Stair Steppers Reviews

Experts say that sales of stair steppers have slipped with the advent of elliptical trainers. Elliptical machines offer many of the benefits of a stair stepper with less joint stress. Treadmills continue to be the best-selling home fitness equipment, outpacing sales of steppers, ellipticals and stationary bikes combined -- and fitness experts say you're far more likely to still be using a treadmill months or years down the road. That's because treadmills offer a more varied workout than steppers or exercise bikes. A treadmill or elliptical trainer is a better choice for beginners. Steppers do have an advantage for those who prefer shorter workouts, however, since they allow you to work up a sweat in a short amount of time. If you are seeking clarity on which home fitness machine would best meet your needs, see our other ConsumerSearch reports on treadmills , elliptical trainers and exercise bikes .

Stair steppers provide a cardio workout by allowing you to push independent foot pedals up and down -- or to climb a rotating staircase. With most models, the user can adjust resistance and speed. Many fitness professionals say that elliptical trainers have taken over the stair-stepper market because the ski-type motion and incline of elliptical machines provides a more varied aerobic workout, as well as limiting impact on joints. However, there are still reasons to consider stair steppers, since they provide a lower-impact aerobic workout than running, and steppers help tone lower-body muscles. Editors at BabyCenter.com say stair steppers can be a good choice for pregnant women, because with proper alignment, stair steppers put little pressure on the lower back.

Most reviews of stair steppers were written during their heyday in the 1990s. Consumer Guide, Consumer Reports and Outside Magazine cover mainly outdated models or simply list descriptions of features without comparisons. Some websites, such as Men's Total Fitness.com, merely list recommendations from other sites (including ConsumerSearch) and claim the reviews as their own. Websites that allow readers to post reviews, including Amazon.com and Epinions, offer the most useful information and critiques about current stair steppers. An October 2004 review of mini steppers in The Wall Street Journal includes comparisons of the smaller, portable mini-steppers.

However, according to fitness editors at TreadmillDoctor.com, the Bowflex TreadClimber machines are more complex mechanically than a treadmill, which means there's more to break down in the future. There are other drawbacks, as well. For example, several users complain that you can't adjust the resistance level while you are on the machine, which means you can't increase or decrease the intensity as you work out. Others comment that the maximum speed of 4 mph to 4.5 mph (on the more expensive models) isn't fast enough. TreadmillDoctor suggests that if you want a machine with a steep incline, you're ultimately better off spending your money on a regular treadmill with a high incline (covered in our report on treadmills ). The Bowflex TreadClimber series starts with the entry-level TreadClimber TC1000 (*est. $1,600) , and the TreadClimber TC6000 (*est. $3,400) is at the top of this line.  ... Continued

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Stair steppers are not nearly as popular as they once were, and we found very few reviews for currently available models. In older reviews, we found good ratings for the Schwinn 305p, the StairMaster 4400 PT and the Tectrix/Cybex CardioTouch 2000. However, these models have been discontinued. To identify the best models, we checked top picks in reviews against owner reviews at Epinions and Amazon.com.