I bought this product so I could supplement the exercises I did in Pulmonary Rehab after spending 5 weeks in the hospital recovering from Covid-19. This has helped me develop the chest muscles that help me breathe. Relative background information: I have used this as an arm exerciser only and combined this with 4 ten minute sessions of walking each day as soon as I could, along with various exercises from the Home Health aides, and some core strength, balance, stability and endurance exercises - including some resistance band exercises from the internet for Pulmonary Rehab - for the past 5 months or so - and I am beginning to become somewhat stronger now. I am still using this product and appreciate the fact that it is so easy to increase the tension, to match any improvement in my pulmonary functioning, by just turning the wheel. I didn't know what to expect from it. But the price was quite attractive and I figured it had to be better than nothing. It has exceeded my expectations and I found it to be far sturdier than I anticipated. It has worked well for me. While it is not necessarily designed for my purpose, and can not be calibrated to represent the same settings used in pulmonary rehab, it's very easy to tighten the tension wheel enough to approximate the same conditions. By monitoring my pulse rate and difficulty breathing, while maintaining 50-60 revolutions per minute, I can approximate fairly closely the maximum beneficial effort that I expend at Rehab. Doing this for 15 minutes most days each week has allowed me to see considerable improvement in my Pulmonary function. It works for me and for my situation. I thought the set-up instructions a little ambiguous - possibly my then Covid-19 brain functioning - but my husband soon figured it out. It doesn't take long to set-up but it had one part we could not figure where to put and finally assumed it must be an extra tension wheel (I think) but it works well as assembled, It does NOT fold down. It must be stored as is - my model is about 14" deep,19 " wide, and 12" high. The handholds add about 4" to the height but hang down when not moving. I appreciated that the handholds (stirrups) were grooved for grasping but they aren't the most comfortable to use. (I would reccommend wrapping them in a bit of cloth material, or wear gloves, if this bothers you. It's not a major concern of mine as it doesn't bother me much). This unit came with a wonderful flexible pad to use to help stabilize it on any surface - a very practical concept. It grips both the surface it is put on and the unit itself. Even with the competing forces applied during use, it usually does a superb job of stabilizing it. This also doubles as a dust cover if you don't store it away between uses. I would have appreciated having a way to re-set all the display settings back to zero before each use but, if it has that function, I have not found it. (Not a very big concern considering the price!) The display setting is good-sized, easy to read, and in a convenient location for reading during operation. It cycles between each option throughout the whole exercise routine. I am only interested in completing 15 minutes so I don't usually use it. (I use the clock on the TV equipment to time my sessions). It can be used almost anywhere but to exercise your arms/chest muscles. it is best to have it on a sturdy surface, easy to reach while sitting. I set this on a small folding table (20" w X 15" d and 24" h); sit in a comfortable recliner in front of the T.V, and peddle away. It doesn't weigh a lot - an important consideration if you are recovering from Covid, or a similar debilitating condition! Yet my unit is very sturdy. The double-sided gripping pad mostly keeps it stable; but, if it does move, it is easy to re-align and continue; occassionally I have grabbed the table legs with my knees, or held it down with my feet, to stabilize it better, The bottom ends have a rubber cap that further grips the mat on the floor , (or table), and shouldn't scratch either. All in all, a very well-thought-out, practical, design. I would give it 4.7 stars for all it's features, and the price, but I could not find a way to enter that number without giving it a 5.0. It serves my purposes well. I highly reccommend it.
