such a scenario, all the hopes need not be lost since there are viable options to stay healthy. And these choices happen to be schematic workouts at the gymnasia in the neighbourhood.

Of course, one has to stick to the pre-scheduled timings here, and also a well-equipped gym or club charges quite a hefty sum for membership. But one need not lose heart as there is still another choice and that is the market of exercise equipment for home. Indeed, this is ideal considering the fact that this system will be your own for lifetime although it may sound a little bit expensive at the time of purchase.

Some of these fitness systems are the treadmills and the stationary bicycles. A wide range of high-intensity exercise bikes is available in the market, and it is said a mere 10-minute session on these is as good as a 45-minute run. These sessions include a three-minute warm-up followed by a 20-second sprint, followed by a three-minute recovery session, another 20-second sprint and finally a three-minute cool-down. Keeping in view the level of intensity, the users are advised a brief rest between each of the workouts.

Interestingly, this exclusive bike is also known by other names like elliptical cross trainer or X-trainer. It literally simulates stair climbing, walking, or running without causing excessive pressure to the joints as such risk of impact injuries is almost eliminated. Hence, people prone to injures can safely use an X-trainer to stay fit. As for its functional applications, it offers a non-impact cardiovascular workout that can vary from light to high intensity in variable speeds and also the resistance preference set by the user.

In less than half a decade of making debut in the market in 1995, the elliptical trainers gained immense popularity around the globe. They function on the user’s upper and lower body parts. By and large, they are self-powered although there are other versions that can be plugged in for adjustment of motion and also for energising electronic consoles and resistance systems in the bike.

There are three models of elliptical trainers, classified as per the location of the motor ‘driver’ in the system. The first is the ‘rear drive’ while the subsequent version is known as the ‘front-drive’ and the latest model is the ‘centre drive’. There are provisions for several value added facilities can be incorporated in the latest versions. These add-ons in the ‘front and centre driven models are integrated in the console for iPhones of various generations.