Sole Elliptical machines: The science behind the machines.

There is a lot of hoopla in the fitness equipment industry concerning Elliptical Trainers and which one has the best Biomechanics and Ergonomics. You'll also hear terms like "Plantar flexion" and "Erector spinae rotation" and "Ulnar deviation". We at Sole feel you shouldn't have to have a degree in orthopedics to buy an Elliptical Trainer but you should understand the words Biomechanics and Ergonomics. Here are the official definitions:

Biomechanics: The study of the anatomical principles of movement.

Ergonomics: (from Greek ergon work and nomoi natural laws) The study of optimizing the interface between human beings, and the designed objects and environments they interact with.

Simply stated Biomechanics is the study of how your body moves and Ergonomics is the study of how to build a machine that moves like your body does so you feel comfortable using the machine. For an Elliptical Trainer this means it should have a smooth, continuous foot motion, an Ellipse pattern (The pattern that your foot travels during exercise) that is level and simulates walking or running. If you look at the Elliptical from the side while someone is using it you can see the ellipse pattern. If the ellipse is tilted, or not level, this could cause knee strain and make the Elliptical machine feel bouncy or unnatural. The angle and position of the footpad during the ellipse pattern is also important as is the distance between the footpads. Some manufacturers believe that the closer the footpads are the better. We have found that is not exactly true and later will explain why.

So what makes an Elliptical trainer Ergonomically good? It really comes down to if you feel comfortable during your entire workout while using a particular Elliptical. An Elliptical that is not designed properly (Bad Ergonomics) could case pain or injury to your body; particularly your knees, ankles, feet, hips and back. This is not always evident if you only try the Elliptical for a few minutes in a store showroom. The real test is when you do a full workout of at least 20 minutes. This is when the difference between a good Elliptical and a bad one are found. Thoroughly testing an Elliptical before buying it is highly recommended because there are quite a few poorly designed Ellipticals out there. Don't be fooled by looks or bells and whistles. Even Ellipticals that look alike are not always the same. There are many subtle differences in every Elliptical on the market.

Sole engineers, with over 40 years of experience designing high end exercise machines, studied every high quality Elliptical out there before designing our E series of Ellipticals. We also consulted prominent physical therapist and sports medicine expert Richard DeKok, P.T., M.T.C., of St. Bernards Industrial Rehabilitation Center in Jonesboro Arkansas. We discovered that even the most expensive ellipticals have shortcomings and inherent problems:

1. When you use an elliptical the natural alignment of your body is thrown off no matter how close the footpads are. This is because when you push backward on the bottom of the stroke your hips will move from one side to the other. The distance between the footpads is not as important as is the angle of the footpad from left to right. If you stand behind an elliptical and look at the footpads you will notice all other elliptical footpads are flat. Now look at a Sole elliptical and you will notice a slight inward angle of two degrees. This seemingly insignificant detail is important because having this angle puts your body back into a neutral alignment throughout the motion during exercise. This helps alleviate sore backs, knees, ankles and hips. Other manufacturers are aware of this problem and have tried to solve it by moving the footpads close together. Unfortunately this is only part of the problem and does not address the main problem of mis-alignment.
2. Not all people are built the same way and don't walk with the same gait. Some people are knock kneed while others are bow legged. Some people walk on the balls of their feet while others walk flat footed. When Sole engineers were testing various ellipticals we noticed that some of us had our toes go numb during our workouts while others had pain in their knees. We found that this had to do with the fixed angle of the footpad from front to rear at the bottom of the ellipse pattern. While most good elliptical trainers have what are called "Articulating footpads" (like the Sole E series) to address this problem it does not solve the problem of numb toes and painful knees for every user. So the engineers at Sole determined the best way to solve this problem was to make the footpad angle adjustable (On the E75 and E95 only) to fit different users. The people who had numb toes adjusted the angle higher in the rear and people with painful knees adjusted the angle lower. This simple idea not only solved these maladies but also added an extra benefit. When the angle is adjusted lower you work your hamstrings more and when adjusted higher you work your quads and harder.