Tony Little's Gazelle Freestyle

...channels one day and saw Tony Little advertising his Gazelle Freestyle and shouting (literally) about how great it is. I had to admit that it did look easy, but then these things always do!!

So off I went in search of a Gazelle. I was loathed to spend the £15 P&P charge from the TV shop so I had a look on Ebay and was pleased to find that the same TV Shop were also selling these through Ebay - the TV price was something like £100-£120 ...
...a video of the instructor, Tony Little, showing you how to use your machine and taking you through Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced level workouts. I watched this first time around and followed the Beginner workout. It is recommended that you spend 10 minutes on the machine every other day as a newbie building up to 20 and then 30 mins every other day. I stuck to the 10 minutes for my first workout and you can see the time on the screen while ... more

I've tried going to the gym...and I failed. I could never seem to find the motivation to go and when I was there I found excuses to leave. During my 9 or-so months membership at the gym I did enjoy using the Cross Trainer machine and wished I had one of my own. My sister having turned 30, and being just over a year older than me, has decided that its time to get fit and has invested in a Cross Trainer. Not to be outdone I thought I would do the same.

I happened across the shopping channels one day and saw Tony Little advertising his Gazelle Freestyle and shouting (literally) about how great it is. I had to admit that it did look easy, but then these things always do!!

So off I went in search of a Gazelle. I was loathed to spend the £15 P&P charge from the TV shop so I had a look on Ebay and was pleased to find that the same TV Shop were also selling these through Ebay - the TV price was something like £100-£120 plus £15 P&P and I bought this through Ebay at the Buy It Now price of £100 including shipping.

I did notice the TV shop (Best Direct I think it was) are selling a newer version too called the Elite which holds more weight, has wider pedals, has different resistance levels amongst other things. I opted for the Freestyle XL though as I felt £100 was plenty to spend considering it may be used as a clothes horse within a few weeks.

The Gazelle Freestyle XL is not the newest model but is a midway point between the Elite and the Freestyle. There are very few differences between the Freestyle and the XL other than the XL holds more weight, when you upgrade to the newest Elite there are more changes as I have mentioned above.

***Getting Started

Anyway, onto my Gazelle. It arrived flat packed so requires a little bit of construction which thankfully my man had completed by the time I arrived home from work. He found it quite straightforward to assemble so should be easy enough for most folks.

Once it is set up you are best to refer to the book supplied which tells you how to use the machine including how to safely get on and off. It tells you to bend your knees slightly when you are "gliding" and that is pretty much all you need to know other than the actual exercises you can do which are also included on the free video - more on that later.

It feels peculiar when you first get on as you are standing on pedals sort of hovering about the ground. Like most cross trainers, the pedals are connected to the handles so when you push your leg forward the handle comes back and vice versa. Differing from other cross trainers is that fact that you can swing on this machine and both feet can go forwards or backwards at the same time instead of opposite directions. Also, with other machines, you are making more of a pedalling motion with your legs and pushing down and round but with this the motion is more like pushing forward and back. Because of this, there is less impact on your joints and specifically the knees. I used to find I would get sore knees on the cross trainer at the gym due to the constant pushing downwards and I have had no problems at all on this.

***Details

This particular Gazelle will hold body weight of up to 300lbs or approximately 21stone although the newer version can hold up to 350lbs/25 stone - sorry I have no idea what this is on kgs. It is very sturdy and does not move around while you are training. You do feel very safe on this machine.

The trainer has a Thumb Pulse Monitor which means that you can take your pulse by holding the top of the handles. I think it is recommended that you stop exercising to use this feature to get a true reading but the newer Elite model can read your pulse while you exercise.

The Gazelle comes with an "On Board Computer" which sounds all groovy and flashy but it is not 'all that'. The computer can record Speed, Distance, Time, Calories and Pulse. You can set this to the item you wish to measure or set to Scan through the menus as you go. I find it helpful to scan through as I am keen to see how far I have "travelled" and how many calories I have burnt up but while keeping an eye on the time I have been on. It is simple to reset again before you start your next workout by holding down the button.

***Workouts

Onto the actual workout you can do. The Gazelle comes with a video of the instructor, Tony Little, showing you how to use your machine and taking you through Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced level workouts. I watched this first time around and followed the Beginner workout. It is recommended that you spend 10 minutes on the machine every other day as a newbie building up to 20 and then 30 mins every other day. I stuck to the 10 minutes for my first workout and you can see the time on the screen while Tony walks you through. I would love to tell you that the video is great but I can't - Tony is so annoying that if he was your personal trainer you would do the workout twice as fast just to get away from him quicker. I also find him a bit sleazy and don't even get me started on his hair-do(n't)!!

Nevertheless, he does show you the different ways you can use your machine which include stretching, walking, jogging, running, upper body and lower body. Although it is described as walking, running etc, you go at your own pace, you can take as big or as little strides as you feel comfortable with and gradually build up as your stamina increases.

The Gazelle is totally portable, it folds down much like an ironing board and can be stored under a bed. If you had room you could leave this set up but it does take up a bit of space so we have to fold ours up after each workout and it is a little bit heavy to carry but you can slide it across the room.

***Tony Little

You can read all about Tony on his website, www.tonylittle.com and how he overcame serious injuries from a car accident to get back to his bodybuilder physique.

***Summary

I love my Gazelle Freestyle, I enjoy hopping on and doing a 15 minute workout and seeing my distance improving or how many calories I have burnt. I have had this machine for a few weeks now and the novetly still hasn't worn off. I don't follow the video since the first time I used it but do follow the exercises that I have learned from it. I can't say that I have lost pounds yet as I haven't had it long enough but I feel good about myself once I have done my workout and find it a pleasure rather than a pain.

I can see that over time the novelty may wear off and it will become a clothes horse. I do think that I am more inclined to unfold this and do a 15 minute workout every other day than I was going to the gym. I feel that this is good investment as my husband and I were paying almost £60 per month between us and not even going to the gym and at £100 for this machine, it hasn't even cost us 2 months worth of membership. Of course this doesn't give you everything that the gym would give you, but it does give you the chance to shape up and get fit from home. It comes without the embarrasment of going to the gym and getting changed in front of the skinny people and sweating, huffing and puffing on the lowest setting of the treadmill while some guy runs the equivalent of the marathon beside you.

You can see a pretty good demonstration of this product on many of the shopping channels and this will give you an idea of the type of exercises you can do. The demonstration does show all sorts of people, big, small, young, old on their Gazelle in their own homes and they are not all perfect at it so it makes you feel - if they can do it, so can I.

As I have said, I bought my unti from Ebay and there are many second hand Gazelles for sale there at this time although due to the sizes many are for collection only. It is available through some TV shopping channels, or via Best Direct's website - www.bestdirect.tv

I hope that this review has inspired some of you to invest in a Gazelle and good luck to you if you have. 

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