ESPRIT EL555 - Manual (Page 14)

EL555 Elliptical
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Adjustable foot pedals, and correctly aligned orthopedic foot pads
Through research performed with a leading sports scientist and physical rehabilitation expert; Spirit
engineering has developed a breakthrough in pedal design. No other elliptical, at any price, offers
these unique features. The history of elliptical use over the past few years tells us that many users
suffer from numb toes while working out on elliptical trainers. Many other users complain of ankle,
Achilles tendon, knee and/or hip pain. While researching a solution to these common problems
Spirit engineers consulted Richard DeKok, P.T., M.T.C., of St. Bernard s Industrial Rehabilitation
Center in Jonesboro Arkansas. Together we identified the inherent problem in elliptical designs and
developed solutions to solve the problems. What we found is that when you use an elliptical you
tend to push outward during the power stroke and not just straight back. This causes stress on the
outer part of the foot and throws off the natural alignment of the joints. The second problem we
found is that many people tend to stay up on the ball of their foot during the elliptical motion. Our
solutions were simple but effective:
l The first solution was to add a 2-degree inward angle to the footpads. This might sound
simple but what it does is puts the users joints back into a neutral alignment. This eases
the over stressing of the ankles, knees and hips.
The second solution was to make the foot pedal adjustable to the user s style of pedaling
the elliptical. We achieved this by adding an adjustment that allows the angle of the footpad
to be changed. Because everybody is different, and there are as many styles to pedal an
elliptical as there are people, we found there is no one angle that fit every user. Some
users would be up on the balls of their feet, resulting in numb toes, so we decided to let the
user adjust the back of the foot pad upward to support the heel, taking the pressure off of
the nerves in the balls of the feet and the Achilles tendon. The result was no more numb
toes. Some users are uncomfortable at this angle so for them we designed in three different
adjustable angles so they could find one that feels best for them.
l There are three footpad angle settings available by pulling on the red quick release handle
under the rear of each footpad. The lowest setting will set the footpads at zero (0) degrees, or
flat, at the bottom of the elliptical stroke. The second position sets the footpad to five (5)
degrees and the top position sets the footpads to ten (10) degrees.
Ramp incline adjustment
The Esprit EL555 now has an exciting new ramp incline feature that will further increase the variety
of your workouts. When the incline is at its lowest position you get a normal elliptical workout. As the
incline increases you will feel your knees rise higher with each step; which means you are involving
more muscle groups. The power incline is controlled by buttons on the console and also
automatically controlled during the built-in workout programs.
Features