Well I got sidelined with the flu, which certainly didn't help since I was sore from the workout AND had body aches from the flu! So I'm forced to take a couple of days off but I'm looking forward to trying it again. It's a much more intense after-workout soreness than normal so I must have really woken up some muscles!

Kim532 - while comparing ellipticals, I saw a couple that had an mp3 player center - one just had built in speakers so you could plug in your player and the music came through the speakers, very cool! But the other had a control panel so when you plug in your player, you can operate it with the elliptical readout AND listen to it through built in speakers!

I had bout a cheap one for about $200-$250 and it was a piece of crap. It was easy to put together, but I never really broke a sweat. The screen always messed up and it just wasn't that great of a workout for me. My sister got on it, who weight probably 75 pounds less than I do (she's 13) and it fell apart while she was on it! You DO get what you pay for, especially when it comes to exercise equipment. I threw it out and got a $450 treadmill which I've had for 4 months and LOVE.

I'm still using my elliptical. It doesn't hurt anymore! What I found is that if I kind of bounce with the movement, it feels better, more natural. Before, I was keeping my knees straight or something but the movements felt stiff. Bouncing makes it feel less like working out and I don't ache as much.

However, we had Spring for about 1-2 weeks so I started walking outside - which, IMO, nothing beats!!! So I left the elliptical alone. But, in Michigan, it turned Winter again, LOL, so tonight its back to the elliptical! Hope I don't have to break it in again!

Yes, I meant those hand poles, that you push with your arms as you go. No, it is not nessessary IMO, and ultimately, it makes your arms tired so you let them go, and then they will right in your face, flapping. Most precors have no poles, only one model does.
You can always get small weights and swing your arms as you go, if you want to make it harder while runing on ellptical, but you can drop the them anytime, and they won't irritating, LOL. I rather crank up resistance and inclince, and do free weights before ellptical. I also swim every other day for an hour, so it is very good caridio too.

I believe that by using your arms you are helping your legs, if you have no arm levers, you have to work harder to push with out lower body. When I used the one with arm levers are the gym, it was much easier. What I do is swing my arms, rahter than holding onto rails, and for the ultimate workout I grab a pair of 5 pounds dumbells and swing them until my arms get tired. Arm muscles are smaller and tire easily while leg muscles can continue. IME, hand levers are counterproductive. I have used both, with and without, and found that I am better without. Not all Precor models comes with hand levers.
JMO and JME.